MEDP Spark Q3 '26 - The Business of Building Community in McMinnville, Oregon

Jul 23, 2026

MEDP Q3 - 2026 Spark Newsletter, read the full e-newsletter at this link.

A Letter from MEDP's Executive Director, Patty Herzog:

The Business of Building Community

As McMinnville celebrates 150 years as a city, I've been reflecting on what has made our community successful. It wasn't luck. It was generations of people who chose to build businesses here, create jobs here, and invest in the place they called home. That same spirit will shape what comes next.

For 150 years, entrepreneurs, farmers, manufacturers, engineers, and innovators have built businesses that create products shipped across Oregon, the country, and around the world. Every time a locally made aircraft component, specialty food product, precision metal part, or piece of advanced equipment leaves McMinnville, it brings new dollars back into our community. Those dollars support the restaurants we enjoy, the nonprofits we care about, the stores where we shop, and the services our families rely on.

Business success and community success have always been connected. They grow together.

Looking back over 150 years, it's clear that McMinnville's strongest companies earned more than customers—they earned the trust of the community.

Early in my career, I learned about something called a social license to operate. There are plenty of permits and licenses required to start a business, but this isn't one that a government agency can issue. Unlike a permit, a social license is earned through trust, relationships, and a genuine commitment to the community where a business operates.

For much of McMinnville's history, this happened naturally. Business owners lived here, raised their families here, and helped shape the community by serving on boards, volunteering, mentoring others, and working alongside local government to solve challenges. They understood that strong businesses need strong communities.

Today's economy looks different. Many large employers are part of national or global companies, and leadership decisions are often made outside the communities where people live and work. That makes local leadership engagement more important than ever. Communities are strongest when business leaders are engaged, share their experiences, and help shape the future of the places where their employees live. Investing in local leadership isn't just good for the community—it's good for business.

That belief extends beyond McMinnville. The recently released recommendations from Oregon's Prosperity Council reinforce this idea, emphasizing that Oregon's future competitiveness will depend not only on policies that encourage investment and job creation, but also on stronger partnerships, community engagement, and a shared commitment to economic opportunity. The Council’s report reinforces what we've long believed at MEDP: sustainable economic development is built through partnership.

Partnership begins by listening. This quarter, we'll launch our annual Business Retention & Expansion Survey to better understand your opportunities, challenges, and future plans. Your feedback helps us advocate for the infrastructure, workforce, housing, policies, and resources that support your business growth and strengthen our community.

As we celebrate McMinnville's sesquicentennial, we also have the opportunity to shape what comes next. Whether you're launching a startup, growing a family business, leading a manufacturing company, serving on a nonprofit board, or mentoring the next generation, each of us has a role in building McMinnville's future.

At MEDP, we're proud to help bring people together because strong businesses and strong communities don't happen by chance—they grow through trust, partnership, leadership, and a shared commitment to the place we call home.

That's how McMinnville was built over the past 150 years and how we'll build the next.

Patty Herzog

Executive Director

McMinnville Economic Development Partnership

Read the full Q3 2026 Spark here.

Accolades & Congratulations:

Lori Robertson, Owner, Cutting Edge Metals and MEDP Board Member awarded Rising Star at the Women in Aerospace Annual event, presented by the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance, learn more at the link.
Tom Tankersly, recently retired MW&L Commissioner is this year's recipient of the Northwest Public Power Association's William McCrorie Distinguished Service Award, which honors individuals who have served the interest of public power and NWPPA in an outstanding manner. Read more about his 35 years of service and recognition at the link.

Trimble Aviation & Helicopters named KMMV McMinnville Municipal Airport FBO.

Patton Middle School STEM Students, Launched stratospheric balloon in Page, AZ as part of the NASA Future Engineers TechRise Challenge. Learn more at the link.

Business Program Highlights:

Business Oregon
1. Business Oregon is now accepting applications for the 2026 Industrial Site Loan Fund (ISLF), a $25 million deferred loan program designed to help municipalities and private businesses prepare industrial land for development across the state.
2. Industrial Development Bonds (IDB) - https://www.oregon.gov/biz/Forms/Industrial%20Development%20Bonds/IDB_app.pdf
3. RSIS - Regionally Significant Industrial Site Readiness is a performance-based economic development program that reimburses RSIS project sponsors for approved site improvement expenditures. The City of McMinnville Community Development and MEDP are partnering in application to submit for The McMinnville Landing 190 acre site.

CPace - Yamhill County: Interested parties can connect with Patty@McMinnvilleBusiness.com to learn more about this financing tool offered in partnership with Yamhill County: Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE.

What's Ahead:

We NEED Your Input!

MEDP's work relies on learning more about you and your business. To support in our reporting, we would appreciate you taking a moment to participate in our Business Retention Survey. This will support us in connecting you to the resources to support your growth and success.

Take the McMinnville Business Survey Today or call us to book a 1:1 to visit in more detail about your needs.

Visit our MEDP Calendar Page for links to citywide Event Calendars

Summer 2026: Check out our McMinnville MADE Mayor's Tour Series of some of our innovative traded sector manufacturing facilities.
Aug 13: Q3 2026 Quarterly Business Forum: The People Advantage, RSVP at the link. If you missed our Q2 Forum in May: Access to Capital, find the re-cap and resource slides here.
Mac150 in 2026! Join in celebrating McMinnville's 150th Anniversary, sign up at the link or email noelle.amaya@mcminnvilleoregon.gov for more information.

Thank you to our incredible Investor Circle!

Join MEDP in supporting economic vitality in McMinnville,

Join our Investor Circle today!

MEDP is a 501c6 created in 2015 as a committee of the Chamber of Commerce. We became a standalone entity supported by our primary funding partners: McMinnville Industrial Promotions, McMinnville Water & Light, and the City of McMinnville. We rely on the generosity of our Investor Circle to support programs for our traded sector business community. Please join us in supporting McMinnville business and industry by investing today. Investors will be highlighted at our Annual Event and Awards program and throughout the year at MEDP events and in our quarterly e-newsletter and social media channels.

MEDP's strategic initiatives focus on: