Economic action team reflects on its work

ENTERPRISE — Wallowa County’s Economic Action Team is entering its final phase and will dissolve as a working entity this fall.

In October 2005 the county was introduced to the Rural Design Assistance Program. In October 2006 Wallowa County was selected as the one community in the United States to receive the benefit of a team of architects, engineers, regional planners, educators and researchers who came to Wallowa County to study the strengths and needs of the communities. They would make recommendations, under the leadership of Peter Batchelor, founder of the program, on improving the economic vitality of the area.

The Economic Action Team was formed to facilitate and coordinate the activities surrounding and following the visit. The Economic Action Team Board of Directors includes Mike Hayward, Diane Snyder, Jim Henson, Nils Christofferson, Vicki Searles, June Colony, Harold Black, Walter Smith, Wendy McCollough and ex-officio members Skip Novakovich and Bill Clemens.

The Rural Design Assistance Team identified six priority areas to study based on their observations and input from the citizens of Wallowa County. These areas included developing a brand to market Wallowa County products and to create ways to use the area as a venue for education and research projects. A “value-added” center to enhance local products was recommended. Programs to develop affordable housing, conduct activities to sustain natural resources and the environment, and to work on increasing city and county revenues through adjustment of fees incurred by development were also on the assistance team’s to-do list.

These recommendations became goals for the local Economic Action Team. Committees were constructed to address each of the six priorities. Volunteers were recruited to man the committees and the work began.

Now, after three years and thousands of volunteer hours, the EAT board has taken stock of the progress that has been made and decided “it is time to sunset,” said Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce director and board member Vicki Searles.

“We are leaving behind ideas and people to carry them forward. We thank all the committees for their support. Many entities provided funds and support for our projects. We have had a positive impact on the community. There are many people here with many ideas, and they will continue to move forward,” Searles said.

Among the projects embraced by the county chamber was a series of workshops offered by Travel Oregon this spring. The program was free and aimed to teach skills and provide networking opportunities to rural citizens interested in developing sustainable niche markets such as bicycle tourism, agriculture tourism, and event and festival planning to stimulate the local economy.

County Commissioner Mike Hayward said that although the board had used the Rural Design Assistant Team Report, published in May 2007, as a guiding document for economic development activities in Wallowa County, not all the recommendations in the report were viable. Many, though, were supported by the county government, city councils and financial sponsors and were able to move forward.

Hayward said that many organizations in the area have been working together on the various priorities set out in the RDAT Report including Wallowa Resources, the Chamber of Commerce, Commission on Children and Families, Building Healthy Families, Northeast Oregon Economic Development District and others.

“We consider this process nothing but a success. This is not the end of the RDAT report or the Economic Action Team. But as a success the organizations will move forward with the guidelines in the report.

“The EAT is sunsetting. We wanted to work ourselves out of this job without losing this document.”

Efforts to recruit businesses to locate in Wallowa County were not very fruitful, Hayward said. Competition is extremely keen and it has been difficult for Wallowa County to compete with communities able to offer significant financial incentives to investors. In re-thinking economic development strategies, Hayward said, it became evident that energy might be better channeled into supporting growth for existing businesses or encouraging local residents in start-up businesses.

According to statements from committee representatives, examples of the growth from within referred to by Hayward are plentiful. Nils Christoffersen, speaking for the Natural Resources/Environmental Sustainability sector, said they have worked closely with the county planning department on land use issues and county Goal 1 of the Strategic Land Use Plan as their guiding light. The Critical Resources and Land Use Planning Committee will continue its work in conjunction with the Wallowa County Planning Committee.

Wallowa Resources has experienced success in establishing new markets for wood products and in fuel load reduction efforts. He said that in creating Community Solutions Inc., the for-profit arm of Wallowa Resources, they have a strong business development program with manufacturing capabilities, marketing and the ability to capture emerging markets. They have invested in developing new energy sources in the next five years and continue to strengthen their education programs.

The education branch of the Economic Action Team is enhancing many facets of the existing education infrastructure. Walter Smith of Enterprise said that more than 35 local organizations, groups or individuals provide education and enrichment of various kinds to the local population. Connections have been made with several post-secondary institutions and the arts community in the county.

Wallowa Mountain Institute, the education and outreach arm of Wallowa Resources, provides youth stewardship education programs, undergradate and graduate credit programs, lecture series, sponsors the Watershed Festival and will continue its work with the education committee.

Working with Stacy Green Marketing of Enterprise, the education group has raised funds to offer career and occupational workshops for 16- to 18-year-olds. The purpose of the workshops is to help students explore the possible opportunities available in Wallowa County to enable them to stay and work here after high school if they want to.

In addition, Building Healthy Families, a non-profit responsible initially for community parent education, has expanded to offer after-school tutoring in all the area schools. The Enterprise School District has contracted with this agency to provide the high school alternative education program for the first time this year.

Progress has also been made in the development of a Wallowa County Brand with a logo created by Joan Madsen. Several local businesses use the logo with their product to denote a genuine, made-in-Wallowa County product. Businesses apply and pay a $200 subscription fee for a one-year license to use the Wallowa Brand logo for advertising, labeling and promotion of their product.

Creation of “value-added” local products was also a recommendation of the RDAT. To date, goods from Wallowa County such as grass-fed and organic beef, wool products from local growers, organic potatoes and a variety of other vegetables have all emerged onto local and state markets. Hay growers are producing weed-free hay, and grain producers are growing and marketing seed for planting. Local production of products like specialty soaps, clothing and other items unique to Wallowa County, and marketed as such, is ongoing and is a good example of the “growth from within” that Hayward described as a strategy for economic growth.

Places like June’s Market in Lostine and the farmers markets are examples of providing a venue for several smaller business owners to sell their products and grow the economy rather than depending on a larger business in a single industry.

The recommendation for a Business Value Added Center as an actual building where professional assistance is available for entrepreneurs or existing businesses was one of the RDAT suggestions that was not pursued. Hayward said a lot of discussion revolved around “value-added” as a concept as opposed to a resource center.

The idea of constructing a building and staffing it seemed contrary to the prevailing attitude in the county.

According to the board of directors of the Economic Action Team, three concepts emerged during this process as most important to the citizens of Wallowa County: controlled economic growth; preservation of natural resources, open spaces and working landscapes; and education.

“Much of the activity in the county is invisible; it is on the periphery,’’ Hayward said. “Some directly affects the economy, but sometimes it looks like nothing is happening. We want economic development, but we don’t want box stores. We want to retain our quality of life. That is our challenge.”