Bright Light in Job Creation, Econ Development

Things look Dim Now
The failure that Dan Brown writes about in economic development in his white paper is a systemic failure that is caused by the chronic lack of funding and attention to Economic Development in this community. The lack of private sector businesses and jobs to support the current property tax expectations is a challenging situation, and one that will take us a long time to set to rights.

So where are the bright spots?
One of the bright spots we have in ED in Corvallis and Benton County is John Sechrest. This past year the city council saw fit to fund economic develop through John's and Aaron's work to the tune of $73,000. Prior to that the funding was about $38,000. I cannot think of a more highly leveraged way to use between $38,000 and $73,000 of city and county Economic Development money than the work that John has done and completed with the Chamber board's and volunteers' help. Not only is John prolific in the work, but the Chamber coalition has matched city funding with private contributions to be able to expand on the city's investment. The return on the investment is a hundred fold, as noted below.

Real Return on Economic Development Investment
For the amount the city paid the Chamber Coalition in the contract for Economic Development this past year, we can barely hire one FTE. For that one FTE, our goal over the past 4 years has been to start, grow and expand traded sector businesses. John Sechrest has been very effective in fulfilling that mission.
He has effectively helped create hundreds of jobs through recruiting and nurturing technology startups, including bringing Perpetua to Corvallis.
He created the Willamette Angel Conference, which alone brought more than $160,000 of new capital into business, $125,000 of which went to a local Corvallis business, CenterSpace Software, which has subsequently hired 8 more employees.
Add to that Food Biz Boot Camp, Biz boot camp, and the work he did on WIN and that's a lot of new businesses at the seed to sprout stage.
That's a lot of value added.
He has connected hundreds of entrepreneurs, start ups and small businesses with talent, service providers, peer support groups and resources to launch or expand their ventures.
He is in constant motion connecting Corvallis economy and businesses to the entire willamette valley, and to key Portland resources, including venture capital.

Where is the data?
The monthly economic development reports give a more detailed picture about all of the work and successes that John, and the Chamber Coalition team have achieved... He and his work are a key mechanism that is helping develop a new and vibrant base of professional and skilled jobs for the community, and it would be a travesty to cut that out of the budget when new private sector, property tax generating businesses and jobs are what the city needs most right now. Thanks for serving on the city council and representing a very rational approach to what is important to maintain a vibrant community.