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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2020)
SIUSLAW NEWS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020 | 5A For Roblan, he sees this to visit with our daughter culture sector, and also as a digital media; and the health as an opportunity not only in a long time. We’re taking destination for tourists and sector. In Montana, “What makes Working remotely could for people, but for coastal advantage of those kinds of retirees. In 2006, it had the oldest population in Canada Bozeman tick is its quality of mean working from home, communities ready to em- things,” Roblan said. life, its access but for some more adven- brace econom- to the outdoors turous people, it also means ic change. “If we can get the infrastructure necessary to make it happen, I and its diversi- “If we can the skies are the limit. No longer constrained to a cu- get the infra- believe there is an opportunity for remote places like the Oregon fied economy, bicle, they can take their structure nec- coast to have people choose to live part of their time on the coast, which makes equipment anywhere there essary to make in environments where they don’t have to worry about traffic jams it an attrac- tive place for is adequate internet connec- it happen, I or other things you have to worry about in the big cities. They can people to re- tivity. Many of those people believe there is are coming to destination an opportuni- go to the beach every day if they want and have an opportunity to locate or open or expand cities, like Coos Bay on the ty for remote have a lifestyle and do work. business,” coast, Bozeman near Yel- places like the — Oregon State Senator Arnie Roblan a Fontenot said. lowstone National Park or Oregon coast “The quality Kelowna, known for its agri- to have people The biggest thread and had the lowest birthrate. of life and attractiveness of choose to live part of their tourism and scenery. “Bright young people the community puts a lot According to Desai, “With time on the coast, in envi- throughout the conversation the rise of remote work, ronments where they don’t was about the importance were leaving our commu- of pressure on the rest of us many people have been have to worry about traffic of internet infrastructure nity, even though we had to try to keep up with infra- looking at whether they can jams or other things you for remote work, including mountains, we had a beauti- structure improvements, as ful lake, great commutes and well as job creation, indus- work out of these lifestyle have to worry about in the schools. At one point, Fontenot a great quality of life,” Mal- try diversification and all cities, out of these smaller big cities. They can go to the towns where you can get beach every day if they want said, “I can’t overstate the lory said. “What we found the things that go along with more value for your mon- and have an opportunity to importance of broadband. was it takes a lot more than a growing population.” Rising industries in Boz- ey, but also are places where have a lifestyle and do work,” It is a utility just like our a great quality of life to at- water, sewer and roads; we tract and retain young pro- eman are photonics and people want to live. There’s he said. optics on one hand and the Roblan’s daughter, a play- should treat it that way, we fessionals.” also a trend of people from Over the past decade, outdoor industry on the these locations wanting to wright and paralegal based should fund it that way and move back, particularly now in New York, will be tak- we should be trying to get it people from governments, other. “Outdoor recreation is at that they can work remotely ing advantage of this when to every person in our com- nonprofits, academia and industry leaders worked to- an all-time high right now,” for a longer period of time.” she visits Coos Bay for two munities.” Mallory agreed. “Hav- gether towards a vision “to Fontenot said. “People are He added that larger cor- months this year. “Her office is sending all ing high speed internet is be a future-focused indus- looking for ways to get porations such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google have of her equipment out here so non-negotiable if you want try region,” Mallory said. outside. That’s a benefit to enabled remote work at least she can do it from our house, to build a future-focused Now, the area is B.C.’s fastest those of us who live in areas that produce those types of through the end of the year, because we do have internet economy. It’s absolutely es- growing tech hub. Working together, they products.” and Siemens has fully gone connections and broadband sential.” In addition, Bozeman has Although Oregon has created the Okanagan that are big enough to han- to remote work. “This could mean a major dle that. She can work for a hubs of fiberoptic networks Young Professionals Col- focused on fiber “to walk the shift in economic develop- couple months, and it will be up and down the coast, Ro- lective, built the Okana- walk of being a tech town,” the longest time we’ve had blan said there is still work gan Center for Innovation, Fontenot said, and attract ment,” Desai said. joined the TechStars Com- tech companies to the area. to be done. “The issue is, can we get munity Pilot Program in By creating a 501(c)4 com- good optical cable in all of 2017 and launched Kelowna munity benefit nonprofit or- these remote areas so that as Canada’s first real-world ganization named Bozeman people can choose the life- 5G smart city solution in Fiber, the area was able to pursue private-sector fund- style and also be able to do June. “Frequently we are cited ing. their work consistently?” he LES SCHWAB TIRE CENTERS “We created the compa- asked. “I’m looking forward as one of the fastest growing to the conversation and to communities in Canada and ny and launched it, then it Tires • Brakes figuring out how to get more also the most entrepreneur- sought the funding, con- Shocks • Alignment structed about a 25-mile ial,” Mallory said. of that.” She said there is high- middle-mile fiber network The other focus on the 4325 Highway 101, Florence conversation was how both growth potential in aero- in the community and lit it Kelowna and Bozeman be- space and advanced man- up about three years ago,” ufacturing; agriculture and Fontenot said. came “tech towns.” In addition, Bozeman information, According to Mallory, viticulture; Central Okanagan was his- communication and tech- hopes to surpass 50,000 HOME OF THE BEST TIRE VALUE PROMISE torically known for its agri- nology; animation, film and people with the current U.S. ECONOMY from page 1A 541-997-7178 Locally Owned & Operated Hoberg’s Cel 70 ebrat + Y ing ear s! 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Roblan also talked about the importance of creating jobs for local people and encouraging graduates and people who moved away to come back. “If you look at Seattle, for example, it is homegrown people who came back and really made that place grow. We’ve been looking at that on a smaller scale,” he said. “You have to figure out the assets you have and how to bring those people back. There are some amazing people out there working across the country who orig- inated in Coos Bay, Ore., and we need to figure out how to get them to decide to come back and start that company, build that little infrastructure that we need here to make things work.” As for the effects of the coronavirus, the senator said that the Oregon coast reached 24 percent unem- ployment due to a shutdown in the tourism industry, ho- tels and restaurants. “Up and down the coast, people have come here be- cause they love the beauty and they love the lifestyle. But we need to diversify our economy,” Roblan said. “I know our chambers are doing surveys all the time to try to figure out what’s that new business, what’s that new thing that we want to do and what can we build in these communities.” For Mallory, Kelowna be- ing a lifestyle destination is one of the reasons it reached its success as a tech hub. “First, we want somebody to come here for a visit, and then hopefully they’ll come back here and work remotely,” she said. “Then, after that, if we can integrate them into the community, maybe they’ll open an office here or a division of a com- pany, and that builds up.” According to Roblan, Or- egon has started to invest more money into internet infrastructure, but that has yet to connect all of the coast. “This is something we re- ally need to prepare for,” he said. “Coronavirus is chang- ing everything in the world, and we all understand that, but we don’t know what that looks like coming out the other side. People are doing everything remotely. … I’m interested in learning about more ways in which peo- ple can make choices about where they want to work, where they want to live and how they want to raise their families.” PNWER hosted the “Re- mote Workers and the Rise of the Main Street” webi- nar as part of its Innovat- ing Our Way out of Crisis series. The full webinar is now available to view in the “past webinars” page at pnwer.org. People can hear more from Roblan periodically through KXCR 90.7 Com- munity Radio’s Fireside Chats on Tuesdays at 5 p.m. Past sessions are available to stream at www.facebook. com/kxcr90.7/.