Corvallis-Benton County EDO Receives Statewide Recognition for Pandemic Response

June 25, 2021 - The Corvallis-Benton Economic Development Office (EDO), in partnership with the Benton County Emergency Operations Center (EOC), has been named Outstanding Collaborative Partnership of the year by the Oregon Economic Development Association (OEDA), in recognition of the unique work of the Economic Recovery Team. The award was announced at OEDA’s virtual summer conference and recognizes significant partnerships formed to support economic development and the results achieved by working together.

In March of 2020, many City of Corvallis and Benton County staff were assigned to serve in the EOC, including the Economic Development Office staff. The EOC is a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) structure in which there is a physical location and designated individuals that coordinate information and resources to support incident management activities related to a state or federal emergency. It was under this structure, that the City’s Emergency Planning Manager, Dave Busby, recommended the inclusion of the EDO Team with a focus on supporting the county’s businesses during the crisis. Kate Porsche, Economic Development Manager served as Operations Section Chief at the EOC, and her team quickly pulled together city and countywide business support organizations, creating the Economic Recovery Team.

“It is our understanding, that we were one of the only EOCs in the state to include a team focused on the emergency response and recovery for businesses,” said Busby.

The Economic Recovery Team included business support organizations throughout the County, including Visit Corvallis, Corvallis Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Corvallis Association, Philomath Chamber of Commerce, Business Association of Monroe, Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments, Corvallis Business Network, Linn-Benton Community College Small Business Development Center, Oregon RAIN, the Corvallis Foundry, Business Oregon and the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition. The group collected and disseminated timely information to businesses, created content and connected businesses to the resources they needed to survive amid the new and ever-changing COVID guidelines. At the height of the pandemic, the group was meeting three times a week to coordinate efforts and communication. Well known events and programs such as the Let’s Keep Connected Business Forums, available in both English and Spanish, and the Business Right of Way Program materialized through this partnership.

“The vital resources and up-to-date information this partnership brought to our businesses was extremely valuable,” said Shelley Niemann, Executive Director of the Philomath Chamber of Commerce, “without it, many of our businesses may not have received the PPE, grants, or loans they desperately needed.”

While not an official EOC-FEMA group anymore, the Economic Recovery Team continues to meet quarterly to focus on helping businesses with recovery and reopening. “We are fortunate to live in a community where partners come together, roll up their sleeves and do what’s needed during this immensely challenging time,” Porsche said, “The Pandemic only strengthened these relationships and we look forward to continuing to support our businesses post pandemic, and beyond. This award celebrates all of our great partners who worked so hard to support our businesses through this crisis.”

If you have questions, feel free to contact the Economic Development Office at economic.development@corvallisoregon.gov, or via phone 541-766-6422.