Lexi Woodward, executive director of the South Coast Development Council, told the North Bend City Council at its Oct. 13 work session that the council-funded regional economic development organization is actively marketing North Bend sites to state leads and expanding entrepreneurship supports.

Woodward said the South Coast Development Council (SCDC) submits North Bend properties to a state platform called Oregon Prospector and runs direct marketing to site selectors and brokers. “We basically act as an extension to the city of North Bend economic development team as appropriate,” she said.

The report said SCDC serves a 12-city, four-county region that includes Coos and Curry counties, provides business retention and attraction services, and operates the South Coast Accelerator business incubator at the Newmark Building on SWAP’s campus. Woodward said the organization is membership-funded and receives private foundation and state and federal grants; North Bend funds its $10,000 annual membership through the city’s urban renewal agency.

Woodward described recent activity that included submitting multiple North Bend sites to three state requests for information called Project Build It, Project Save and Project America, adding for-sale and main-street parcels to Oregon Prospector, and running email campaigns to brokers. She said the accelerator is “100% full” with nine tenants and a waiting list, and that most tenants serve North Bend residents.

Woodward also outlined entrepreneurship programming SCDC provides across the region: two-day and six-week “coStarters” training, a monthly peer networking “morning grind” mastermind, one-on-one advising, and pitch nights in Coos and Curry counties. She said the organization is working to track participant outcomes and business metrics for funders and planning purposes but noted some tenants are reluctant to share sales figures even in anonymized form.

Council members asked about the meaning of the “blue economy”; Woodward said it refers to businesses related to water and maritime activity. She also said funding limitations constrain the programs: she told the council the Southwest Orbit Innovation Hub received the lowest hub funding in the state, which limits what SCDC can provide locally.

Woodward said City Administrator David Mowire sits on SCDC’s executive committee and that she can follow up with councilors about an expected pitch-night date in January.

The presentation concluded with council questions about program metrics, funding and local participation; Woodward offered to provide additional reporting on participant tracking and outcomes.

Ending: Councilors did not take action on the presentation; Woodward said she would provide follow-up details on the pitch-night date and participant-tracking plans.