From a press release 

A lot has happened in 2020 may be the understatement of all time. It is a year that has and continues to test endless individuals and industries across the globe.

In Klamath, what is being less talked about, yet is on full display across the community, is our region’s surge of new construction. This past year combined with the next upcoming 12 months, Klamath County will have experienced record levels of new development, representing a diverse spectrum of industries, including: Clean Energy, Banking, Professional Services, Hotels & Lodging, Education, Retail, Healthcare, Food Services & Accommodations, Automotive, Pre-Fabrication Production, and Advanced Manufacturing. Spread across the County there are more projects than ever before which have either been recently completed, are currently in construction, or are set to begin construction within the next year. Dozens of examples are available that range from the new OHSU Rural Health Center, to the Bogatay Construction Headquarters, to Oregon Tech’s Center for Engineering and Excellence, to the Marriot’s Fairfield Inn, to Swan Lake Energy, to People’s Bank, to the Balsiger Redevelopment, and the list goes on and on. Collectively, these developments, represent over $1.2B in new capital investment taking place in Klamath County, along with the creation of over 200 new jobs.

Klamath County Commissioner, Derrick DeGroot, spoke on behalf of the BOCC about this development spike, stating, “Our building department is busier than ever issuing new permits. There are so many local private and public stakeholders that have contributed to making this most recent momentum possible. I’m very proud of our area’s leadership for collaboratively prioritizing economic development in recent years and am excited to continue working closely with the development team at KCEDA to further capitalize on the foundation that’s been laid.”

For many years following the recession, new construction in Klamath County had been nearly absent. The financial crisis and its repercussions were particularly difficult on rural communities like ours, placing hardship on local businesses of all shapes and sizes. The grueling length of our economic recovery undeniably became a major inspiration for the important efforts taken these past few years to reconfigure our local leadership and key stakeholders around executing collaborative strategies that better position our economy for success. Working together to leverage the unique characteristics and unparalleled assets of our County, private and public sector partners throughout our community have spent endless hours driving initiatives to help shape Klamath County into a more industrially diverse marketplace that is capable of supporting consistent new investment from a wide range of enterprises.

According to Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) CEO, Randy Cox, there’s still much to be done, but was happy to validate the hard work is quite evidently starting to yield results for the region. Cox states, “The efforts to stimulate development by us and our partners are beginning to pay off. We have a lot of economic potential in Klamath County that’s yet to be realized, but there’s promising economic momentum taking place that we are better prepared than ever to build upon. Exciting times lie ahead.”

Speaking about KCEDA’s ongoing work with the State of Oregon to evaluate impacts COVID-19 is having on the Klamath County economy, Cox also stated, “KCEDA and our partners have been working closely with the state to identify how our county has been effected and if we are positioned for recovery growth as opposed to more loss. Klamath has been identified as a top 5 county to experience strong growth in Oregon overtime based on its existing industry make-up and project activity. The volume of groups we are working with on recruitment, BRE, or entrepreneurship with since the coronavirus hit has only grown. The project portfolio we have at KCEDA currently makes me very confident about the direction our economy is going in.”

To give the community a thorough understanding to each of these new developments and their economic value to the area, KCEDA and Herald & News are excited to announce a limited media partnership involving a monthly section within H&N that features detailed information about these developments independently. Recently appointed H&N Editor, Tim Trainor, celebrated the agreement, stating, “We are very excited to team with KCEDA on this endeavor and look forward to providing our loyal H&N subscribers greater access to information surrounding these developments through this arrangement.”   

About the Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA)

KCEDA’s mission is to lead economic development and diversification of Klamath County through targeted recruitment & attraction, business retention & expansion, as well as small business development and entrepreneurship. Learn more about KCEDA and how they can help you, please visit their website, www.ChooseKlamath.com, or contact their offices using the information below.