MEDP Spark - Coming Together: Collaboration, Compassion, Community - McMinnville, OR

Apr 9, 2020

MEDP Spark, Volume 5, Issue 3 -- April 2020

At MEDP we’ve always known that whether you are starting, locating or expanding a business in McMinnville, it means that you will be working with a city, community and businesses who collaborate and pursue economic success for all. Our community is the heart of who we are, and it’s the reason why McMinnville is an amazing place to work, live and play.

Over the past several weeks we have been working with our Partners, Visit McMinnville, McMinnville Downtown Association, The McMinnville Chamber of Commerce, and the City of McMinnville to develop grant programming to help assist our community with recovery and resiliency. MEDP is also working with these partners in collaborating with local software developer Buildable to create www.yourmcminnville.com : a comprehensive McMinnville page dedicated to local business resources.

Along with these updates, we wanted to share a few other stories from our community that are sparking joy and demonstrating how McMinnville businesses and individuals are coming together to collectively navigate the new challenges we are all facing due to the Coronavirus.

Traded Sector Manufacturers Making a Difference

• RP Advanced Mobile Systems has developed various Covid-19 protection systems including masks, face shields, and a UV- sterilizer.  MEDP has been working to help make the necessary connections at the state and local level to move forward with the production of PPE and CDC recommended materials. Masks and Shields can be ordered by emailing terry@rpams.com 

• The employees at NW Rapid Manufacturing donated their backstock of N95 masks and gloves to local medical facilities. Using their own materials and time, alongside tools provided by their sister company NWUAV and assistance from their machine shop, they are on our way to making 250 face shields for donation to our local healthcare workers! Find out more about what 3D printers are doing globally in NW Rapid’s March Newsletter .    

• Local Manufacturer Freelin Wade is producing tubing for ventilators and other medical devices used to help patients with Covid-19.  Scott Schwarm the General Manager of Freelin-Wade said  "We are helping a company support GM's effort to get out and revamp efforts with ventilators. We already shipped some of the tubing and we are also in discussion with Ford as a ramp-up as well."

Plastic Tubing produced at Freelin Wade

•  Cody Kime Designs, a McMinnville Based Welding & Fabrication company is offering 50% off labor for McMinnville Businesses and Residents, as a way to help off-set the costs for the businesses who are using this time to schedule building maintenance and updates.

Rising to the Challenge:  The Community at its best. 

• McMinnville Water and Light authorized additional matching funds for the Customers Helping Customers program, and increased the maximum assistance per house-hold. 

• A group of local residents approached the McMinnville Downtown Association with an anonymous $15,000-dollar seed-money commitment to be immediately injected into the downtown economy once statewide restrictions are lifted. 700 20-dollar gift cards will be distributed to returning downtown employees who have been laid off during the pandemic as well as first responders. If you would like to make a contribution to this program you can find more information here.

• Prescription Pick-up and Delivery Program: In an effort to promote social distancing, The City of McMinnville and Yamhill County Emergency Management will begin offering a prescription Pick-Up and Delivery Program for our county’s most vulnerable population. McMinnville’s Code Compliance and Community Relations officers will offer this service. More details can be found here. 

• The Linfield College Nursing Program donated backstock of PPE to Virginia Garcia Medical Center.

• Chemeketa’s Yamhill Valley campus provided 1,300 of their procedure masks from their medical programs to Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville.

• The McMinnville Grocery Outlet donated $1,500 between ten local restaurants who have been greatly impacted by the Oregon Stay at Home order.  

• JOANN Fabrics has been encouraging customers and partners to help fight the severe shortage of personal protective equipment, launching their Make to Give face mask program nationwide. Customers are able to pick up a facemask kit at any open store, free of charge, to create masks to donate to healthcare systems and organizations in need.

• Many Local Groups and individuals are sewing masks for frontline-workers and at-risk community members. The News Register covered the story here.

Special Funding Opportunities:

• Citizens Bank has been offering customers several deferment options during this time, and is working with local businesses on the Payment Protection Program, helping customers with getting assistance from the Small Business Administration to help with payroll, mortgage, interest, rent and utilities.  

• First Federal Bank is offering a Consumer & Mortgage Loan Payment Deferral Program, Emergency Personal Loans, Small Business Stability Loans as well as a Commercial Real Estate Loan Payment Deferral program. 

• The Small Business Administration is offering a wide array of business relief options including the Payment Protection Program, EIDL Loan Advance, Debt Relief and more. 

• MEDP is working with our community organizations focused on economic vitality, the Oregon Community Foundation’s Oregon Small Business Stabilization Fund, and the USDA’s Rural Business Development Grant to develop grant programming. More details will be available in the coming weeks.These programs provide grants for  projects that finance and facilitate development of small and emerging businesses, help fund distance learning networks, and help fund employment related adult education programs. These may fund a broad array of activities.

• Applications for the Mid-Valley Angel Fund have been extended! If you are a startup looking for seed funding to get your business to the next level, apply by May 8th. More details about the application process can be found here. Application questions should be directed to Launch Mid-Valley Venture Catalyst Mike White. Mike@oen.org 

The above list of community collaboration is by no means comprehensive. We are hearing more stories everyday of businesses offering portions of their sales to help support local restaurant workers, heartwarming stories about ways our local residents are rallying around small businesses, and stories from individuals about resilience and hope during this time. We hope you will continue to share these stories with us so we can continue to offer support. 

MEDP will continue to update our community on the latest programs, assistance, and issues facing our traded sector companies. We have been updating our Covid-19 Business Resources frequently, and over the past few weeks we have been reaching out to businesses, and will continue to do so. A formalized Business Retention & Expansion program has never been more necessary as it is under these circumstances. While often used as a method of outreach and connection over the course of a year, the timeline has been shortened to a couple of weeks. And while we would prefer this connection take place personally, we are making the best of the physical distanced situation, so phone calls and emails are working. In these conversations, we are checking to see how business is changing, are any resources needed, help with supply chain, retooling for PPE’s, and if we can make any other connections.Though we are eager to resume the face to face visits, it has been amazing to connect with so many of you and see how your businesses are adapting.  We are here to work with you. 

Contact:  503.474.6814 | scott@mcminnvillebusiness.com