FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 11, 2019

(NEWBERG, OR) – The City of Newberg has received a $20,000 Technical Assistance grant award for the 2019-2020 biennia from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. Selected from among 48 proposals, the grant award enables the City to move forward with its Economic Opportunity Analysis (EOA) Project.

The purpose of an EOA is to help the City understand current and projected future needs for land and development as it relates to businesses and employment. In 2019, the Newberg City Council formally adopted “aNewBERG,” the Community Visioning Program, which is a representation of community values that the community of Newberg holds. In the program, economic development was highlighted as one of five topic areas the community wants to strategically address by 2040. In order to reach community goals of creating a thriving economy that leverages geographical amenities and creates family wage jobs, the City needs a better understanding of what land is available.

The EOA will not only help establish what type of land is available and what type of land the City will need in the future, it also helps identify what types of businesses would be attracted to Newberg. This will allow the City to more efficiently and effectively retain, expand, and recruit new companies into Newberg that both complement existing businesses and would be interested in the region.

The Newberg City Council passed a resolution authorizing the City Manager to enter into a professional services agreement with ECONorthwest to complete the EOA on November 18, 2019. The City of Newberg Community Development Department expects the project to be completed by mid-December 2020.

With the nature of work and how businesses are structured changing, the EOA will also give the City the opportunity to understand zoning around the city and reexamine codes and standards to allow more entrepreneurship. According to Cheryl Caines, Senior Planner with the City of Newberg, the plan allows the City to ask: “Are there barriers for entrepreneurship and if so, how do we address them?”

The public will have an opportunity to learn more about the project, hear information the consultant has gathered, and how this information will impact the future of the City at Public Meetings held during the course of the project.

To learn more about the City of Newberg and current projects, please visit www.NewbergOregon.gov.