We did the tour again for the PCC team, led by Gregg Meyer, that is responsible for bring up the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center in partnership with Boeing. Yamhill County Commissioner Stan Primozich and Thompson Morrison, Director of Innovate Oregon, co-hosted the tour, which included:
- George Fox’s Engineering Innovation Center at the College of Engineering
- ChehalemVIA startups Fidgetech and AriAscend, along with community partner A.R.E Manufacturing
- Innovate Yamhill Carlton’s Career Academy programs including agriculture/viticulture, manufacturing, drones and rockets
- Innovate Dayton and its i3 – Inspiration, Innovation & Invention – Center
- Newberg & McMinnville High Schools’ career track programs – CTE and STEM – from robotics to welding, culinary to the engineering and aerospace sciences
- Industry partners including Volta Volaré, Evergreen Aviation Center, and the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership
- Willamina’s new maker-space and Career Academy
Once again, our visitors left speechless. More importantly, the PCC/OMIC team is charged with developing similar types of programs and initiatives and will look to our programs as models for their own.