SOREDI Receives Two Innovation Awards from National Association

This month, the National Association of Development Organizations (NADO) held its 50^th annual Leadership Conference, in Anchorage, Alaska. Several hundred economic development organizations from around the country were in attendance. Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development, Inc., (SOREDI) was honored when NADO awarded them two separate Innovation Awards.

In addition to being awarded this recognition for innovative efforts, SOREDI’s Executive Director, Colleen Padilla, was invited to speak at the Opening Plenary on September 11. The subject, “The Indispensable Regional Development Organization: Continuing to Make the Case for Why RDOs Matter,” featured a panel that included executive directors of RDOs across the country who are keeping their organizations involved in issues important to their regions and learning ways to continually improve and keep their organizations relevant. Other speakers on the panel included Executive Directors of similar organizations from New Mexico, Nebraska, Minnesota, Virginia and North Carolina.

Padilla states, “We are honored to have not only won these two awards, but to have been asked to participate in the opening session of our national peers. SOREDI is working hard to implement transparent and relevant initiatives that keep Southern Oregon businesses at the forefront and engaged. Their private investment in their respective enterprises and our communities is critical to our overall regional success.”

This year, SOREDI’s Southern Oregon Edge Profiles and Virtual Building Flyers were recognized for their creative efforts in advancing regional economic development and improved quality of life. SOREDI’s Southern Oregon Edge campaign uses attractive photography and personal interviews to tell the stories of Jackson and Josephine County businesses. In addition to being available on the SOREDI website, these profiles are developed into posters and flyers that can be distributed and viewed inside and outside the region. Some of the profiles are on display at the Medford Rogue Valley International Airport so that visitors are aware of our thriving business community. Further, some of the posters have added information about specific careers available at these local companies. These posters are on display inside local high schools and at Rogue Community College.

Virtual Building Flyers are marketing materials that help to describe and showcase properties in Southern Oregon that are available for commercial development. Unlike a traditional property flyer, Virtual Building Flyers have an architect’s rendering of a “sample” building that would fit on each property. This provides a starting point for a conversation about the costs of a similar building project, while helping the potential buyer visualize and estimate building a custom project on that site.

SOREDI has previously been awarded Innovation Awards in 2010 for their Jefferson Grapevine efforts and in 2013 for their TAG Team initiative. In 2011, SOREDI received a NADO Trailblazer Award for their Southern Oregon Angel Investment Conference.

About SOREDI: SOREDI is a private, membership-based, non-profit organization, governed by a 28-member board of directors. Its seven-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.