By Alayna Shulman

Springfield Times Intern

The local economy may soon be on the mend after officials from Springfield, Eugene and Lane County approved a plan for regional economic development at the Joint Elected Officials meeting last Friday at Springfield City Hall.

The plan was drafted by Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz, Springfield City manager Gino Grimaldi and Lane County administrator Jeff Spartz, who seek to move Lane County into the "next economy" by focusing on key strategies for growth unique to our region.

"It's really about job creation and median income," Ruiz said. "It's not just all about infrastructure."

A main concept of the plan is to strengthen local businesses by adopting a "Birth to Three" program, which will be renamed to avoid confusion with the parenting group of the same name.

This program is intended to give emerging businesses special attention they need in their first three years of operation, which Ruiz acknowledged as being a crucial time.

"As businesses and entrepreneurships enter into their business phase, the needs from day zero to those first three years are different," he said.

Promoting regional culture in order to attract jobs to Lane County is also part of the regional economic development plan. Ruiz emphasized there needs to be more action than advertising for this strategy to be effective.

"This is different from branding," he said.

Another part of the concept of regional promotion is a focus on developing the "key industries" that have already boosted the local economy such as software, renewable energy and health services, Ruiz said.

For more on this and other news from around the Springfield area, be sure to pick up a copy of the March 5 issue of Springfield Times, available at news racks and stores all around the area. Look under the 'Newspaper Locations' link on this site to find out where. To subscribe to the paper, call 741-7368 or stop by 741 Main St.