Symposium

Columbia Gorge Economic Symposium

MCEDD’s annual event, held on the first Friday in November, brings attendees from across the five-county district together to learn and engage across industries and jurisdictions for the benefit of our regional economy. 

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2025 Event Summary

Our annual event on Friday, November 7, 2025, at The Ruins in Hood River focused on Resilience as this year’s theme. Our program included:

• Keynote presenter Erin McMahon, Director of Oregon Office of Emergency Management (slides here),
• Presentations on our regional economic data from both our Washington and Oregon regional economists, Ajsa Suljic and Nicole Ramos (WA slides, OR slides), plus
• A panel of different industries and organizations reflecting on resilience, including Dillon Borton, VP Senior Business Banking Relationship Manager with Key Bank; Jon Davies, Partner and Agent with Columbia River Insurance; Greg Pack, President/ General Manager of Mt. Hood Meadows; Joe Karney, VP of Engineering and Utility Operations with NW Natural; and Charles Young, Emergency Manager of Hood River County.

See you next on November 6, 2026!

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2024 Event Summary

Thank you to the 120 attendees who made it to our 2024 event! On Friday, November 1, 2024, at The Dalles Civic Auditorium, we heard from:

• Keynote presentation from Helen Price Johnson, Washington State Director of USDA Rural Development (USDA slides here),
• Regional economic data update summary (both summary and more in-depth slides are combined here),
• A panel of main street businesses with Lucy’s Informal Flowers, Vibe Consignment, and Big Foot Coffee Roasters,
• A panel on agriculture with Aniche Cellars, Valley Crest Orchards, and Holzapfel Ranch, and
• Highlights on MCEDD’s work over the last year (slides here).

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2023 Event Summary 

More than 100 people gathered on Friday, Nov. 3 at The Gorge Pavilion at the Port of Cascade Locks Marine Park for MCEDD’s annual event.  The day included:

• MCEDD Executive Director Jessica Metta sharing a summary of key projects this year implemented from the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (presentation here);
• Keynote from Futurist Steve Brown speaking about “Navigating the Generative AI Revolution: A survival guide for leaders in the Era of Intelligence.” (resources for attendees here);
• Summaries from our Oregon and Washington economists of current conditions (Oregon presentation here/ Washington presentation here);
• And a business panel with Kara Owen from Skamania Lodge, David Ortega from Orchard View Farms, Carina Farrar from Full Sail Brewing, Brice Barrett from Insitu, and Travis Dray from Adventist Health Columbia Gorge to talk about challenges and opportunities within their respective industries.

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2022 Event Summary

On November 4^th, 2022, MCEDD hosted our 8th annual 2022 Columbia Gorge Economic Symposium. We were pleased to return to an in-person gathering with excellent networking between leaders across the region in the areas of government, economic development, workforce development and business. Our Keynote Speaker was Margaret Salazar, Region 10 Administrator for the US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, sharing her thoughts on how housing and economic development intersect, what solutions we might see from the Federal government, and examples of successful solutions around Region 10. Our panel discussion focused on all the activity in the region’s Renewable Energy industry, from different forms of generation to storage, distribution, and innovative new uses. And as usual, we heard annual updates from our regional economists with data to show how recovery is going.

• Final Agenda
• CEDS Presentation
• Economist Presentation: Oregon
• Economist Presentation: Washington
• Panel Slides

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2021 Event Summary

On November 5^th, 2021, MCEDD held our 7th annual 2021 Columbia Gorge Economic Symposium. The virtual event included presentations from our regional Oregon and Washington economists plus leaders in business, housing and workforce sharing innovative models for economic development. MCEDD also shared a the draft 2022-2027 Columbia Gorge Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy. Thanks to our event sponsors: U.S. Economic Development Administration, NW Natural, and The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce! Presentations and materials are posted below.

• 2021 Symposium Agenda
• Fishpeople Presentation
• Columbia Gorge Workforce Housing Presentation
• CGCC Presentation
• OR Economy Presentation
• WA Economy Presentation
• CEDS Draft Presentation

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2020 Event Summary

On November 6th, 2020 the region came together for the first ever virtual Symposium to discuss impacts to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic and to understand how industries have been adapting to this ongoing crisis. Once again, we are reminded of the strength and resilience of the Gorge region during times of upheaval, and we commend our community leaders for taking action and working together during these unprecedented times. We will continue to build on this work as we move towards a path to recovery and increased economic prosperity for the Mid-Columbia region. Thank you to Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership and The Dalles Chamber of Commerce for sponsoring this event. Presentations and materials are posted below.

Agenda 2020

Presenter Bios 2020

Keynote Address, Anne Kubisch

Washington Statewide Economic Trends, Steve Lerch

Oregon Statewide Economic Trends, Josh Lehner

Washington Regional Economic Trends, Scott Bailey

Oregon Regional Economic Trends, Dallas Fridley

 

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On November 1, 2019 the region joined together for networking, a detailed understanding of what industries are driving economic vitality in the region (Hood River, Wasco and Sherman counties in Oregon and Klickitat and Skamania counties in Washington) and a robust discussion around 50 years of the Gorge economy. 2019 marks the 50^th anniversary of MCEDD and the annual symposium in this milestone year took an in-depth look at MCEDD’s past and future serving the region and the industries driving economic vitality for the future of the Columbia Gorge. Thank you to event sponsors NW Natural, The Dalles Chamber of Commerce, US EDA and Columbia Gorge Community College. Presentations and materials are posted below.

Agenda 2019

Speaker Bios

Driving the New Energy Economy (David Anderson)

Imperial Stock Ranch (Jeanne Carver) 

Data, Data, Data (Dallas Fridley/Scott Bailey)

Preparing for the Next 50 Years (Dan Spatz)

 

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Agenda – November 2, 2018

Speaker Bios

Industry Employment and Payroll in the Columbia Gorge (Scott Bailey/Dallas Fridley)

Economic Development Strategy Overview (Amanda Hoey)

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2017 Event Summary

The 2017 Columbia Gorge Economic Symposium took place in November 2017. Thank you to event sponsors NW Natural, US EDA and Skamania Economic Development Council. Over 100 attendees were able to network and learn more about the region’s economy. The event included a keynote from Jason Spadaro, SDS Lumber, and featured a panel discussion on the current and future reality for the Gorge’s forest and wood products sector. See the Agenda and Speaker Bios for more information. Copies of the presentations are available below.

Keynote Presentation– Jason Spadaro, SDS Lumber

Gorge Industry Employment and Payroll– Dallas Fridley, State of Oregon Regional Economist

Klickitat and Skamania Data– Dallas Fridley