By Mary Owen
After more than a decade of leading GROW-EDC, Allison McKenzie is moving on.
“I decided it was time for a new challenge,” said McKenzie, executive director and entrepreneurial coach for the organization. “I am open to all possibilities for the future, and look forward to making an important difference somewhere else, but first, I intend to have a great summer!”
McKenzie’s interest in working with GROW started in late May 2008 while reading an ad for an “enterprise facilitator” in the Salem Business Journal.
“I thought, ‘hey, that looks like fun,’ and decided to apply,” she said. “I’d moved back to the Northwest about 18 months earlier and was ready to start working again, so the work with entrepreneurs intrigued me.”
McKenzie brought to her GROW position almost three decades of experience in business development consulting, writing, lecturing, and investment sales and management.
“I’d been doing consulting work with entrepreneurs in upstate New York and had a strong background working with business owners,” McKenzie said.”
Armed with experience and ambition, McKenzie hit the ground running at GROW, a locally-driven, locally-supported program that offers free, confidential, one-on-one business coaching to any entrepreneur in the North Santiam Canyon area.
Focusing on people rather than financial aid or traditional training programs, GROW also offers classes and guided roundtable discussions on business-related topics such as website development and marketing strategies. A local resource board meets regularly to brainstorm ideas and share their networks of resources on behalf of an estimated 700-plus GROW clients.
McKenzie loved helping people plan for, launch, expand, diversify, buy, sell or tweak their businesses in all GROW communities, from Aumsville to Scio, to Idanha and Detroit.
“In addition to our bread-and-butter one-on-one consulting work, we’ve helped people avoid bankruptcy, find funding, hire staff, negotiate disputes, navigate the balance between their business and family life, and make decisions large and small,” she said.
“Whether I’ve worked with folks once or twice, several times every year for the past 10 years, or seen them only through the classes we offer, I have loved helping them put practical feet under their dreams and aspirations. It has been one of the great pleasures of my life watching seedlings of an idea grow into something meaningful and cheering each one of their successes.”
Many GROW participants will miss McKenzie’s confidential and personal interaction, including Alan Meyer from Pacific Power.
“Allison’s enthusiasm, dedication and passion for the North Santiam Canyon will be dearly missed,” Meyer said.
“She has been a valuable asset to our broader community.”
Steve Poisson with Revitalize Downtown Stayton called McKenzie a “shining star” who knows “everybody and everything about business in the Canyon.”
“Her smile, personal concern and expertise will be greatly missed in our area,” he said. “We have been lucky to have her.”
“Allison has been instrumental in bringing people together to promote our area, helping countless local businesses grow and thrive,” said Ronda Lehman, owner/designer for Lucky Dog Design in Stayton. “I will miss her thoughtful insights, enthusiasm for community building and passion for encouraging people around her.”
Rebecca McCoun, executive director of the North Santiam Watershed Council, worked with McKenzie on several projects looking at special forest products and stewardship contracting.
“Allison puts her whole heart into the projects she takes on,” McCoun said. “She helped connect people and get them the resources and information they needed to make informed decisions. She is an amazing person with so much energy and commitment.”
“I’ve known Allison since she first came to our region to help,” said Kelly Schreiber, former executive director with Stayton Sublimity Chamber of Commerce. “She came at a very low point in our economy and has been vital to helping entrepreneurs be successful. Allison leaves behind a legacy of businesses and organizations that benefited from her coaching and are thriving today!”
Ken Cartwright, general manager of KYAC community radio in Mill City, has also known McKenzie from the start. Calling her organized, enthusiastic, a good teacher and confidant, Cartwright said, “She has helped so many think through starting and creating business plans. She will be missed, but has left her mark.”
A large part of that mark is the McKenzie’s efforts to help build a culture of collaboration in North Santiam River Country, an identity that grew out of a need to create an interactive network of people helping people.
“The soul of our work is collaboration,” McKenzie said. “We believe that everyone has something to offer. We intentionally harness the collective intelligence, passion and know-how of our community members to create something where nothing existed before. That is the beauty of collaboration in rural areas – everyone gets to play, and everyone has something to contribute.”
McKenzie credits people stepping up to offer their expertise to a fledgling business or community project for GROW’s success.
“Our people here have been so generous with their time, talents, resources and energy,” she said. “We could not have had the success we have had without so many community members stepping up to offer their brains, resources and heart.”
During McKenzie’s tenure, GROW, in partnership with Rural Development Initiatives and the Ford Family Foundation, hosted an Economic Vitality Summit in the spring of 2015. Two projects grew out of the Summit, including a two-year pilot project with OSU Extension to bring business people into the classroom at Santiam Canyon High School.
Then in 2016, GROW brought a Rural Tourism Studio Accelerator project from Travel Oregon to North Santiam River Country, which translated into the first regional multi-day, multi-location event launched over the weekend of the Great Eclipse the following year. River Fusion 22 won two awards: Festival of the Year (budget under $150,000) from Oregon Festivals & Events Association, and the Most Inspired award from Travel Salem.
McKenzie’s last official GROW event will be the “Small Steps, Big Results” class on May 7.
“It has been my great privilege to witness so many local people and their businesses grow and prosper,” she said. “I feel sad about leaving, but also know it’s time for my next adventure.”
