Notes from Colleen’s Desk: Walking in Ambiguity

Walking in Ambiguity

Notes from Colleen’s Desk: September 21, 2023 

Nearly 4 years ago I wrote a similar blog about how SOREDI responds to or pursues recruitment and expansion leads for the region. This has after all, has been a core function of SOREDI since we were established in 1987. Our marching orders have not changed much, though the current business landscape has. It seems the norm to walk in a bit more ambiguity today, given recent disruptions and a highly inflationary economy.

Walking in ambiguity is fresh in my mind as just last month I had a week-long trekking vacation planned, but it went sideways. The plan in all its glory was to complete my last 50 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail in Oregon, skirting the western flanks of Mt. Hood and then skipping down the last stretch of waterfall-laced splendor to the Bridge of the Gods, in Cascade Locks.

My expectations were high for this multi-year culmination of mostly day hikes. The final-day hotel was booked for night 5, parking arranged for car 1, shuttle planned for car 2 to the other side of the mountain and anticipation high. Like a good business plan, we secured commitments from one another for the trek, mapped out our path, packed our packs, considered possible obstacles like water crossings and fire closures, and confirmed sufficient water supply. Let’s do this thing!

But smoke happens, literally. Smoke ambiguity billowed over me and my trail mates for several days of playing wait and see.  It choked our enthusiasm. It clouded our sites. It tainted my robust supply of dehydrated food! At some point, though, a hard decision had to be made to stop doubting and either walk in ambiguity, take a detour, or abandon the plan all together.  I was quite ready to risk, perhaps, another crooked tent night in the middle of the trail (Eagle Cap Wilderness pictured).

Alas, I never even stepped on the PCT that trip – we diverted to state campgrounds on the coast instead.  A campground is far from the wilderness experience I had imagined. The new plan still afforded some spectacular short hikes and views (Oswald West State Park, pictured), along with flush toilets and showers. Yet, I grumbled underneath my breath more than I care to admit and my attitude was as stinky as the smoke, particularly when I arrived back home two days early and the smoke was worse!

Seasoned hikers know that attitude and one’s ability to quickly collaborate, abandon a plan, or divert, is key to survival in dire circumstances.

When it comes to recruitment and expansion efforts there is greater strength in a unified approach, which is exactly what our founding fathers imagined for SOREDI. They recognized the plea of several savvy businesses to create a regional agency that would streamline efforts and leverage greater exposure for Southern Oregon among national site selectors and companies seeking to expand or relocate their operations. Sometimes we navigate in ambiguity, alongside the business, to get to the finish line.

In 1987, our communities needed to be of the same mind in focusing on not just any company, but traded sector companies. This focus also influenced the type of outreach calls we set out to make each month. We needed to have a solid regional business plan to identify expanding and existing companies and find resources to help them grow, invest in the region, and create good jobs.

Helping companies create good primary jobs is the bottom-line mission underlying SOREDI’s work. It is the key metric that nearly every economic development agency in the nation – all 30,000 such organizations – uses to measure success. Traded sector companies invest in new incremental capital (facilities and machinery) which creates additional tax base to support services provided by our communities, special districts, and educational entities.  The tax base supports infrastructure improvements – both physical and educational – to sustain thriving businesses.

Traded sector refers to companies that are wealth generators for a community or region. Most of their customers are located outside our region and thus new revenues earned through sales of their products or services are generated and circulate in our local economy. Traded sector companies are primarily manufacturers and technology companies who require higher workforce skills and thus pay higher wages and compensation packages. They create key jobs in the economy that support secondary jobs in the retail and service sector.

A unified approach to economic development is still fundamental for our region, and it is not an ambiguous walk.  Significant time is dedicated to outreach and assistance to existing companies in the region, to ensure our current businesses are thriving right here. Some may say that smaller businesses like retail and service sector companies are the backbone of the economy. Certainly, they are instrumental to a healthy community – but are not necessarily primary job creators. To use a similar analogy, I’d offer that traded sector companies are the heart of an economy, giving life (customers) to downtown retailers and commercial businesses.

Economic development is complex. It is not simply a matter of sending a professional marketing piece to companies based elsewhere, flashing a great smile, and inviting them to relocate or expand here. There are many referrals involved to other agencies, partners, utilities and more in the process of courting these leads. It is a team effort with many facets and layers of service involved.

It is a lot harder to convince one new company to choose to relocate to Southern Oregon and create 100 new jobs than it is to help 50 existing local companies add two jobs each. When an existing traded sector company grows, we are ecstatic! And this week we will have celebrated two such expansions in process. Both will infuse new capital investment into the region, create new jobs, and create wealth that circulates throughout our region.

We hope by the time you happen to read this blog you will have already seen one or both press releases and joined us in the celebration. Read about the Herb Pharm, based in Williams, who is expanding to Medford here.  And read about Mycorrhizal Applications, based in Grants Pass, who is building additional facilities in White City here

Together these two expanding companies are creating new jobs, an incrementally new tax base, and new wealth for the entire region. We all win and there is nothing ambiguous about that!

If you’d like to take a deeper dive into understanding the importance of traded sector jobs in an economy, you can view a helpful whiteboard video created by our economic development counterpart EDCO, which serves the greater Bend area.

Happy Trails!

Colleen Padilla, SOREDI Executive Director

Trail name: Spark