Over the last quarter, RAIN significantly expanded its footprint in Oregon’s Southern Willamette Valley and Mid-Coast:

Florence and Western Lane County

  • The Florence outreach has been branded with the hashtag #StatupFloCo and we hosted three specialty Meetups: targeting
    Tom Keating, CEO and co-Founder of Cognitopia, presented at the Startup Florence specialty Meetup for tech entrepreneurs.

    Tom Keating, CEO and co-Founder of Cognitopia, presented at the Startup Florence specialty Meetup for tech entrepreneurs.

    Tech Entrepreneurs, Encore Entrepreneurs (active retirees considering a second act in business) and Art-trepreneurs (creatives who want to turn their hobby into a high growth business). Each event saw a large and engaged crowd of startup enthusiasts, highlighted by a turnout of 37 for the Art-treprneur Meetup

  • What’s Next for Florence? We have 3 additional Meetups scheduled for this quarter to help keep the momentum going. One targeted the food and beverage sector, a seminar on the importance of mentoring, and a Founder Fireside Chat. Learn more and RSVP here…

Thank you to our partners at the City of Florence for being the local lead champion (Erin Reynolds, City Manager and Kelli Weese, City Recorder/Economic Development Coordinator)

Lincoln County

  • The outreach in Lincoln County has been branded with the hashtag #StartupLinCo and we hosted our first PubTalk on February 11 along with the Marine Hatfield Science Center and RAIN Corvallis/OSU Advantage Accelerator. More than 20 entrepreneurs came out to Rogue Ales & Spirits in Newport to network and hear RAIN chairman Dan Whitaker and OSU Advantage Accelerator/RAIN Corvallis chief startup officer Mark Lieberman talk about resources for entrepreneurs through RAIN and tips for effective networking.
  • What’s Next for Lincoln County? RAIN Corvallis/OSU Advantage Accelerator is launching their Iterate program via videoconferencing equipment at the Marine Hatfield Science Center (see the RAIN Corvallis section for more details). We will also be hosting a Meetup in Lincoln County in early June (exact date TBA). Stay tuned here…

Thank you to our partners at the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County (Caroline Bauman, Executive Director) and the Hatfield Marine Science Center (Maryann Bozza, Program Manager) for taking the lead to Lincoln County and Newport, respectively.

Albany

  • Startup Albany, a new initiative of 2016, got off to a successful start with its first-ever Meetup on February 24. The event aimed to connect innovators with government, higher education and industry business experts who could give them advice and help them succeed. More than a dozen entrepreneurs attended the Meetup, including Joe Teibel. “I had no idea there were these types of resources,” he told the Albany Democrat-Herald.
  • What’s Next for Albany? The Core Team that was gathered at the end of 2015 will regroup to discuss what we’ve learned from hosting our first 3 RAIN events in Albany, and what direction we need to head next to best support Albany area entrepreneurs and innovators. One of those events is a seminar on May 5th from 3:30-5pm that will be delivered by our Venture Catalyst, Caroline Cummings. The topics are “How to avoid common startup mistakes,” as well as “How to easily write a one-page business plan that impresses funders.” Learn more here…

Thank you to our partners at the City of Albany (Kate Prosche, Economic Development & Urban Renewal Director) for being the local lead.

Springfield

  • RAIN has partnered with Fertilab to help increase awareness of the pre-accelerator programming offered to entrepreneurs and innovators in the Springfield area. A Core Team of Springfield Stakeholders were gathered on March 11th to discuss the “Jumpstart Springfield” initiative. Attendees included representation from the Springfield Chamber, NEDCO, Oregon RAIN, RAIN Eugene, the City of Springfield, McKenzie Willamette Hospital, Sprout, Regional Solutions, and several other government and private sector businesses who care about entrepreneurship and innovation as key drivers to the Springfield economy. The goal was to hear their feedback about what’s working and what needs improvement. The next step was for them help us promote the April 14th “Jumpstart Springfield” Meetup that was held at Sprout.
  • The April 14th “Jumpstart Springfield” event was a great success. Close to 50 people attended and shared their thoughts about how Springfield can better support their needs as entrepreneurs and innovators. Shula Jaron, Fertilab’s Executive Director, has compiled the feedback and is sharing that back with the Core Team who met in early March to discuss next steps. Another Meetup will also soon be announced