The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutEDCO 2014-15 Proposal Deschutes County Economic Development Investment Initiative Revised for 2014-15 Fiscal Year EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following proposal is a revised and updated document that closely mirrors the program funded in the current fiscal year by Deschutes County. Per direction provided by staff and commissioners last year, the matrix and supporting narrative below represents a one year investment for comprehensive economic development services within Deschutes County, including the operation of programs and offices in all incorporated cities within the County’s political borders. Community/ Program Deschutes County FY2013-14 Investment (actual current) Requested Deschutes County Funding for FY 2014-15 (proposed) Estimated Total FY14-15 Program Budget LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY Greater La Pine $20,000 $20,000 $48,000 Greater Sisters $20,000 $20,000 $45,200 Greater Redmond $10,000 $10,000 $139,000 Greater Bend $10,000 $10,000 $90,130 SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP & EARLY STAGE COMPANIES Venture Catalyst Program $30,000 $30,000 $88,750 FoundersPad Accelerator* $15,000 $15,000 $80,000 REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY Historical EDCO Funding $112,200 $117,200 $488,100 TOTAL: $217,200 $222,000 $979,180 *FoundersPad is not an EDCO managed program Strong Local Economic Development Capacity A strong regional organization with equally capable economic development professional capacity at the local level is a model unique to EDCO and the Pacific Northwest. EDCO contracts to deliver comprehensive local economic development programs that are financially underwritten by the communities. Made possible by Deschutes County and local city funding, a new program in La Pine with a half-time manager was successfully launched with the hiring of Jerry Albert. With the help and partnership of the City of La Pine, a 12-member advisory board was established to both advise and monitor progress. In Sisters, a three-quarter time manager, Caprielle Foote-Lewis, was hired to organize and oversee the program. Both managers currently have offices within the respective City Hall of their community – an in-kind donation made by each city. With these managers in place and some experience under them, we expect even greater results and productivity in the coming fiscal year than the one past. Supporting Entrepreneurship & Early Stage Companies Fostering entrepreneurship is an important component for the region’s economic development strategy. The two critical components for establishing Deschutes County as a premier place to start and grow new companies are 1) a robust mentoring network and 2) access to equity/growth capital. Continued development of these key infrastructure assets will not happen without focused and sustained effort. EDCO’s funding priorities for the coming fiscal year include partial underwriting of the Venture Catalyst Program (VCP) and the FoundersPad accelerator. FoundersPad is a key piece of the mentorship infrastructure puzzle along with other assets and initiatives including Startup Weekend, Big Bend Theory, Tech Alliance, COCC’s SBDC and others. Regional Economic Development Capacity Deschutes County has been a statewide leader in funding economic development using video poker lottery proceeds distributed by the State of Oregon. Over the years, this investment has been a foundation for everything the organization does and everything it accomplishes. Without a strong regional organization at the Bend Office, local offices would enjoy little support for their efforts to measurably improve the economy in their community. The regional office provides support in the areas of media relations and PR, marketing, event production, professional mentoring, professional recruitment, incentive admin. website presence, lead generation and financial management and audit services. Adding oversight and support of programs in La Pine and Sisters is stretching regional staff even further, which is why we have requested a modest increase of $5,000 in the coming fiscal year to help cover this added workload. The last increase for support of regional operations was $2,200 three years ago in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Return on Investment – Key Performance Indicators Funding provided by Deschutes County, other cities and counties and about 300 private sector members has yielded a solid return on its investment. Results in the past calendar year compared to region-wide goals (derived from EDCO’s 3-year Strategic Plan) include: In addition to these results, EDCO met one-on-one with 316 local traded-sector companies (roughly 80% of which were in Deschutes County) to proactively identify needs and opportunities. We provided assists (help that did not require significant time or resources) to an additional 355 companies, and counseled nearly 200 early stage companies and entrepreneurs. By nearly every measure EDCO is achieving record outcomes which are “moving the needle” in a positive direction for the region’s economy. Summary We thank and applaud the Commission and the Deschutes County management team for your vision to support expanded economic development services for the current fiscal year, which we believe is a significant step forward in changing our economic development future. We believe this proposal, which follows closely last year’s proposal, represents a well-planned and cost effective strategy that is broadly supported by the communities within Deschutes County and leverages greater investment in economic development at the local level – both private and public.