Eli Heindricks

Email: eliheindricks@neoedd.org
Title: Regional Main Street Coordinator
Organization: Northeast Oregon Economic Development District
Community: Wallowa County
Population: 7,545
County Served: Wallowa County

Meet Eli Heindricks (he/him):

Originally from a small town in central Indiana, Eli Heindricks is a graduate of Purdue University with degrees in Economics and Political Science. During Eli’s first year in the RARE program, he served as a Rural Broadband Specialist with Marion County Economic Development. While working on broadband, Eli’s project focused on bringing high speed, reliable internet to agricultural communities and wildfire-impacted communities in the North Santiam Canyon. When not working, you can often find Eli camping, cooking, or reading at coffee shops.

Community and Organization:

Wallowa County is a spectacularly beautiful region in far Northeast Oregon. Many of the county’s cities are situated at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains, also known as the “Alps of Oregon.” From the alpine summits of the Wallowas, visitors can see high dessert reaching over the region’s vast landscape. Hells Canyon, North America’s deepest river gorge, acts as the county’s Eastern border with Idaho. Wallowa County provides numerous outdoor recreation activities for locals and visitors alike, including skiing, water sports, mountain biking, ice skating, hiking, and horseback riding. Aside from the region’s outdoor offerings, the cities and communities that call Wallowa County home offer a variety arts and cultural activities that are available throughout the year.

The Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) is a nonprofit organization that was established in 1985 by an intergovernmental agreement between Baker, Union, and Wallowa counties. Its mission is to provide resources and facilitate quality decision-making for the benefit of entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities in Northeast Oregon. Their work includes providing loans and Individual Development Accounts to entrepreneurs and individuals seeking post-secondary education and hosting trainings and workshops for entrepreneurs and small businesses. NEOEDD also provides grant writing, grant administration, project management, and capacity building services to cities, counties and non-profit organizations within their service territory.

Project:

Eli is focusing on Wallowa County’s small business and entrepreneurial community during his term of service. Working with Oregon Main Street and the Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce, Eli is engaging with interested community leaders to develop a regional Main Street program. He is specifically taking a lead role in identifying barriers to participation for communities that want to join a regional program and determining the organization’s administrative support structure. Eli is also completing an entrepreneurial ecosystem assessment for the region, in collaboration with NEOEDD staff.