SEDCOR awards ceremony celebrates the industries that sustain us
The Strategic Economic Development Corporation (SEDCOR) hosted their annual Awards and Membership Meeting at the Salem Convention Center last week, celebrating the achievements of the organization and its members over the past year.
SEDCOR acts as a support network for industry and economic vitality in the Willamette Valley, serving Marion, Polk and Yamhill counties. The awards ceremony highlighted new businesses, positive partnerships, community leadership and local innovation.
Juli Foscoli of South Town Glass received the Community Service Award for her leadership in SEDCOR’s Construction Alliance and devotion to meeting needs in her community. Foscoli said her parents, Carl and Lyn Harbaugh, modeled true community service as they worked tirelessly to support local families—keeping employees on the payroll and occasionally offering services for free, even when money was tight.
Foscoli’s father helped start the Construction Alliance in the early 2000s, and Foscoli now continues his legacy of empowering local builders and developers. “In business, many times it is who you know, and SEDCOR is able to make connections to help businesses in very practical ways,” Foscoli said. “They are doers, and I like to be involved with organizations that make things happen for the good of the community.”
SEDCOR focuses their efforts primarily on traded-sector businesses, providing support and solutions to the industries with the most impact on the region. “We recognize that healthy businesses create healthy jobs, and those healthy jobs allow for healthy communities,” said Erik Andersson, president of SEDCOR.
According to SEDCOR’s philosophy, quality infrastructure supports a high quality of life; tax revenue pays for that infrastructure; the development and expansion of local businesses provides sufficient tax revenue, promoting better infrastructure—all leading to a happier, healthier place to live.
Andersson said economic development organizations often get positive press for recruiting new businesses to the area, but “the vast majority of new jobs and investment in the community are created by businesses that are already here.” So their main goal remains business retention and expansion.
SEDCOR meets with businesses one-on-one to identify unique challenges and growth opportunities, facilitating collaborative solutions through their wide network of partners. Solutions sometimes look like financing for new equipment, workforce development initiatives, or connecting producers with customers.
Andersson described SEDCOR’s work plan as “industry led.” Their work centers around each industry’s current obstacles. For example, DCI, a dental equipment manufacturer in Newberg had trouble finding and retaining employees because people couldn’t find affordable housing or childcare. SEDCOR worked with community partners to develop Project Oasis, a new childcare facility, as well as the Newberg Workforce Housing Consortium, which seeks to meet the housing demand.
“If you had asked five years ago if we’d be doing daycare or housing projects, I probably would’ve said it’s not really our role,” Andersson said. “But if we can figure out a way to leverage our knowledge base with meeting the needs of the businesses we serve, we’ll try to incorporate that into our work plan.”
On top of solving current industry challenges, SEDCOR cultivates the entrepreneurial spirit of the area with their Regional Innovation Hub. The recent Shark-Tank-style Pitch Willamette event, where two local entrepreneurs went home with $25,000 checks, served as the opening act for a series of events dedicated to fostering innovation.
These initiatives serve as a small snapshot of SEDCOR’s involvement in developing a more vibrant Willamette Valley. Their green thumb can be found all across the region’s blossoming communities. Each year offers new opportunities for SEDCOR to support the local businesses and industries that sustain us all.