Regional alliance seeks answers to uncertain future
Once vaunted job-creation entity faces tough times
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Sunday, March 29, 2009 12:12 AM PDT
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| Larry Meyer | Argus Observer
Owyhee Produce, north of Nyssa, was one of the last businesses to receive funding from the Southeast Regional Alliance. |
NYSSA —After its funding was hauled away during the last session of the Oregon Legislature, members of the Southeast Regional Alliance board continue to struggle regarding how to keep the investment coalition viable in order to support economic development in the region of Malheur, Harney and Grant counties.
In fact, of all the regional investment boards, the Southeast Regional Alliance has more than met the requirements legislative leaders set down over the years, Sondra Lino, Greater Eastern Oregon Development Corporation, said. Regional investment boards are fueled by lottery dollars distributed through the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department and used for economic development ventures.
For example Lino said the Southeast Regional Alliance has reached the requirement that there be one job for every $5,000 the board invested, and it also met the goal to have $5 from other funding sources to match every $1 from the regional alliance.
“We were well over that,” Lino said.
The Southeast Regional Alliance projects contained as much as $17 from other sources to match $1 from the alliance, Lino said.
During the last Legislative session, opposition to the regional alliance concept originated from the co-chairs of the Joint Ways and Means Committee. Lino said, at the time, she did not understand the reason and does not know the reason for the resistance now.
“They (lawmakers) are not even talking about it this session,” Lino said.
During discussion at the Southeast Regional Alliance board meeting Monday in Nyssa, there were suggestions that members and staff look for other sources of funding. Jean Cain, a member from Burns, suggested the board be more correctly aligned to carry on as a commission on transportation. The Southeast Regional Alliance Board took on both assignments, operating as the regional investment board, assisting businesses with loans and grants, and as Southeast Area Commission on Transportation, an advisory role to state transportation officials. Others suggested the regional alliance needs to exist for the rest of the year. Alan Daniels, Ontario Economic Development director, suggested the body become an organization to market the region.
The Southeast Regional Alliance distributed money from the regional investment fund and the rural investment fund, both of which received money from the Oregon Lottery. The funds were generally used as the financing of last resort, with the alliance asking that applicants use other lenders or grants sources first. Several businesses and projects around Malheur County have benefited from these programs.
“The partnership is excellent,” Cheryl Cruson, a longtime board member who has resigned for business purposes, said. It benefited all three counties, she said.
“I hope we can find a a way to keep the alliance,” she said.
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