Mid Columbia Economic Development District strives to promote the creation of family-wage jobs, the diversification of the economic base, and the growth, development and retention of business and industry in Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Klickitat and Skamania Counties
MCEDD is organized as a government non-profit in Oregon as an ORS-190 and in Washington through RCW 39.34.010.
March 25, 2021 – You’re invited to participate in updating the region’s economic development strategy! Click here to register for the full series.
The community is invited to participate as partners begin the regular updating of the Regional Economic Development Strategy for the Columbia River Gorge. Led by Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD), the strategy will outline a five-year plan for the regional economic development covering Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties in Oregon and Skamania and Klickitat counties in Washington. This strategy is updated every five years and serves as a guide to understand the local economy, strengthen partnerships, and improve overall quality of life.
Monthly meetings will be held starting in March to bring together participants from around the region to identify economic development strategies based on current trends and areas best suited for growth to sustain and diversify the region’s economy, reduce unemployment and create family wage jobs. Information gathered at the monthly events will be pulled together with data and research to develop the final plan, the Mid-Columbia Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for 2022-2027. MCEDD coordinates implementation of the regional strategy in partnership with local stakeholders.
The first of the monthly events will be Wednesday, March 31st, 8:30am to 10:30am using Zoom. This session will be focused on COVID-19 impacts and what resilience looks like for the region going forward. In total, there will be seven sessions to develop a draft plan, with a specific focus on equitable economic outcomes and resilience. These sessions will be public, and attendance is encouraged across the five-county region.
The schedule is as follows, with sessions beginning promptly at 8:30 AM:
March 31, 2021: Economic Impacts of COVID-19, Resiliency: Present assessment of economic impacts of COVID-19 and set resiliency tone.
April 28, 2021: Demographics and Data: More overarching economic data looking at longer-term trends to help us plan for the future.
May 26, 2021: Sector Focus Areas, including more in-depth industry cluster analysis and discussion of sector resilience.
June 30, 2021: Analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
July 28, 2021: Vision and Goals
September 1, 2021: Strategies
October 6, 2021: Measuring Success, and Implementation
November 5, 2021: Annual Gorge Economic Symposium, with draft presented.
Everyone is invited to participate in one or all of the sessions. To register for the sessions, please click here: https://forms.gle/wVNQGsheMurgV4xc7
MCEDD has been developing and implementing a regional economic development strategy since its formation in 1969 in order to meet its mission to promote the creation of family-wage jobs, the diversification of the economic base, and the growth, development and retention of business and industry within the five-county district. To learn more about MCEDD or this planning process, visit https://www.mcedd.org/strategy/our-region/ or contact Jane Allen at jane@mcedd.org.
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November 18, 2020 – MCEDD has been recognized with two 2020 Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Awards from the National Association of Development Organizations for work on Economic Resiliency Resources and the Gorge TransLink.com Website Project.
Economic Resiliency Resources: Over the last several years, the Mid-Columbia region has seen increasingly frequent economic shocks resulting from natural disasters, specifically wildfire and winter weather events, major accidents, and business shifts. In 2019, MCEDD began a focused effort to review the region’s responses to recent economic shocks to identify gaps in support for small businesses and develop more focused strategies to support long term economic resiliency in the region. MCEDD and its partners have begun working on several key initiatives, which have been critical during the pandemic response. For more information about MCEDD’s Economic Resiliency Resources, visit: https://www.mcedd.org/ready/.
The Gorge TransLink.com Website Project represents the many years of hard work, partnership, and coordination required to build a truly seamless and connected regional public transportation system. This website is the digital hub of the regional system, highlighting the individual transit services and their connectivity using accessible and innovative rider-facing tools. The technology is open-source, WordPress-ready and compatible, and available for any transit agency to build a similar website at very little cost. This project impacts the entire region, giving all residents access to the essential mobility benefits of public transit.
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