Rick Abel Hired as Business Development and Retention Manager

According to a 2015 study, The Job Generation Process, it was found up to 80% of job growth in any community is generated by existing businesses. This stat alone shows why it is of great importance for an economic development organization like KCEDA to put emphasis on developing a strong business retention and expansion program. With having a strong BRE program, our community can benefit in many ways. It offers the opportunity for KCEDA to help businesses grow and stay in the community. It gives KCEDA the capacity to identify local and state incentives available for access to capital and expansion opportunities. In addition, it allows us to make consistent contact with our business community, helping us gain an enhanced perspective as to what strengths and weaknesses exist in our local economy, leading us to identify ways to cultivate improvement, while simultaneously giving KCEDA a platform to further encourage collaboration among the public and private sectors so that we may better understand and collectively represent the goals of our community.

Recently, KCEDA, in coordination with Betty Riley of SCOEDD, have hired Rick Abel to be our organization’s new Business Development and Retention Manager. Rick comes from an extensive marketing background, where although he is coming from Portland, is previously from Klamath, and is very familiar with the area. We believe that he is going to be a very valuable part of our team, and are excited for the contribution he is going to make to KCEDA and the business community as we continue to move forward. To contact Rick, please refer to his email: rick@teamklamath.com.