An Economic Vitality Plan is a strategic roadmap designed by local governments or organizations to strengthen a community’s economic health. It outlines actionable steps to attract and retain businesses, create jobs, support local entrepreneurs, support local residents in having a good livelihood, and to improve overall quality of life in the community. The Applegate Valley is the first unincorporated rural community selected to do this kind of place- based process to increase rural economic vitality, supported by a grant to A Greater Applegate from the Ford Foundation.
To create the EVP, A Greater Applegate is building on the Applegate Valley Vision that was completed in 2022, two studies on the economic drivers and a map of rural commercial space that were done with the University of Oregon in 2023 and 2024, and all the work that AGA has done through the Business Network, industry-focused working groups, and Wander Applegate. AGA is driving the process, but local business owners, managers and residents are providing the direct input for the EVP. We started with a series of focus groups with industries that are currently driving our economy, including Food and Farm, Wineries/Cideries, Forestry and Fuels Reduction, Artists and Makers, Cannabis Growers, Educators, Outdoor Recreation, etc.
A second round of meetings was based on location. Meetings were held at each of the Applegate Valley’s “village hubs”: Williams, Ruch, Applegate, and Murphy (the Wilderville meeting is still to come). Each hub meeting was attended mostly by brick and mortar business owners from that “village”. The industry working groups provided insight into current conditions,
challenges and opportunities for those industries as a whole. The Village Hub meetings made space for local flavor, and were forums for the passion and community spirit that Applegate Valley residents have for this place we all call home.
We heard from business people whose families have been in the Applegate for generations, and from newcomers who recently started businesses here. We heard from businesses that exclusively serve Applegate Valley residents, and others geared towards visitors or remote customers. There was broad agreement on how much the changes around cannabis have
affected the Applegate, and the entire region. There were concerns about lack of affordable housing, the shortage of commercial real estate and challenges for the commercial sites that do exist, and a broad consensus that county regulations are not currently helpful to economic success and growth here. There were many who expressed a desire for more opportunities for young people so that they could choose to stay here and have a solid livelihood.
There was also a very strong sense of commitment to the community and a focus on finding solutions for the next phase of the Applegate economy. One common theme was that Applegate needs to find a way to increase economic activity and community prosperity without over-development. A paraphrase might be “We choose to live here for a reason, let’s not turn the community into a place we no longer want to live in”. Many attendees promoted a “Buy Local” approach, and many business owners spoke to ways that local businesses can co-operate on a win/win basis. Businesses in the Applegate sometimes struggle to reach residents, and AGA is actively working on this through the activities of the Applegate Business Network and the online business listings at the Applegate Business Directory at https://applegateconnect.org/directory-
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We have a last round of community input before we start the process of writing the EVP itself, and you are invited to be part of it. We have created an online survey to take input from interested members of the community. You can access the survey HERE. This survey builds on several years of prior community visioning and economic studies (see that prior work on the AGA website at https://agreaterapplegate.org/economic-studies/ ) . Your responses to the survey will help shape priorities, identify projects, and guide where future effort and investment should go. Results will be summarized in the final public plan, which we expect to publish this Winter. Please do take a few minutes to respond to the survey, and look for updates on the EVP on the AGA website and here at the Applegater.
