SOREDI Honors Locals with PROSPER Awards

Medford, Oregon – At the 2016 Annual Meeting, held June 29 at the Ashland Hills Inn, SOREDI recognized four companies and one individual with awards for their exceptional qualities.

Each year, SOREDI recognizes four companies in our region that exhibit the qualities of Collaboration, Prosperity, Tenacity and Ingenuity. These are the defining characteristics that SOREDI recognizes as vital to successful business growth in our region.

The 2016 Collaboration Award went to Zeal, in recognition of their attitude of encouraging and embracing others in their industry, who might otherwise be viewed as competitive threats. They have been the hub of an enthusiastic tech collective that cultivates future talent in the industry by reaching out to students from Oregon Tech, SOU and RCC. From their new co-working space in downtown Medford to their outreach to the next generation of technology workforce, Zeal embodies the quality of collaboration.

The Ingenuity Award went to ICWUSA this year, in recognition of their latest innovation. If you’ve been to a doctor or dentist lately, you may have noticed that they are looking at a monitor or typing on a keyboard supported by a moveable arm. ICWUSA manufactures these arms here in Southern Oregon and offers them to countries all over the world. Most recently, they have also invented a coating that allows your healthcare professional to write notes directly on the arm and then wipe it off before seeing the next patient. This constant drive for improvement and excellence provides an environment where ingenuity flourishes.

Ashland’s Darex received the Prosperity Award for continuing to thrive into its 4^th generation as a family-owned company. Beginning as a drill bit sharpening manufacturer in 1973, expanding to become the famous Drill Doctor, Darex has now added the WorkSharp brand of knife sharpeners and has grown to employ more than 150 employees. Their plans to add an additional 24,000 square feet to their existing 40,000 square foot Ashland facility, in order to meet demand for their popular products is the very definition of prosperity.

This year’s Tenacity Award went to Rogue Valley MicroDevices, a gem of highly specialized manufacturing currently located in Medford. After their arrival in 2004, they started up with just 2,400 square feet and four employees to offer a wide variety of surface applications, including semiconductor, biotechnology, nanotechnology and MEMS to customers all over the world. Now, after experiencing 300% growth and earning the reputation as a global industry leader, they have experienced some growing pains. Now in an 11,000 square foot facility with 22 employees, they are at maximum capacity. Plans to expand to a new location in Southern Oregon, with an expectation of adding 20 additional employees and growing into 50,000 square feet of production space illustrate the tenacity they have demonstrated over the last twelve years.

Dr. Peter Angstadt was honored with SOREDI’s 2016 Inspiration Award. SOREDI and others have been inspired by his efforts to secure a $20 million campus expansion for Rogue Community College’s Table Rock Campus in White City, adding capacity for key curriculum studies that will directly provide workforce to our local business community. Having served as the President of RCC for the last twelve years, Dr. Angstadt has also served as board member for SOREDI. He was also a vital part of a team working in partnership with Southern Oregon University, Rogue Community College and the Medford Chamber of Commerce to create a higher education center in downtown Medford, the first partnership of its kind in Oregon, between a community college and a university. Dr. Angstadt continues to be a highly involved member of the business community, paying close attention to workforce needs in our region, but he is also personally inspiring, as an engaged foster and adoptive parent.

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors. Its 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.