Mayor delivers State of Roseburg 2025, highlights $2.35 million medical workforce grant, housing and infrastructure investments

Mayor Rich delivered the State of the City for Roseburg in January 2025, saying the council approved $2,350,000 in state grant funds to support Umpqua Community College’s effort to open the Southern Oregon Medical Workforce Center and help launch five new academic programs this year.

The announcement was the centerpiece of a wide-ranging address that also reviewed housing development, homelessness responses, public safety activity, and several capital projects funded by federal, state and private grants. “We’ve accomplished so much, and we’ll keep on tackling these important projects and more by continuing to grow and work together as one Roseburg,” Mayor Rich said.

Why this matters: the UCC medical workforce center is presented as a multi-year effort to increase the region’s health-care training capacity; at the same time the city is using planning and financial tools to accelerate housing construction and address visible homelessness — both priorities the mayor linked to local economic and public-safety goals.

Key details from the address - Education/workforce: The city voted to provide $2,350,000 in state grant funds to support Umpqua Community College’s Southern Oregon Medical Workforce Center; the college plans five new academic programs…