Lane County, OR – (April 6, 2023) — Collaborative Economic Development Oregon, a new economic development organization, announced its official launch today. The organization’s mission is to accelerate the creation of high wage jobs in Lane County, through new collaborative economic development programs.
According to the Oregon Employment Department, average real wages in Lane County are $52,570, which is 22% lower than the state average and 29% lower than the national average. This wage gap exacerbates many quality of life challenges, including housing affordability. More high wage job opportunities in Lane County are needed.
“Lane Workforce Partnership understands the importance of economic development to the prosperity and wellbeing of our community; we’re dedicated to the work of Collaborative EDO and look forward to working together to achieve our shared goals,” said Ashley Espinoza, Executive Director of Lane Workforce. “We believe that by working collaboratively, we can create a prosperous economy that provides accessible opportunities for everyone in Lane County.”
Collaborative EDO has already garnered an unprecedented number of local, statewide, and national partners. Through blended efforts, new best-in-class economic development programs will be extended into Lane County to maximize results.
Collaborative EDO is proud to partner with Oregon Entrepreneurs Network to extend their signature PubTalk program into Lane County. We will work together to help entrepreneurs start up and scale up by connecting them to peers, mentors and startup funding opportunities at these ecosystem building events.
Additional Collaborative EDO partners include the Technology Association of Oregon, Link Oregon, Starve-ups, US Ignite, Oregon Bioscience Association, and Business Oregon.
“I am excited to be working with Collaborative EDO to drive economic development and international trade in Lane County,” said Steve Thompson, Oregon STEP Director and Global Trade Specialist for Business Oregon. “By working together, we can leverage our resources and expertise to attract and retain businesses, identify international opportunities, and create new jobs in the region.”
Collaborative EDO is co-founded by local economic development strategists Matt Sayre, Caitlin Vargas and Nicole Desch; who have spent years listening to what the community wanted from an economic development organization. Collaborative EDO is the natural progression. A regional organization created as an independent, non-political, mission driven non-profit.
“We believe that the vision to accelerate the creation of high wage jobs to increase local economic prosperity to the national average requires new thinking and a strategy that is anchored in authentic regional partnerships,” said Collaborative EDO Executive Director Matt Sayre. “We look forward to working with new and existing partners to make a collective impact, realizing the shared goal of increasing economic prosperity in Lane County.”
Collaborative EDO invites anyone interested in joining the work of economic development in Lane County to reach out.
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About Collaborative EDO
Collaborative Economic Development Oregon is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works collaboratively to accelerate the creation of new high wage jobs in Lane County. We accomplish this through targeted business recruitment, entrepreneurial support, workforce development, business expansion, regional marketing, strategic innovative projects and the formation of effective public/private partnerships. Learn more at collaborativeEDO.org