ENTERPRISE The Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) has awarded a grant of $15,000 to Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) to support development of a local financing ecosystem to meet the needs of businesses and citizens in Wallowa, Baker and Union counties.

The grant comes from two OCF funds, the Miller Charitable Fund and the Ward Family Fund.

These funds will help us bring investing education and tools to the region in the coming year, said NEOEDD executive director Lisa Dawson. Economic and community development partners have laid some important groundwork, but theres a lot more to do to connect investors and entrepreneurs.

Community Capital gives local citizens the option to divert money from the global stock market (which does not benefit the region) into NE Oregon businesses. NEOEDD is part of the NE Oregon Community Capital Collaborative, a group of four organizations working in conjunction with Springboard Innovation and its online platform, ChangeXchange Northwest, to launch a community capital program in NE Oregon.

The Community Capital project is not an NEOEDD-sponsored investment fund, but a program of training and technical assistance to enable individuals to enter into legal investment arrangements with entrepreneurs and businesses of their choice.

This program moves toward creating permanent, mutually beneficial relationships between community members who have capital and small-business owners who need capital to establish or grow their businesses, Dawson said. We want to see a region that is full of engaged citizen-investors and vibrant, creative and successful business enterprises.

NEOEDD was also invited to apply for additional OCF funds in 2014.

The Community Capital Collaborative is seeking additional partners, and volunteers for the following teams: Leadership, Marketing and Communications, Local Loyalty Point System, Local Impact Investing Opportunity Network (LIION), Education, and Event-Planning.

Anyone interested in getting involved, or who wants more information, is asked to contact Lisa Dawson at lisadawson@neoedd.org, 541-426-3598 or 800-645-9454.

The mission of The Oregon Community Foundation is to improve life in Oregon and promote effective philanthropy. Application materials and information about establishing a fund are available on the OCF website: www.oregoncf.org.