Sedcore tells Polk County commissioners it is pursuing workforce housing, industrial land and AgTech pilots

Eric Anderson, a representative of Sedcore, and Alex Padaskavas, also with Sedcore, briefed the Polk County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 19 on business retention and recruitment efforts, workforce housing initiatives and several farm and entrepreneur support programs unfolding across Polk County and the Willamette Valley.

The update covered a range of economic-development activity: brokering new supply relationships for local food processors, outreach to engineered-wood and data-center developers, expansion of entrepreneur training and small grants funded by Business Oregon, and an AgTech accelerator pilot supported by the Ford Family Foundation to share trial costs with participating farmers.

Sedcore described a recent local supply-chain win: work to connect the Yamasa food processor with multiple regional growers so farmers can meet a premium specification for soy/wheat inputs. "We always enjoy this discussion and it's always good to provide an update on what's going on, sort of high level," Anderson said at the start of the presentation. Sedcore said Yamasa is paying above-commodity prices for product that meets higher protein and other specs and that the company is expanding its grower base in the valley.

The presenters also discussed work to support the region's…