Corum Ketchum
Meet Corum Ketchum:
Corum has his undergraduate degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management from the University of Oregon. Alongside his planning and policy experience, Corum actually managed and participated in an elite eSports team. Corum spends his time coaching other players, and when he can, he takes his camera and his puppy, Freya, out to explore scenic Oregon. This will be his 2nd year of service with RARE, where he hopes to implement the projects he began during his first year with the City of Veneta.
Community and Organization:
The City of Veneta, located at the intersection of HWY 126 and historic Territorial HWY, is on the way from the Eugene-Springfield area to the nearby Coast Range. Veneta boasts both regional and national attractions; including the Fern Ridge Reservoir, the Longtom River and the annual Oregon Country Fair (where the Grateful Dead famously performed in 1972). Although an easy drive, or even bus ride, to bustling Eugene’s restaurants, breweries, parks, and the University of Oregon, Veneta has maintained a small-town charm in its largely rural surroundings.
Project:
The RARE member, Corum Ketchum, will assist the City of Veneta in implementing innovative place-based and entrepreneur-based economic development programming. Corum will work with regional economic development agencies and small businesses to conduct the entrepreneur-support programming that he identified in his successful application to Business Oregon’s Rural Opportunity Initiative program. Additionally, he will be pursuing place-based economic development strategies that include the formation of a popup retail district for the community’s entrepreneurs and small businesses, and the formation of a brewery (fermentation) incentive package. The incentive package, which the Corum will develop, is intended to bring/grow a brewery within or near downtown Veneta. Corum will also add capacity to the City’s economic development and business assistance boards and committees, as well as the Chamber of Commerce.