As the city of Oregon looks to its economic future, the Oregon Economic Development Foundation is welcoming two new faces who hope to help bring the city new growth and success.
Alec Thompson is the foundation’s new executive director, and Heidi Coughlin is the new director of communications. Both are longtime Oregon residents — Mr. Thompson has lived his whole life in the city and Ms. Coughlin is a Clay High School alum — and both are eager to get to work for the foundation.
“Overall, we’re very excited,” Mr. Thompson said. “It’s a great time to be in this position.”
The foundation is a nonprofit partnership between the city and the city’s business community to foster economic growth and development. Part of its mission, according to the city’s website, is to retain and attract businesses to the Oregon area.
Mr. Thompson grew up in Oregon, attended Clay High School, and graduated from Central Catholic High School. He graduated from the University of Toledo and most recently was working for the Regional Growth Partnership, an economic development agency in Toledo.
“This city is very near and dear to my heart,” he said about Oregon.
He cited both the planned town center and the new advanced manufacturing zoning district as part of his focus to expand growth, as well as amenities like the dog park and bike trails. During his year with the Regional Growth Partnership, Mr. Thompson’s main project was on business retention and expansion, and he said it was a good way to understand the region economically.
“Oregon is extremely well-placed,” he said, adding that the city has a lot of potential. “We want to attract new business to Oregon.”
Ms. Coughlin moved to Oregon in 1976 with her parents. After high school, she received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University and most recently has worked for Shumaker, Loop, & Kendrick, LLP.
Previously, she also worked as a communications specialist for the Toledo Refinery.
“This will be a great back-to-basics change for me,” she said about her new role with the foundation. “This will be great to get back out in the community.”
Part of the reason she took this position, Ms. Coughlin said, is to get back in touch with people, including both residents and business leaders. Her goal, she said, is to use all the tools at her disposal to establish relationships with business and community leaders as well as to showcase the city.
Oregon has a lot to offer, she said, not just with what is coming in the future but also what is there now, such as Pearson Park, which is part of the Metroparks Toledo system, and Maumee Bay State Park.
“I’m just so excited,” Ms. Coughlin said. “There’s just so much going on with the city.”
Steve Hornyak, chairman of Oregon City Council’s economic development committee, said he’s excited about what Mr. Thompson and Ms. Coughlin will bring to the foundation.
“I think it’s a nice combination of youth and experience coming together,” he said.
Having two people who grew up in Oregon was not any kind of prerequisite for filling the positions, Mr. Hornyak said, but it’s nice that the talent this time happened to be homegrown.
“We’re really excited with both of them,” he said.
Oregon’s economy, Mr. Hornyak said, is kind of split at this point between different sectors — the industrial component and what he characterizes as the “quality-of-life” component, such as retail, restaurants, and service industries.
“Really we’re kind of on two paths,” he said.
The industrial side is good for providing jobs and a solid economic base, Mr. Hornyak said, and the city is pursuing more white-collar industrial business for its advanced manufacturing zoning. But the retail, restaurants, and entertainment are what makes people want to live in the city, he said.
For example, the planned town center, Mr. Hornyak said, is designed to be a place where people can get food or drinks and then walk over to a pavilion to hear live music, or gather with friends and family.
“We really want it to be a destination where people come and spend time,” he said.
Rethinking some of Oregon’s economic growth in terms of service and entertainment rather than just heavy industry has been a slow process, Mr. Hornyak said, but also a gratifying one.
“Economic development doesn’t always mean smokestacks,” he said. “Economic development is a lot of different things.”
First Published April 30, 2022, 12:00 p.m.
