Brian Hoffman started work Tuesday, Jan. 19, as Sweet Home’s new economic development director, but it wasn’t really his first day on the job.
After arriving in early January from Pratt, Kan., and settling into a home with his wife Monica, their daughter Brianna, 10, and 18-month-old son Kaden, Hoffman set about familiarizing himself with the community he is tasked with helping to reach its economic potential.
He attended various meetings of the Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort (SHARE), got his Rotary Club membership transferred from Pratt to the Sweet Home branch, and met with Chamber of Commerce and SHEDG officials.
“I have to network within the volunteer and business community,” Hoffman said.
“I’m sure as time goes on, I’ll be visiting businesses on a regular basis and visiting other service clubs.”
Hoffman, 34, was hired Dec. 4 after a nationwide search that ended with Sweet Home Economic Development Group officials interviewing five finalists they considered particularly viable. They chose Hoffman, who brought lifetime experience in small towns mixed with a background in economic development and a business degree from Oregon State University.
Born and raised in Dunsmuir, in northern California, Hoffman says he got an early start in public affairs.
“I’ve always been involved in community development €“ in high school, I was active in city politics, school boards,” he said.
“As a child, my mom was involved in the Booster Club. It was a perfect fit. My mom always made me volunteer for Railroad Days in Dunsmuir €“ setting up tables, setting up chairs.
“My passion for economic development was born out of that, I guess.”
After graduating from OSU in 1999 with a degree in business finance and a minor in economics, Hoffman thought he was headed for a banking career.
Instead, his first job out of college as with the Siskiyou County Economic Development Council in Yreka, Calif., up the freeway from his hometown.
As business development manager he worked under a U.S. Forest Service grant to update community action plans in small, local lumber communities that had been affected by the decline of the timber industry. He facilitated town hall meetings and assisted communities in obtaining grant funding and meeting other needs that they identified through action plans, Hoffman said.
Eventually, he moved into a more “traditional economic development role” as manager of the local enterprise zone.
During his time in Yreka he helped local communities land grants to build parks and was “intimately involved” in creating a business incubator along with commercial shared used kitchen, where local residents brought their favorite recipes for sauces and other products that could be packaged and sold at market.
Hoffman said his primary focus in Yreka was “retention and expansion of local business” through the enterprise zone, the business incubator, and business education courses offered through a Small Business Development Center.
He said one of the things he learned there was the value of “volunteer momentum.”
“I know enough that it’s bigger than one person,” he said. “It takes that volunteer passion and commitment to accomplish something. You can accomplish with that volunteer spirit to divide and conquer.
“That volunteer momentum is something I saw as an asset for this community in interview process,” he added. “In the first two weeks, I can see that it’s definitely there.”
After 2 1/2 years with the Siskiyou County Economic Development Council, he left to join a business partnership in the construction field for several years, then worked for Coca-Cola in Mt. Shasta as a plant finance manager for a short time.
“As far as learning how corporations work, what they do, that was fabulous,” he said of his stint with Coca-Cola. “But I just wasn’t suited for corporate America. After that asked myself what I liked to do the best and the answer was community and economic development.”
Hoffman said he got interested in moving to Kansas because his family was from there and he thought it would be a good place to raise a family.
“I knew western Kansas and the Midwest was a hot spot for economic development and rural development, with the alternative energy €“ wind farms €“ there,” he said. “I thought there were a lot of opportunities out there from a career standpoint.”
He took a job in Pratt, a town of just over 6,000 people located some 50 miles due west of Wichita. He served as director of the Chamber of Commerce, economic development and travel and tourism.
He said one of his challenges there was helping the local population “work most efficiently together” within those three functions.
Pratt is a “regional hub,” located at the hub of two major highways, which sets it apart from Sweet Home.
“It is not a desirable tourist location,” Hoffman said. But it is “very well positioned for economic growth,” with new motels and restaurants €“ and sports complexes.
“We used tourism as a way to bring people to Pratt,” he said. “We utilized the sports complexes, baseball tournaments. We had to be creative in why we brought people to Pratt. Those tournaments brought a lot of people. We were in an agricultural, oil and gas area, so we hosted the Kansas Oil and Gas Association meetings, which brought people to town.
“We utilized local businesses and their associations to try to attract meetings to the community.”
Once the people got there, he said, the goal was to get them downtown.
“One thing about the Midwest is that the downtowns are extremely developed,” Hoffman said. “Pratt had a brick main street. It was extremely attractive and we really tried to capitalize on that with creative events.
“Whenever we had a baseball tournament or whatever it was, we tried to tie that into the downtown to make that connection.”
After 2 1/2 years in Pratt, the Hoffmans decideded they needed to be closer to the West Coast.
“Every community has its good and bads, but my wife’s family were on the West Coast and we were further than would have liked from my family and hers,” he said. “There’s something to be said for being close to family.”
Hoffman said he started to pursue jobs in Oregon and applied for the Sweet Home position because, among other things, he liked the size of the town.
“I didn’t want to be in a larger community,” he said.
He said his first goal is to meet with SHEDG officials, for whom he works, and identify short- and long-range economic development goals that he will pursue.
Hoffman said that Sweet Home has a big advantage in seeking to turn itself around economically: the Oregon Jamboree.
“It’s very uncommon for a community to have that kind of event that can reinvest those funds back into the community,” he said. “I think SHEDG is really committed to using those funds. My hiring demonstrates that.”
He said he’s encouraged by steps already taken, particularly the exterior improvements program offered by SHEDG, through SHARE, which provides increased financial assistance this year for businesses seeking to improve their appearance.
“If we can assist a small number of buildings to improve their façades, more will do it and the next thing you know, we’ll have a fabulous downtown,” he said.
Hoffman said one of his big goals is to build “momentum” for the downtown.
” I don’t think Sweet Home has a bad image,” Hoffman said. “I was impressed with the downtown when I first came through, but I think we can add to the momentum.
The biggest challenge he sees is to “reinvent the town €“ channel the passion people have for their community.
“The chamber and SHEDG have passion. We just have to channel that passion from all sides of community to work efficiently and build better community. It’s a large task, but it’s very possible.”
He said it’s key to keep people working together and not to let volunteers burn out.
“You can’t do everything, not as an individual or organization,” he said. “As a volunteer group you can do so much together, but you have to be careful not to do too much.”
Hoffman wants to encourage visits from business operators and local residents interested in seeing the economy improve.
“Any time people have questions or concerns, I want them to contact me, to stop by the office any time,” he said. “I’m very approachable. That’s one of my assets.
He can be reached at the SHEDG/SHARE offices at 1331 Main St. or at (541) 367-3069.
He said he sees plenty to work with in Sweet Home.
“You have to have passion first. That’s 90 percent of the battle,” Hoffman said. “It’s already in place here.
“So far, everything I anticipated as positive has been there.”