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South Coast Development Council urges continued local support as it markets North Bend sites and expands entrepreneurship services
Summary
Lexi Woodward, executive director of the South Coast Development Council, told the North Bend City Council that SCDC markets North Bend sites to state project RFIs, operates an interactive property map and runs entrepreneurship programs and an incubator; she said limited state funding constrains the hub’s work and urged continued membership support.
Lexi Woodward, executive director of the South Coast Development Council (SCDC), briefed the North Bend City Council on Oct. 13 about the council-backed membership’s work marketing sites, supporting entrepreneurs and running a regional incubator.
Woodward said SCDC, headquartered in Coos Bay, serves Coos, Curry and Douglas counties and acts “as an extension to the city of North Bend economic development team as appropriate.” She outlined tools SCDC uses to attract projects, including the Oregon Prospector site database and an interactive map that layers utilities, incentives and jurisdictional boundaries to help site selectors evaluate locations.
“We add the sites onto a software program called Oregon Prospector, and then we submit those sites,” Woodward said, describing three recent state RFIs for which North Bend property was submitted. She said the organization also conducts targeted email outreach to brokers and maintains a curated investor list to market available commercial sites.
Woodward reviewed SCDC’s entrepreneurship programming, including boot camps, a longer training cohort, monthly peer networking called the “morning grind,” one‑on‑one advising and a business incubator located in the Newmark Building. She said the incubator is full and maintains a waiting list; multiple tenants serve North Bend residents.
On funding, Woodward told the council the regional innovation hub receives less state funding than other hubs in Oregon, which limits the volume of services SCDC can provide locally. “We could do a lot more if we had more funding,” she said, and added SCDC plans to track participant outcomes for funder reporting though tenant confidentiality can limit what businesses will share.
The presentation closed with questions from council members about the “blue economy,” program metrics and upcoming local events; Woodward said pitch‑night activity and incubator programming will continue and that she will share dates and follow up with additional detail to council staff.
The council heard the report as an informational item; no formal action was taken at the work session.
