New Venture Catalyst, Alex Palmer Welcomed by SOREDI

Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc. (SOREDI) is pleased to announce that Alex Palmer will be assuming the role of Venture Catalyst. Palmer will be building on the work done by the previous Venture Catalysts, Rick Hood and Tim Root.

Palmer is an experienced digital marketing and e-commerce executive with a specialty in direct-to-consumer sales in the sports and outdoor industries. Originally from London, UK, he spent the early part of his career in top agencies working for clients including Manchester City FC, Rugby World Cup and the Garmin Pro Cycling Team. In 2008, he relocated to the US to join a technology start-up delivering online streaming premium sports and has since developed his own entrepreneurial chops running multiple companies in the bike industry, which brought him to the Rogue Valley for our world-class trails three years ago.

Palmer comes to SOREDI as a recent Alumnus of the Bend Outdoor Worx start-up accelerator. He brings an in-depth knowledge and first hand experience of Oregon’s entrepreneurial, start-up and angel investor eco-system, complemented by his experience as a business owner, start-up entrepreneur and mentor.

Perhaps most importantly, Palmer brings a wealth of personal experience to his role. “Having gone through the process of successfully acquiring a business of my own, I’ve navigated the resources, met with some failures, and experienced the challenges of being an entrepreneur,” he says. “Now that I am on the other side,” Palmer continues, “I am really looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned with other new businesses so that I can help them maximize their potential.”

SOREDI’s Executive Director, Colleen Padilla comments, “Alex was recommended to us by both of our previous Venture Catalysts, and I agreed with their assessment.” Padilla continues, “As an entrepreneur himself, Alex is highly relatable to the entrepreneurial community and, as a recent transplant, he embodies the mindset of capable, passionate start-ups that we are looking to draw to Southern Oregon. He is familiar with private investment and other finance mechanisms available to start-ups in our region, having utilized them himself. Alex is well-equipped to walk other entrepreneurs through the process.”

Palmer’s first official day at SOREDI was Tuesday, October 16. To schedule time for him to consider your business proposition and make recommendations for your success, visit the SOREDI website and fill out a Sounding Board Application, here: https://soredi.org/launch/sounding-board/sounding-board-application/

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a 28-member board of directors. Its eight-person staff is charged with local business expansion and new business recruitment efforts, financial assistance to start-up companies through its business loan fund, and management of Enterprise Zones in Jackson and Josephine Counties. The agency was formed as a regional economic development agency in 1987.