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KCEDA’s Strategic Relations Committee has recently begun an effort to meet with municipalities throughout the county to discuss what their area’s needs are and what assistance KCEDA can provide. Recently the committee presented to the City of Malin, where Executive Director Greg O’Sullivan, as well as KCEDA Members, Randy Shaw and Al Pranghofer, spoke about the history of KCEDA and its new vision. The committee will continue meeting with other municipalities within Klamath County in the upcoming months, as they soon will be visiting both Merrill and Chiloquin. Recently, KCEDA representatives visited Crescent, and following conversations with their area business owners, have begun assisting on a special projects such as supporting the efforts of the Crescent Sanitary District to build a new waste-water system.
To access KCEDA’s letter of support to Crescent Sanitary District, please refer to the link just below.
KCEDA Letter of Support – Crescent Sanitary District (Waste Water Treatment)
We are very happy to announce that KCEDA has added and approved three new members (one Platinum, and two Regular). Our new Platinum member is Terry Scroggin (representing Molatore, Scroggin, Peterson & Co.), and our new Regular members are Robert Kingzett (represented as an individual) and Kay Neumeyer (representing the City of Malin). We are excited to welcome these new members, and look forward to their involvement.
On February 8th KCEDA Members attended the monthly board meeting at the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT). Items covered in this meeting were updates regarding utilities, discussion on the upcoming SiteLink conference, as well committee reports. The Organizational Committee discussed membership recruitment efforts have transitioned to being more directed towards potential Gold, Silver, and Regular membership prospects. As a special presentation, Oregon Tech President, Chris Maples, spoke to the board about the economic impact Oregon Tech has on a local and state level, and concluded his talk by speaking about what plans Oregon Tech has in the upcoming future, and how KCEDA and the Klamath County business community can benefit. To review President Maples presentation, please refer to the link provided just below. The next KCEDA Board Meeting will be held on March 21st at 5PM, taking place within the Coldwell Banker building.
OIT’s Economic Impact (President Maples Presentation Slides)
Merkley, Wyden, Walden, DeFazio Introduce Bipartisan ‘TSA Fairness Act’ to Bring Commercial Air Service Back to Klamath Falls Airport
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and Representatives Greg Walden and Peter DeFazio today introduced the bipartisan Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act, or ‘TSA Fairness Act,’ which would restore commercial air service to the Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport by bringing back federal TSA screening at the airport.
“The Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport is a critical transportation link for the region, and it’s unacceptable for bureaucrats 3,000 miles away in D.C. to stand in the way of restoring commercial service,” said Merkley. “It’s time for the TSA to restore screening services in Klamath Falls and ensure that local residents, businesses and Kingsley Field have the air travel options that are so essential in today’s interconnected economy.”
“Oregonians who live in and around Klamath Falls should be able to count on TSA to work for them just as it does for larger cities,” Wyden said. “Our state’s rural economy depends heavily on the viability of its local airports and our bipartisan bill would require TSA to be a better partner in helping ensure essential connections for rural communities.”
“Since TSA won’t restore screening to Klamath Falls on its own, Congress needs to pass a new law forcing them to do so. The people of Klamath County deserve safe, reliable air service,” said Walden. “Returning commercial air service would give greater flexibility to residents, tourists, and business travelers, and it would help grow jobs in rural communities in Klamath County and across the region. I’m proud that this bill will help accomplish that, and I look forward to moving it through the U.S. House.”
“Travel is difficult enough for rural Oregonians without the added burden of worrying about safety,” said DeFazio. “Travelers from Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport deserve the same security and peace of mind that other travelers across the country are granted. It’s imperative that TSA resume operations at this airport and restore screening services to the people who depend on this airport for their travel needs.”
The Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport has been working to restore commercial service since carrier SkyWest left the airport in June 2014. Last fall, the city of Klamath Falls received a commitment from Alaska-based carrier PenAir to bring back commercial service with daily flights to Portland. However, the TSA stopped providing screening services at the airport after SkyWest’s departure. Despite repeated calls from the local community and from Oregon’s congressional delegation for the TSA to resume service so that PenAir can begin commercial flights, the federal agency has thus far refused.
The TSA Fairness Act would require the TSA to restore screening services to any airport that lost service after January 1, 2013 and that has a guarantee from a commercial airline to resume service within one year.
The Crater Lake-Klamath airport is a key infrastructure link for Crater Lake National Park, which is one of Oregon’s premier tourist destinations; the U.S. Military, which trains all F-15 pilots at the Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base adjacent to the Crater Lake-Klamath airport; and for the entire Southern Oregon community. Without commercial service from Klamath Falls, many Southern Oregon residents are forced to drive several hours each way to access commercial flights from Medford or Bend.
The legislation was introduced in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives today. In addition to Merkley, Wyden, Walden and DeFazio, the bill is cosponsored by Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Enzi (R-WY), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Reps. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Will Hurd (R-TX), and Derek Kilmer (D-WA).
Graduation Rates Reflect Klamath Promise Efforts
By: Samantha Tipler, Herald and News
Oregon, the Klamath County School District and the Klamath Falls City Schools all saw an increase in four-year graduation rates for 2015. The Oregon Department of Education released the annual numbers on Thursday.
- Klamath County School District: 75.9 percent – 7 percent higher than 2014
- Klamath Falls City Schools: 65.3 percent – 2 percent higher than 2014
- Oregon: 73.8 percent – 2 percent higher than in 2014
The rise in grad rates is a signal that initiatives like the Klamath Promise are working.
“I think this is a step along the way,” said Anne Hiller Clark, Klamath Promise coordinator. “It shows us how we’re doing right now. It gives us a reason to keep our efforts going.”
Even though four-year rates improved this year, Hiller Clark said the Klamath Promise focuses on the five-year completion rate because it includes more than just the standard high school diploma.
“It offers a broader picture and, I think in a lot of ways, it’s a more useful picture,” she said. “Because it includes the extended diplomas and the modified diplomas and the GEDs.”
The five-year completion rate released this year is for the class that started high school in 2010-11; the same class that finished its four years in 2014. It is not the same group of students who finished their four-year graduation in 2015.
• Klamath Falls City Schools five-year completion rate: 77.8 percent
• Klamath County School District five-year completion rate: 82.3 percent
After a little more than two years in existence, Klamath Promise is starting to track its activities, to see exactly if and how it affects graduation rates.
“Try and determine those outcomes. Try and quantify them,” Hiller Clark said. “We’re still fairly early in our efforts to able to definitively point to something and say, ‘that is the direct result of the Klamath Promise.’ There’s so many factors that go into a student’s life that affects their success in school.”
But helping address all those factors in a student’s life is one way the Klamath Promise is working to make a difference by partnering with organizations such as Klamath Basin Behavioral Health, Friends of the Children and Citizens for Safe Schools.
“The Klamath Promise brings all these different sectors of our community together to work toward the goal of 100 percent graduation,” Hiller Clark said. “We’re able to, as a group, address most aspects of a student’s life in one way or another. It’s not just academics.”
For the future the Klamath Promise is planning on celebrating the successes so far. It’s working on a community-wide event to honor the graduates who worked so hard for the strong numbers the schools and districts are seeing.
“We’re not where we want to be. We’re pleased with the numbers. We’re glad to see the numbers are up,” Hiller Clark said. “We want to keep working to get where we want to be. We want all students to come out of high school with not just a degree, but we want them to have a plan for what they’re going to do next.”
On January 7th, KCEDA held its first Speakeasy event at the local Basin Martini Bar. This was the start of what will be monthly gatherings, aimed to have current and prospective members of the organization come together to socialize and further advance the conversation on how our local leadership can help improve Klamath County’s economic climate. Collectively, there were over 25 attendees present for the event, one of which was guest speaker Drew Honzel of the Klamath Trails Alliance (KTA).
The KTA is a non-profit organization, comprised of several outdoor enthusiasts (hikers, mountain bikers, trailer runners, etc.) whose mission is to lead the charge in non-motorized trail development. The organization primarily focuses on acquiring trail right of ways, working on trail design, building, and maintenance, as well the promotion and marketing of these areas. During Honzel’s presentation, the audience was able to learn about how successful and important the trails are as a component of economic development, as Honzel commented on several benefits the trails offer in making a community more attractive for new residents, tourists, and businesses.
KCEDA will be having its next Speakeasy on Thursday, February 18th. More details as to the location, time, and upcoming speaker will be made available in the next week. If you would like more information about this event or KCEDA, please contact Andrew Stork (andrew@teamklamath.com).
As 2015 ends and 2016 begins, Team Klamath is releasing the findings of our first quarterly members’ survey. Although the full survey data is not yet published, here is an overview of the findings.
Improvements
We sought to find out how many of our members had experienced an improvement in business quality over the past year. When asked whether business has improved (such as increases in contracts and/or sales) over the past 12 months, 52.17% of our members said yes. 39.13% said their businesses had stayed the same, and less than 10% (8.70%) said that business had decreased.
Investments
Many of our members rely on capital investments and fixed assets to maintain and improve their operations. When asked how many members had purchased any new equipment or made any large capital investments within the last two years, 73.91% responded affirmatively. 26.09% of members stated that they have not made these purchases.
We asked members to list any capital or equipment investments in the comments section of the question. The responses include:
- Construction and landscaping equipment
- Infrastructure upgrades
- Printing equipment, software, and hardware
- New building construction ($17 million), commencing in 2016
- Computer server and phone system
Sales
Because sales are the lifeblood of any business, we asked our members where the majority of their sales are derived. 56.52% of members stated that the majority of their sales are local, 4.35% attributed the bulk of their sales to business in the state of Oregon, and 34.78% said that they were sustained by regional sales throughout the Pacific Northwest. Although 4.35% claimed to rely on national sales throughout the United States, no respondents indicated that the majority of their sales were international.
Market Research
Understanding markets is a key to success in nearly any industry, and KCEDA plans to help members gain a foothold on it in 2016. Among our members, 34.78% indicated their market research capabilities were strong, 47.83% of respondents said their market research abilities are “average,” and 13.04% chose “weak.” Only one respondent chose “very weak.”
Klamath County Business Advantages
One of the missions of KCEDA is to improve the business climate of Klamath County. With that in mind, we asked members what business advantages they identify here in the county. Their answers include:
- Small, manageable competition
- Quality of life
- Affordability
- Low advertising costs due to word-of-mouth referrals
- Strong community ties
If you participated in the first KCEDA Business Climate Survey, Team Klamath thanks you for partaking. As 2016 kicks off, we plan to use the data we gathered for your ongoing benefit as a local business owner. To see the actual survey results, please refer to the underlined link provided directly below.
Job Growth and Decreases in Unemployment
The Oregon Employment Department (OED) has provided KCEDA updated statistics on employment trends within Klamath and Lake County. According to their reports, results show economic momentum occurring as a result of decreasing unemployment rates in both counties, identifying Klamath’s growth industries to be professional & business services, private educational & health services, and construction. To review the OED’s South Central Oregon Unemployment Press Release, please refer to the OED Press Release link below. For more information on economic forecasts for our County, you may also refer to their most recent OED Economic Indicators Report, listed below. If you have any comments or questions regarding this information, please let us know.
SiteLink Conference Coming to Klamath in May
Article comes from a piece featured in The Oregonian’s Oregon Live
Klamath Falls, Oregon (November 6, 2015) – Klamath County has been chosen as the location of the next Sitelink Forum, a regional conference that takes place in strategically chosen areas throughout the nation. The event, scheduled to be held at the Running Y Ranch Resort in May 2016, will be attended by seven site selectors from throughout the weste
rn United States. “Hosting an event like this speaks to the vitality of southern Oregon’s business climate,” said Greg O’Sullivan of the Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA). “And, it speaks volumes about Klamath County’s initiative to be in the game when it comes to aggressive business recruitment.”
According to the conference organizer, Klamath County was chosen as the site because of its stalwart commitment to economic development. “Klamath County is really proactive,” said Paige Webster, owner of Webster Global Locations. “They are forward thinking, and they care about getting more exposure to site selectors nationally.”
That exposure is crucial to future growth and development opportunities for the county, Webster says. “Site selectors do 60% of all the binary employer and large manufacturer projects in the world,” he said. “Exposure to them can make a real impact for Klamath County, but it’s also going to be good for the state because we bring in economic development agency representatives from all over the country.” Attendees from California, Nevada, Washington and North Dakota will be onsite to see what southern Oregon has to offer.
The Sitelink Forum conference will take place May 18-20 at Running Y Ranch Resort. For attendance information, contact Paige Webster at (602) 621-0576. For information on economic development in Klamath County, contact Greg O’Sullivan at (541) 882-9600.
About the Klamath County Economic Development Association
Since 1975, TEAM Klamath (KCEDA) has reflected the best of private enterprise, responsibility and dedication. Its mission is to provide tailored recruitment and retention/expansion programs, new opportunities for jobs, a diversified, value-added industrial base and expanded economic development. Because TEAM Klamath and Klamath County are aware of the needs of businesses, they have a collection of business incentives suited for companies looking to expand or improve their workforces.
Retail Coach – Klamath Falls Survey Results
From November 11th to November 30th, The Retail Coach released a survey for people throughout the County to complete. The survey looked to assess areas such as monthly spending on retail, local spending versus spending outside the area, as well preferred retail businesses and restaurants people would like to see in the area. There were over 600 responses. To access the survey results, please refer to the underlined link just below:
