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SATURDAY, JULY 23, 2016
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WE ARE SOUTH COAST STRONG
An economic evaluation of the Oregon South Coast
Build on our strengths — and potential: we’re making inroads into new, renewable tech and alternative energy development while developing new efficiencies within existing industries/ enterprises. Trends and the future: an economic report card shows challenges and hope for the future.
LARRY CAMPBELL Executive editor
DISCOVER DIGITAL Serving Oregon’s South Coast since 1878
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Left: Sights from a modern lumber mill at Southport Forest Product’s North Spit site. Right: In the welding shop at Southwestern Oregon Community College, Steve Matousek works on his pipe welding certificate final on a recent afternoon. ucts and raw materials adhere to traditional economic endeavors, but with new, more efficient and more economical methods. Businesses and industries are interconnected in a variety ways that promote an overall healthier economy. Our production of market goods are encouraged and supported by new entities, like the reconstituted South Coast Development Council and Wild River Coast Alliance. That development influences improvements in our transportation modes. The growth in health care professions encourages development of educational programs, which in turn also creates new employment opportunities. We are not losing our younger
generation to the extent we might have feared. The oft-cited notion of “brain drain,” where young adults leave rural areas to find new opportunities in larger urban centers, is largely overblown. Instead, we’re finding that while some people ages 18 to 29 leave for the big city, many more people aged 30 to 45 either return or move to areas like the South Coast, bringing with them higher incomes, greater skills and a conscious desire to relocate to rural communities. These principles are indicators of the overall health of a community. And the signs are encouraging. Inside today’s newspaper you’ll find six special sections, each with
Photo galleries: Digging for Science. Local content: Around The World podcast.
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It’s clear that we have more opportunities before us than ever before. But the biggest challenge we face isn’t lack of economic opportunity — it’s our public health situation. Few people would disagree — your health is your most important asset. But the South Coast lags in that category. Coos County in 2015, ranked 29th out of 34 Oregon counties for overall health outcomes. We had 40 percent more premature deaths than the state average, meaning that people are dying before the age of 75 of diseases that are preventable, such as lung cancer in a smoker or heart disease in an obese person. In Coos County, 26 percent of our adult population smokes tobacco, compared to a 16 percent average for the state. And 30 percent of our adults are considered obese. In our last section, we highlight what the county health department is doing to try to reverse those numbers and how you can participate. We can’t take advantage of any economic growth if we’re sick.
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its own theme: Economic juggernauts: these entities provide large numbers of jobs, and help build and define the South Coast. Growth and harvest: natural resource harvesting remains one of the South Coast’s biggest industries. Big on jobs; big on giving: more economic juggernauts, these operations also contribute in a big way to the growth and prosperity of the South Coast. A sojourner’s paradise: we have opportunities to take advantage of in developing an already viable visitor industry. What we’re doing, from the largest enterprises to the smallest communities.
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SOUTH COAST OPINION OBITUARIES
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Good question — what about it? The South Coast Strong series has always been about existing businesses and entrepreneurs, and that’s what has guided the selection of stories for today’s special section. The fact is, the Jordan Cove Energy Project’s proposed liquefied natural gas export plant does not exist, and the company has contributed minimally to the local economy so far. Certainly, there are proponents who predict economic boom with the construction and future revenues. But right now, there isn’t much to count. Indeed, state economists make their forecasts with the same considerations in mind — if an entity is producing an economic impact, include it in any evaluation. If it isn’t, don’t consider it. We decided to follow the same protocol. Similarly, we have chosen not to focus any attention on current disputes over timber policy, especially the issues that timber harvesters have with government land use policies. Indeed, many in the wood products industry Please see Strong, Page A8
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The South Coast Strong theme isn’t exactly new. We started two years ago looking for stories about the local economy that showed businesses that were succeeding, even growing, despite the recession that was assumed to have curtailed development. But while writing individual stories over time was fine, it wasn’t giving us a comprehensive picture. By publishing all these stories together, three important overarching principles emerge: Our economy has a built-in diversity of which innovators are taking advantage. New ventures in agriculture, construction, health care delivery, and exports of prod-
LOU SENNICK PHOTOS, THE WORLD
The log ship Jiangmen Trader is loaded with logs for shipment to China at the K2 terminal in North Bend.
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SOUTH COAST — When we look around the South Coast, what do we see? Some see a depressed corner of the state of Oregon, weighed down with poverty, chronic health problems and all manner of socio-economic ills. And while that may be true, it’s also the case in many areas in Oregon, as well as the rest of the country. Others of us, though, see opportunity. We see abundant — and real — chances for prosperity in spite of the negative realities. Today’s special edition of The World calls attention to those opportunities. We believe you’ll see that those opportunities are greater than we might believe. Today we give you South Coast Strong — Special Edition. Inside you will find an extra 48 pages of local news devoted to a deeper analysis of the South Coast economy — both its challenges and its myriad successes. We’ve spent the last two months gathering information for this edition, to provide a collection of stories that examine everything from the largest enterprises on the Coast to the smallest storefront endeavors; from the most powerful economic engines to the young entrepreneurs who are just beginning to contribute to the economy and the community. We believe we found some fascinating information about our South Coast economy, and it is best revealed only in a collection of stories like this.
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