Column: Introducing GRO Greater St. Helens and a new column on Entrepreneurship | News
It is with excitement, and honor, that I share the first column in this new series under the heading of “GRO Greater” focused on all-things-entrepreneurial in St. Helens and beyond, in Columbia County. If you’re not familiar, GRO Greater St. Helens is part of a larger initiative called Growing Rural Oregon (GRO), developed and funded by the Ford Family Foundation.
Launched in 2021, GRO aligns with a proven national network of initiatives in rural communities to help build economies and communities committed to strong entrepreneurial growth and “bottom up” economic development.
GRO influences both industry leaders and empowers local champions to transform their communities for the better. This is done by helping participating communities identify opportunities, share and leverage best practices, initiate networks, connect to new ideas, and grow and share valuable business resources. Even more important, GRO builds this ecosystem FOR existing and prospective entrepreneurs, from concept microbusinesses to established companies undertaking innovation.
“The Foundation recognizes the importance of supporting entrepreneurial ecosystem building as an economic development strategy in which communities have the tools to support and lift up local entrepreneurs and leverage their unique community assets to stimulate innovation and sustainable economic vitality,” said Kathleen Flanagan, director of Community Economic Development, Ford Family Foundation.
We couldn’t agree more.
Tied to the national framework is GRO Oregon, which is designed to give small Oregon cities identified by the Ford Family Foundation the tools to build more resilient, diverse, and sustainable economies for our rural communities and empowering local entrepreneurs. Local residents of GRO communities help drive the initiatives in order to customize and best reflect the unique needs of each community.
Which leads me to the GRO Greater St. Helens initiative, specifically.
GRO Greater St. Helens is the pilot program of a Columbia County-based GRO effort designed to foster a culture of support for entrepreneurs and innovation, and accelerate the growth of our local economy.
“St. Helens is well-positioned to help area entrepreneurs become more competitive in capturing available and growing consumer spending. A focus on understanding the needs of the entrepreneurial talent that exists across the community positions it well for growth and greater wealth creation. The Foundation is proud to support St. Helens’ participation in the GRO program as it commits to jumpstarting entrepreneurial behavior and engaging the broader community in growing prosperity over time,” added Flanagan.
In accepting the invitation to become a GRO community, the City of St. Helens committed to local economic development by cultivating home-grown talent and startups, supporting small business, and encouraging entrepreneurial activity.
Because this work is outside typical city or municipal core function, the city partnered with our organization, Columbia Economic Team (CET) – where GRO aligns quite well with our new Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and long-time small business promotion program, Keep it Local Columbia County.
A local “Leadership Team” of local businesses and community stakeholders – many of them entrepreneurs themselves – and others, has formed and continues to grow and evolve along with the “GRO Greater” initiative.
Our goal with GRO Greater St. Helens is to network entrepreneurs and connect them to the right resources at the right time – for them, including education and financial pathways as well as professional services and complementary businesses.
We are on the cusp of a riverfront revival and are putting systems in place to promote and encourage development of our city as a vibrant, accessible economic center and destination for residents and visitors. Consistent with St. Helens position as a hub of many things for the entire county, the benefit of GRO Greater will ripple out substantially from St. Helens, countywide.
We believe that, as has happened elsewhere around the country, this work succeeds by: building community, using best practices and data to educate, growing and sharing resources, inspiring local ownership; and building robust entrepreneurial ecosystems to enhance development opportunity more profusely in dense urban areas but not typically available in smaller, less populated and rural areas. We have a lot in store and a big vision and we look forward to bringing it to the community.
In the months ahead this GRO Greater column will feature guest contributions from the people involved – and the people and businesses benefitting from the GRO initiative. These will include business leaders in St. Helens and the county-at-large, successful entrepreneurs, funders, mentors from throughout the state and beyond, leadership from Columbia Economic Team and Small Business Development Center, the GRO Greater St. Helens leadership and advisory teams – and entrepreneurs….maybe you!
We will be bringing you content that includes local stories, tips and advice in getting an idea off the ground, success and failure, information about events and networking, interviews with business leaders, and much more. If there’s something you think would be valuable to hear more about, let us know!
