Notes from Colleen’s Desk: Full Court Press

Let’s just say here for the record that I do not really play basketball and largely do not get to caught up in bracket pools. Until one employee (I won’t name him) suggests we have a little in-office competition, and a second staffer suggests she’s going to win.  

This is March Madness. Game on! 

I immediately consulted with my sports-minded expert son on best team picks via text and he replied “don’t try to know anything. The winning bracket most years is someone that just picked based on mascots or preferred colors!” And before I can even ponder which team might have a Border Collie as a mascot, I get his follow up text with his elite picks.  Whoop! 

Game on!! Yep, it’s full court press now. And that is my topic this week as I elaborate a bit on what is currently in our playbook.  

We are cheering that the mask mandates have been lifted so that we are no longer sitting on the sidelines waiting to play.  No more sitting back in a half-court defense waiting for the game to come to us.  SOREDI is in the business of economic development to help our business community win again; the business community has suffered more than enough technical fouls.  It is time for all of us to get off the bench and get back to business! 

A full court press is not unlike how SOREDI began back in 1987. Four private sector businesses knew intuitively that our region needed to get organized as team and get off the sidelines if it was really going to score any points toward attracting new companies to the region; let alone helping our existing business community realize economic prosperity.  As a result of their proactive effort to encourage a unified team effort, our founding fathers – Jackson County, Josephine County, Grants Pass and Medford – created SOREDI as its regional economic development agency to help companies launch, relocate and prosper in Southern Oregon. 

Thirty-five years later and post pandemic (fingers, toes and eyes-crossed), what does that full court press look like as we consider our current game plan for the balance of 2022? With so much having been placed on hold, just about everything is fair game to re-introduce. But alas as the SOREDI team huddles, I am reminded that we also have only six people on this all-star team and need to pace ourselves. We certainly desire cheerful professionalism for the full season!! (I want to be sure that March Madness doesn’t extend into April Sadness after my favorite, very random pick wins the championship and I win the office prize!) 

Since it is game on again, here is our short list of game plan strategies over the next several months:

One Rogue Valley Strategy – Implementation. Implementation. Implementation. This 5-year strategy has five key initiatives and a coalition of partners championing each one. We are huddling with each team, opening the play book, and choosing the best play that will score stellar results for our business community. If you are new in the stands and wondering how to join the booster club, go here to read the full One Rogue Valley Strategy (the game plan) to learn more: One Rogue Valley (1RV) Regional Strategy – SOREDI 

Moving Forward through Change – The first of 3 industry-specific videos, with a keynote video segment and two watch parties for each, is coming up on April 21 and April 27. These are 90-minute smaller gatherings in various venues in our region. Our first session topic is Real Estate & Development with Robb Mayers, Outlier Construction.  Venues include Weekend Beer Company in Grants Pass and the new Ashland Works Coworking space in Ashland.  

“Round up on the Rogue” – The 2022 SOREDI Annual Meeting, will be held on Thursday, June 30. We’ve booked a small fleet of jet boats from Hellgate Excursions to take us down the wild and scenic Rogue River.  The 4-hour 36-mile excursion will include dinner at the Hellgate River Lodge and an experience to remember through the historic Hellgate Canyon. Don’t forget to book tickets for an evening of networking, reconnecting (and adventure!).

As everyone gets off the bench and back into the game, SOREDI will be here, continuing to spur the team on in a full court press and cheer for Southern Oregon’s winning businesses. If you have a business need, give us a shout at (541) 773-8946. Go, team, go!

Sincerely,

Colleen Padilla, Executive Director, aka Spur

P.S. Every coach likely has one last thing to share with the team. Fight the good fight, finish strong, nothing but net.