FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 21, 2018
Contact: Lacey Dykgraaf
Office: 503-434-7450
(MCMINNVILLE, OR) – The McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) is honored to receive a grant from The Ford Family Foundation (TFFF) and The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) to expand their Oregon WORKS initiative into rural Oregon and to build out additional workforce development programming in McMinnville, Oregon.
MEDP’s Oregon WORKS program is designed to inspire more community internship opportunities in Oregon. MEDP delivers daylong workshops based on their award winning McMinnville WORKS Internship Program to help communities design and implement similar programs in their communities. Designed in partnership with business, the Oregon WORKS model takes a triple bottom line approach to internships. It needs to be good for companies, good for the interns, and good for the communities. In 2017, in partnership with the Oregon Talent Council, the Oregon WORKS program helped build programs in Oregon including Gorge WORKS, Clatsop WORKS, and Chemeketa WORKS.
The grant, provided by both TFFF and OCF, allows MEDP to deliver four workshops to rural communities in Oregon interested in building internship programs in their communities. Rural is defined as a community with a population under 35,000. More information on how to apply for a workshop will be announced in Fall 2018 and the workshops are expected to be delivered in Spring/Summer 2019.
TFFF was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford. Its mission is “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon, with a Scholarship office in Eugene.
The A. Ted and Doris E. Nelson Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation also contributed to the grant. The mission of OCF is to improve the lives for all Oregonians through the power of philanthropy. OCF works with individuals, families, businesses and organizations to create charitable funds to support the community causes they care about. Through these funds, OCF awarded more than $108 million in grants and scholarships in 2016.
The grant also allows MEDP to begin a discussion on building a program for high school students in McMinnville, Oregon. Executive Director, Jody Christensen, commented on the grant saying, “Not only have we been given the means to expand the Oregon WORKS program and help build programs throughout the state, both Foundations are allowing us to build out more workforce development resources in our own community. We are grateful to begin building these connections and resources.”
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About MEDP: The Partnership includes the City of McMinnville, McMinnville Water & Light, McMinnville Industrial Promotions, the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce, and area businesses. To learn more about the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership, visit www.McMinnvilleBusiness.com or at facebook.com/McMinnvilleBusiness.