The Oregon Coast hospitality sector is at a pivotal moment. In partnership with the Lane County, Northwest, and Southwest Workforce Boards, we are diligently working on the Department of Labor Critical Jobs grant project. This initiative is designed to align our employment opportunities with the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Good Job Principles and to develop actionable solutions to the challenges faced by our industry. Your participation is crucial to our success.

Participate in the Survey: Your Voice Matters 
To gain a comprehensive understanding of the current employment landscape, we are conducting detailed owner/operator and employee surveys. As of now, we have received 32 responses to the owner/operator survey, and we need at least 60 to meet our target. If you haven’t completed the survey yet, please do so here: Owner/Operator Survey.

For employees, we have created a similar survey to capture insights across all levels of the workforce. Employers, please share this link with your employees: Employee Survey.

Here is a link to the ORLA page with the information

https://www.oregonrla.org/workforceblog

Get free assistance to help your tourism business (such as a resort, hotel, restaurant, tour company) reduce waste, in particular, the use of single use plastics, and in general be more efficient and profitable.

Host business applications will be due February 17, 2024

Oregon Sea Grant provides this assistance through funding obtained by an EPA Pollution Prevention grant. Third- and fourth-year college students and graduate students are recruited to conduct projects that help Oregon businesses reach their waste prevention and sustainability goals. 

During this 10-week internship, college students are matched with an Oregon business to create sustainability solutions for industry practices. Interns help businesses improve efficiency, save money and reduce waste through projects based on preventing pollution.

The interns are PAID, and the program is FREE for first-time businesses.

This is a win-win program that supports environmental workforce development, waste reduction, environmental protection and economic savings.

By the end of the internship, each intern will provide the business and project team the following:

• a final detailed project report, following OASE’s outline
• a case study summarizing the project for an external audience
• a presentation of project results to be delivered to the project team, business management, and external partners

Host business applications will be due February 17, 2024. Before submitting an application, please review the OASE Program Information section below and contact us to discuss your project idea.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please review the Host Business Responsibilities, and then click here to apply.  If you need the application in a different format, please let us know. We would be happy to assist you. 

A new report has been published on the economic importance of the Ocean and coastal natural features along the Oregon coast. (Fall 2023) You can access the report via the link below.

An excerpt from the ERG website presented below provides a partial description of the report.

“In 2022, the Oregon Legislature directed the Oregon Business Development Department (Business Oregon) to conduct several comprehensive market analyses of emerging industry sectors within the state. In support of this effort, ERG conducted market analyses of the Ocean Resources and Blue Economy sector, which includes economic activities that depend on the ocean, shoreline, and estuaries along Oregon’s coast.” https://www.erg.com/news/erg-supports-market-analyses-oregons-ocean-resources-and-blue-economy-sector

Full Report

Appendix E: Opportunities Assessment

Appendix F: Funding Database