Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Grants Pass hears updates from regional economic development partners on loans, entrepreneurship and downtown revival
Summary
At a council workshop, four regional economic development organizations updated the council on local loan programs, entrepreneur support, downtown vacancy levels and Main Street’s funding request; officials sought follow-up details and meeting opportunities.
Southern Oregon economic development partners — So Ready (Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development), the Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center and Main Street Grants Pass — gave the Grants Pass City Council a series of briefings on services, local impacts and funding needs during the council’s workshop session.
Casey Miller, vice president of the So Ready board, said So Ready acts as a regional connector for businesses and entrepreneurs and manages a small loan program for the Rogue Valley. “So Ready is designed to be that one Rogue Valley strategy,” Miller said, describing outreach to industry, connections to property owners and entrepreneurship support. James Tadlock, So Ready business development manager, told the council the organization currently has seven active loans in Grants Pass and Josephine County totaling about $925,000, from an origination amount of roughly $1.2 million.
The chamber’s president and CEO, Terry Hopkins, described visitor-center work the chamber performs under…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
