Economic Growth Not Slowing in Redmond
In early January, the Investors for Redmond Economic Development, Inc. gathered to toast to another successful year and hear about forecasts moving forward.
Redmond’s Economic Development Outlook
REDI Director, Steve Curley started off the evening sharing how Redmond as a community is continuing to grow. The 16th largest city in the state of Oregon, the city grew 2.7% last year and the Portland State Population Research Center projects the population could reach 54,219 by 2040.
For REDI, 2023 saw two projects completed bringing 46 jobs to the area with over $12 million in capital investment. While 2022 saw slightly bigger numbers, Curley told investors the pipeline for REDI remains strong for 2024 and beyond.
Five owner-occupied projects are currently in process with construction in various phases totaling over 340,000 sf and over $477 million in capital investments. One of those projects is Wild Mike’s which broke ground in December and will be fully under construction this spring.
Several sectors are seeing growth, including aviation, aerospace, warehousing, and distribution, as more goods are being brought into the region to serve the growing population. Curley also noted a new supply chain semiconductor business will be starting in the area soon leveraging federal CHIPS Act funding as well as Business Oregon funding. This will be a great boon for the Redmond area.
Above all, in the next two years alone, Curley says he expects to see over a half a billion dollars in new public projects coming out of the ground. An exciting time to be in Redmond!
Updates from the Federal Reserve
Attendees also enjoyed a rare treat of hearing from and speaking with Ian Galloway, Vice President, and Regional Executive of the Portland branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Galloway engages businesses and banking leaders throughout Oregon, Southern Washington, and Northern Idaho. He partakes in listening sessions throughout that territory to understand the issues businesses and banking leaders are facing while reporting those findings back to the Fed.
During his presentation, Galloway gave a 30,000-foot view on how the Federal Reserve works, where the different branches are located, etc. The main goal of the Federal Reserve is a healthy, inclusive, and sustainable economy. This includes making sure everyone who wants a job has one; the American dollar has consistent value; financial and payment systems work day-to-day; and people can get cash or coin whenever they need it.
Of special note, REDI guests learned about the Fed’s dual monetary policy mandate to achieve maximum employment and price stability. Galloway dug into numbers around the labor market and inflation and shared some interesting insights into how Fed policy makers think about the impact of interest rates on the economy.
While Galloway couldn’t speak to economic specifics, he did share with the crowd that many of the rural businesses he’s met with recently seem to be thriving. This was in contrast to conversations he had had in parts of the valley region and Portland, where many businesses seem to have had a harder time bouncing back post-pandemic. He remains optimistic about Oregon’s economic future though and hopes that people from across the state look to communities like Redmond for inspiration.
REDI would like to take a moment and thank all our investors, sponsors, and stakeholders for supporting the mission of economic development in Redmond. If you would like to learn more about the important work we do to build prosperity in the region, visit us at www.rediinfo.com.
