Pacific Rim Economic Development

JORDAN COVE ENERGY
LAND USE HEARING
August 28, 2007
JUDITH M.L. HANSEN, PRESIDENT
SOUTHWESTERN OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE


Good afternoon Coos county Planning Department Members. I am Judith Hansen, Southwestern Oregon Community College president. Today I request your consideration of the major positive impact that the land use proposed by the Jordan Cove Energy project will provide for the Oregon South Coast economy. Economic Development through new workforce opportunities, new tax revenues for continued student access to education, training for our rapidly changing workforce needs and expanded opportunities for our families will result from Jordan Cove industrial land use through increased training, employment, salaries and spin-off businesses.

This year, Southwestern Oregon Community College announced start-up funding for nine new careers in Allied Health, Alternative Energy, Golf Course Horticulture, Construction Technology, Hospitality and Tourism, Transportation, Marine Fire Science, and Manufacturing Technology to train workers for the new South Coast economies represented by the land use proposed for Jordan Cove Energy . Without the local tax base that Jordan Cove will provide for continued training in these nine new fields, funding for our new programs may not continue.

In a recent state-wide Economic Impact Study, it was found that past Southwestern Oregon Community College students contribute 12% of the total salary incomes on the South Coast. We can improve on that percentage by increasing the number of graduates who can afford to stay and work on the South Coast following their education at Southwestern. In that same Oregon Economic Impact Study, it was found that over $1,000,000/year in medical, welfare and crime costs in Coos, Curry and Douglas Counties are saved through your investment in our students’ education. We can increase the social benefit of higher education and reduction of the costs of crime through increased numbers of employees trained for work on the South Coast. And finally, 19.3% of our tax payers’ investment is returned to you through the education of our students at Southwestern Oregon Community College. You will not find a better return on your dollar and Southwestern can continue that rate of return for every tax dollar generated by Jordan Cove Energy Corporation.

The opportunities provided by Jordan Cove for employment, training, increased tax revenues and related economic benefits for our Bay Area will return to our Bay Area an increased quality of life. A healthy economic future for the Oregon South Coast is in our hands, ladies and gentlemen: an economic future with the help of Jordan Cove Energy Corporation that will repay your investment through new family wage jobs for decades to come.