The news that Sweet Home Economic Development Director Brian Hoffman is stepping down is sad for Sweet Home.
There is no question that he’s made a difference. Just ask local merchants who have benefited from his counsel over the past three years. Note the connections he’s made in the community, the bridges he’s built, the adversities that have been worked through – some of them long-standing.
Since he began working for the Sweet Home Economic Development Group (SHEDG), supported in part by some funding from the city, in February 2010, Hoffman’s influence has been pervasive and positive.
The paint on some 20 buildings in downtown Sweet Home – including The New Era (in the spirit of full disclosure), the fact that the Chamber of Commerce is operating in the black and has financial policies and procedures firmly installed for its board and employees to follow, the fact that one of Sweet Home’s larger manufacturing firms is still located in town, the fact that some local businesses are sporting new signs and logos, are all results of his work.
The increased focus on local tourism – from the federal and state levels on down – are due in some part to his activism. He has created and led a local Tourism Committee through the Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort (SHARE) to facilitate ways to increase local tourism. He helped establish the trailstolinn.com website, operated by The New Era (again, in the spirit of full disclosure) in conjunction with the Visit Linn Coalition, a group of representatives from the public and private sectors throughout the county who come together each month to advance the flow of visitors to Linn County and its communities.
He’s also greatly improved Sweet Home’s image through publications such as the Sweet Home Visitor’s Guide, which is available at the Chamber of Commerce and is well worth a close look by local residents, who might learn some things worth knowing about our community and what it has to offer. If you enjoyed the artwork in the windows of two empty storefronts along Main Street earlier this year, you can thank Brian Hoffman for that too. It cost Sweet Home nothing.
Those are significant, quantifiable achievements we can thank Hoffman for.
But there are plenty of others. Multiple business owners can attest to the encouragement they got from his visits. There has been a discernable uptick in the level of optimism and positivity, the willingness to cooperate, the willingness to try things such as service training and physical improvements to businesses that Hoffman has suggested might help them be more successful.
We would say, as an entity that maintains close professional ties with many local businesses, that his influence has been significant and will be sorely missed.
Which brings us to another point: It would be a mistake to leave his position vacant. Much of the momentum in the local drive to improve businesses and capitalize on the latent opportunities presented by the spectacular panorama of outdoors recreational and sight-seeing opportunities surrounding us are because Hoffman has put a face on the efforts of SHEDG and SHARE to fulfill their missions to promote local economic development.
He has been the link needed to coordinate the brainpower and energy brought to the table by many volunteers over the years, which has led to many of the achievements noted above.
We have capable local representatives, such as City Manager Craig Martin and others, who can represent Sweet Home’s interests with the Governor’s Oregon Solutions Project team tasked with creating a Santiam Community Forest Corridor. We have a county park proposed for a portion of the 441 acres that was owned by Western States Land Reliance Trust and managed by Dan Desler.
We have significant changes – improvements, in many people’s minds – coming in the Quartzville/Green Peter area. As we’ve said before, big things are happening and if Sweet Home’s residents and businesses are prepared for them, it will not only increase the possibility of these efforts coming to fruition but it will ensure that Sweet Home will benefit from the response to these changes.
With Brian Hoffman out of the picture, at least as a full-time representative of Sweet Home’s business interests, it’s imperative to find someone qualified and capable of taking up the task.
That’s one more significant reason for SHEDG members to show up at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at the Sweet Home Police Department’s Community Room, for the election to fill five seats on the SHEDG board.
SHEDG is not in the financial position it was in 2010 when Hoffman was hired, but local economic development is its primary mission and the sitting board members, plus the five who are elected, will be tasked with determining how to proceed in accomplishing that mission.
Voting requires current annual membership, which costs $15 at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the community needs to thank Brian Hoffman for his contributions. He has labored steadily and effectively and he’s left us better off on a number of fronts than when he arrived. We appreciate it.