What We Need: We must diversity our economy with a focus on economic activity that is more resistant to disruption, is guided by sustainability values, takes advantage of the changes that are underway globally, and is better able to be supported by residents.

Municipal government has a specific role to play in supporting local businesses and it involves creating an atmosphere that enables and supports business start ups and growth. Much of this is related to the work the city generally does - roads, utility infrastructure, and public safety.

But in our case, it goes beyond that to include housing affordability and childcare because local businesses cannot thrive if they are unable to recruit workers across the spectrum because of the difficulty of finding housing and childcare.

Economic Disruption

For several decades, Ashland’s visitor and student economies hummed along with little additional support needed, but that is no longer the case. Over the past few years, our local economy, like local economies across the country, has been rocked by the pandemic and the impacts of the climate crisis. In our case, that’s extreme heat, wildfire, and wildfire smoke and while we have not seen increased floods, our risk of flooding and drought are both increasing.

Our community anchors, like SOU and OSF have vigorously stepped toward this change and worked to restructure their systems to accommodate this change. The City has supported those efforts and stands ready to assist as we move forward. We have also partnered with the Ashland Chamber of Commerce to develop SmokeWise Ashland - a groundbreaking program to help local businesses that is serving as a model for other communiities.

Local business owners have also stepped up to the challenges, but not all have survived the disruption. It has been heartbreaking to see some of Ashland’s long-time businesses and restaurants close over the last five years. But new businesses are coming in and our recovery post-pandemic has been strong.

Council Action

The Council has hosted several business roundtables to understand and address the challenges of both our large anchor institutions as well as our small businesses as they relate to the City. In response to what has been learned through these roundtables, the City has:

• changed the rules to allow food carts in Ashland

• worked with Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission to make it possible to have limited alcohol in some of our parks to encourage more events

• installed new compacting garbage bins in downtown Ashland with more coming for the Exit 14 area

• offered business beautification grants to local businesses where the City pays half the cost for external improvements

• developed the Early Childhood Affordability Grant Program to address childcare affordability for Ashland’s working families

• launched an online permit application process to make it easier to secure city permits

• streamlined the process of hosting a public event in Ashland

• initiated an update of our 2011 Economic Opportunities Analysis - the first step in updating our Economic Development Plan

• developed a management advisory committee with local businesses to clarify and streamline regulations that local business owners need to comply with inside the city

• hired an economic development analyst to focus attention on economic development

• supported clean up operations at the Croman Mill project and the 20 acre Ashland Railroad Yard so that they can be developed for commercial, light industrial, and residential uses

Next Steps

Going forward, economic resilience will be key. Our visitor economy cannot rely so heavily on the outdoor theater, and our community as a whole needs to continue to diversify our economy to protect us from future disruptions. Our economic reality is intertwined with the decisions we must make about what the Ashland of the future should be. The answers to those questions will help us shape an economic future that is both healthy and resilient.

To do that, we must continue to do what we can see in the short term, like making it easier for businesses to start and grow in Ashland. And, we must look to the future. The world has changed significantly over the past few years and our plan moving forward must acknowledge and accommodate that change. The Economic Opportunities Analysis that is underway forms the foundation of an Economic Development Plan, which we are developing with the community as part of the larger strategic planning process on tap for 2025.

Moving forward in a strong way means continuing to partner with the Chamber of Commerce, SOU, OSF, and other communities in the Rogue Valley on win-win economic development efforts.