Tory Banford manages urban renewal projects in southeast Salem and West Salem for the City of Salem where he has worked since 2009. His role also includes coordinating with regional economic development partners to leverage resources to grow businesses. Prior to working in a public agency capacity, Tory was a regional representative for large manufacturing corporations.

He completed the Certified Economic Developer program in 2018 and he has been helping OEDA with the trainings since 2019.