The city of Reedsport has a new employee, courtesy of Resource Assistance for Rural Environments, an AmeriCorps program.
Emesha Jackson has spent the past two years in Costa Rica.
“I just finished up in the Peace Corps a few weeks ago,” she told a Main Street meeting Sept. 9. “I was born and raised in New Jersey.”
She and her husband, Jameson, returned to New Jersey to pack and drive across the country to the Oregon coast.
“I’m really excited to be here and working with you,” she said. “I’m brand new to Oregon and Reedsport.”
“I have been trying to study up and orient myself on the community as a whole, the Main Street Program, and finalize a work plan.”
She said that since her assignment here will last only 11 months, she’s already busy.
“I feel like there’s a lot that we can accomplish together through the Main Street Program,” she said. “This community has so many great assets to work with, and I have no doubt it will be successful in its commercial district revitalization efforts and increased economic base.”
“It’s the first time we’ve had anybody, in house, whose primary focus is working on economic development,” City Manager Jonathan Wright said. “We all wish we had more time in our lives to give to these programs, and now we have somebody whose primary goal is just to work with us to get through these hurdles.”
Jackson spent two years as a community economic development facilitator in Costa Rica. Her experience includes community development, project management, capacity-building skills, renewable energy, environmental sustainability and business planning.
She attended Rumson-Fairhaven Regional High School in Rumson, N.J., graduating in 2004, and also attended Monmouth University in West Long Beach, N.J., where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and management.
Her experience also includes time as a temporary data analyst at Bloomberg Financial.
Her husband, Jameson, is also a RARE employee and serves as a food system development analyst for the South Coast Development Council. The two served together in the Peace Corps.
Originally Published in The Umpqua Post
2741 Frontage Road
Reedsport, Oregon 97467
Phone: 541-271-7474