Corvallis-Benton County Economic Development Partnership (EDP)

The SAO presentation about the Stimulus package was a call to action. It is clear that in the next month, it is possible to make a specific difference in how our economic ecosystem moves forward. Now is the time for you to engage in the question, it could make a significant difference to you and to the economy as a whole.

Take a look at the powerpoint and documentation from the SAO Talk about the Stimulus Package and take a look at the Stimulus Resource Guide from Representitive DeFazio. And then join in on the discussion on the Stimulus tab on the SAO Social Media site.

The Deadline for all of this action is 4/15/2009, so you have to start today.

There are some specific things you should do if you want to participate in this effort:

1. Register for the Central Contractor Registration with the Feds so that you are able to enage in requests - http://www.ccr.gov
2. Register for the Oregon Procurement Information Network (ORPIN) at http://orpin.oregon.gov/
   
3. Get your state ESB Certification (if you employ <19 and grossed <$653,244 over last 3 years. http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/OMWESB/esb.shtml
4. Get on the Oregon Way mailing list http://recovery.oregon.gov/
5. Engage in the conversation on the SAO Social Media Site

Now is the time to do this, the time is short.

Drop me a note or give me a call if you have questions or issues - John Sechrest (541) 757-1507

At the Software Association of Oregon ( SAO ) meeting last night, Harvey Matthews put forward the need to engage in the Stimulus Package efforts as a way to make a significant impact on the economy. The key idea is to invest in the software industry in order to start and grow our businesses. Many small investments is more likely to have a larger, long lasting impact.

I see this idea as a way to make an explicit invesmtent in the infrastructure for the Innovation Economy. We see the Stimulus Package focused on improving infrastructure. While it is important to have traditional infrastructure investments in roads and water systems, it is equally or even more important to invest in the infrastructure for the next economy. If we believe that the path forward for our communities is through innovation, then we need to invest in the infrastructure to support innovation.

Paul Graham suggests in his blog post “Can you Buy a Silicon Valley? Maybe. ” that there may be a pathway to creating a startup hub. Specifically investing in the creation of the critical mass of investors + entrepreneurs to ignite the process. This is exactly what we are trying to do with the Willamette Angel Conference. It provides a venue to create the synergy that will build that startup critical mass.

If we can use the Stimulus Package as a way to amplify our investment in our infrastruture for the Innovation Economy, we will have a serious opportunity for getting to the next level in creating a startup hub.

Now is the time to take action

The submission deadline for the Willamette Angel Conference http://www.willametteconference.com is coming up this Friday 3/13/2009.

The Willamette Angel Conference is following the same pattern put together by the http://www.oen.org Oregon Entrepreneurs Network with the Angel Oregon event (on 3/12/2009).

If you know of a startup company that is interested in equity funding for moving forward, now is the time to make the submission.