Rogue Tech Tour Coming to Grants Pass, Hosted by SOREDI and Partners

On Friday, April 12, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, students from Oregon Institute of Technology and Klamath Community College will join students from Rogue Community College and Southern Oregon University for an informative day of meetings with local technology-savvy companies in Grants Pass. Hosts, SOREDI, Rogue Workforce Partnership, and the Rogue Tech Collective are grateful for career-fair participants, Plexis Healthcare Systems, Lithia, Project A, City of Grants Pass, Shasta Networks, Harry & David, Rogue Credit Union, Cummins, Tekmanagement, InfoStructure and Rentec Direct.

SOREDI formed the Rogue Tech Collective in order to represent Southern Oregon companies that have an interest in supporting the local technology sector. Many businesses in Jackson and Josephine Counties depend on various technologies and have need of a tech-competent workforce. Many local companies have an embedded technology workforce that is sometimes hidden from the end-users of their product or service. The Collective hosts these Tech Tours in order to introduce students in technology-related fields to potential employment opportunities that would allow them to stay in Southern Oregon. Too often, college students make plans to move away, in hopes of finding satisfying, tech-related careers. Rogue Tech Tours help show them that the cost-of-living-to-wage ratio is actually much more advantageous in Southern Oregon than it is in the Silicon Valley or even closer cities, like Portland.

The 2019 Spring Tech Tour will begin early for KCC and OIT Students who will be bussed in to Grants Pass to meet up with the rest of the group for a catered breakfast at Rentec Direct. After a tour of Rentec Direct and time to meet with nearly a dozen companies in a career-fair setting, the group will travel to another tour sponsor, Wild River Pizza. Following lunch, the group with tour additional supporting sponsors; Fire Mountain Gems, Masterbrand Cabinets, and Zeal. The day will conclude with a general session that includes student Q&A and doorprizes. The KCC  and OIT students will return to Klamath Falls by bus.

SOREDI and the Rogue Workforce Partnership often work closely in attempts to connect companies with available workers who can meet their needs. In this case, there is a great demand for technology skills in Southern Oregon. Many local tech positions offer an entry-level annual salary of $50,000, which is above the average wage for our two-county region. Students graduating with technology skills may not be aware that there are many established companies offering these positions locally.

Terri Coppersmith, VP of Finance at PLEXIS Healthcare Systems and current SOREDI Board Vice President, says, “This Tech Tour provides a mutually beneficial opportunity for students and Southern Oregon businesses to meet. Students can share resumes, view on-site offices, hear about local technology careers available, and observe various corporate cultures firsthand.” Coppersmith continues, “Local business leaders, with technology driven business processes and needs, will get to meet the future collegiate talent and get an early start on recruitment.”

Local companies with a significant tech component may wish to join the Rogue Tech Collective in order to have a voice in regard to business and workforce needs, participate in future awareness tours or industry specific networking events. If you would like to learn more about the Rogue Tech Collective, please call SOREDI at 541-773-8946 or email kathy@soredi.org

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a 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. Learn more at https://soredi.org.