Joel Kotkin, a Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and executive editor of newgeography.com, wrote an interesting article for Forbes about the state of Oregon’s economic plight. The article highlights Bend as perhaps one of the communities that will suffer the most in coming months with unemployment rising to 15%.

You can read the complete article here.

I met Mr. Kotkin at Central Oregon Economic Conference a few weeks ago. My friend Lawnae Hunter of Hunter Properties, the shows organizer, invited me to join the speakers for a lunch discussion following the event and I had the chance to meet Mr. Kotkin and learn about his past efforts to help revitalize small communities like Bend.

Such is the story of how I came to be quoted in the article as follows: “There’s a great potential. We just have to get down to business.” This sentiment is overly simplistic, but it is true. Bend has great natural resources and I don’t mean the type that you clear-cut or scrape. I’m talking about clean renewable brain-power – world class talent, like two of the lead developers of the new Palm Pre, Matt Kern and Mark Blank, and one of the the most successful search marketing companies in the world. What Bend also has are a lot of deep pockets that have done well over the years whether by clear-cutting or housing development. Put those ingredients together, along with seasoned business managers, mentoring and community support, and you have the makings of a new  economy.

Now, I’m not saying this can or will happen overnight, nor will it be painless. But, a long-term initiative to fund and nurture 20 small start-ups over the course of 2-3 years will produce results. Think of it as a venture fund for the community of Bend. Expect to see at least three-quarters of the start-ups to fail with the remainder perhaps breaking even. With luck, there could beb a “home run” in the group.

What does that do for Bend? Very little in the short-term. BUt, if repeat this recipe over the course of 10-15 years, imagine what Bend’s ecnomy will look.  In the long run, we can cultivate an environmentally-sustainable, entrepreneurial economy built around the ideal that living in Bend is great, so working in Bend should be great, too.

So, what are we waiting for?