Woodburn Area Chamber of Commerce
124 W. Lincoln Street
PO Box 194
503-982-8221
Fax: 503-982-8410
Website Designed By:
503-982-8221
Economic Development
The City of Woodburn and the Chamber co-chaired an Economic Development Task Force that developed a draft Economic Plan for the area. Begun in 2009, this plan will be presented to the City Council in 2011.
In 2008 the Chamber formed Woodburn Area Tourism (WAT), to separate and better track the Chamber’s tourism efforts. Working closely with the City of Woodburn, WAT manages the Visitor Information Center at the Woodburn Company Stores, oversees the visitor website www.alwaysfreshdiscoveries.com, promotes area events and attractions, and produces brochures to encourage tourists to spend more time in the area. In 2010 the City of Woodburn approved a three year contract with WAT to allocate $48,000 per year from the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) funds (taxes on motel visitors) to WAT to support our tourism promotion.
In January, 2010 the Woodburn City Council approved a Downtown Plan. With substantial input from the Chamber and area residents, this document lays out an exciting future for the heart of our City. That same year the City authorized pursuit of the Main Street® concept, a thirty-year old national program that has provided guidance for over 2,000 cities to renovate their historic downtowns. A twenty-one member Downtown Action Committee has formed, with four active subcommittees, to adapt this program to Woodburn and restore the heart of our City.
The City with Chamber support has received a $200,000 state grant to develop a similar 99E Corridor Plan to revitalize that vital business district in east Woodburn. The Chamber and City are hosting stakeholder meetings to assist the consultant, who is expected to complete this project by year-end 2011.
The Oregon Legislature approved funding for the I-5 Interchange improvement during their 2009 session. This project is now nearly ¾ funded, and we are awaiting federal grants to completely cover this $90 million partial cloverleaf, park and ride facility, and widening of Highway 214 to Park Avenue. The Oregon Department of Transportation is moving forward on developing specific blueprints for this project, with anticipated ground breaking in 2013.
The mission of the Hubbard Business and Economic Development Group (HBED) is to “identify, develop, and promote opportunities to improve Hubbard’s image, business climate and local economy.” They meet the 2nd Thursday of each month at the Hubbard Fire Hall. Projects include the beautification of Highway 99E, increased communication through newsletters, better signage, park development, a business directory, city cleanup, and serving as the voice for the Hubbard business community.