Future vision of JoCo economy forum topic
Business trends, tourism, hemp and arts-and-crafts-driven development to be discussed
From our weekly issue dated June 17, 2009
On Wednesday, June 24, Josephine County residents will have the opportunity to sound off on what kind of an economy they would like to see here on a long-term basis.
A town hall meeting has been scheduled from 6 to 8 o’clock that evening at Anne G. Basker Auditorium in Grants Pass. The overall topic is “creating a vision for our future economy in Josephine County.”
The forum, organized by Guenter Ambron of the Illinois Valley-based Community Media & Education Center (CMEC), will take a look at past economic trends and building a sustainable local economy.
Kicking off the forum will be a presentation by representatives from the Oregon Employment Dept. regarding the area’s prevailing business trends for the past 20 to 30 years, Ambron said. That will be followed by lectures from a series of panelists, he said, with second half of the forum to consist of audience queries and participation.
Panelists will include Illinois Valley resident Roger Brandt, who will address the overall topics of tourism, historic sites and how Josephine County residents can develop and expand regional treasures into economic opportunities.
Waves Wald is scheduled to give a presentation on the potential benefits and uses of industrial hemp. Ambron said that hemp can produce 500 gallons or more of bio-fuel per acre, and can be used for building materials and many other products.
“There’s been a bit of bantering around about hemp and medical marijuana at the (Josephine County) commissioners meetings, so we thought it would be appropriate to have a presentation on it,” Ambron said.
Selma resident Orville Camp will discuss low-cost solutions to fire hazard control and forest ecosystem restoration, and resource extraction methods that are helpful to the environment and natural processes.
A presentation on agriculture will be given by Kit Doyle, one of the recipients of an $85,000 economic development grant from the county to develop growing canola and camelina in the area. Doyle has formed the Southern Oregon Seed Oils company, and utilizes an old co-op grange in Grants Pass to process oils and local livestock feed extracted from those two new crops.
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Jim Frick of Century 21 Harris & Taylor will talk about the future of local real estate, and representatives from Lomakatsi will present information on thinning, biomass and fire hazard reduction projects under way. Lomakatsi has been awarded $1.2 million in federal stimulus funds for that kind of forest restoration work.
Jerry Work, co-owner of the Dovetail Joint in Kerby, is slated to address the use of arts-and-crafts in economy development. Work recently visited South Carolina, and noted how its arts-and-crafts industry has grown into a $200 million per year industry. He will outline a plan of how that experience can be applied to area businesses.
Ambron said that one focus of the town hall meeting will be to find uses for forest products that do not involve old-growth timber.
“We’re looking at it as a beginning process for creating a more specific dialogue with the community and breaking it down to smaller localities like Hugo, Merlin, Murphy, Williams and, of course, the I.V., Cave Junction and Takilma,” Ambron said.
“Each locality will have the opportunity to discuss what their local area economy can be.”
The forum will be televised and video-recorded by Rogue Valley Television. For more information, phone Ambron at 592-4695.
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