In 1999, the Oregon Legislature replaced the existing Regional Strategy and established the Regional and Rural Investment Programs funded with Oregon Lottery dollar.  These programs seek to identify and coordinate regional economic and community development priorities in each of 13 regions across the state.  The cities of Eugene, Springfield, Albany, and Corvallis are not eligible for Rural Investment Fund money.

Regional investment boards and partnerships first task is to develop a regional investment plan that would define a strategy to guide investments in particular regions.  The county commissions in Benton, Lane, Lincoln, and Linn (BL3) counties formed a regional investment board for the four-county area.  The BL3 Regional Investment Board is comprised of five members from each county, representing both the private and public sector. A county commissioner from each county serves on the Board.

Each biennium, a Regional Investment Plan is completed, and when approved by the Oregon Economic and Community Development Commission, the investment boards and partnerships begin to receive funds for the Regional and Rural Investment Fund programs.  The BL3 Regional Investment Board has revised its strategy for the 2005-07 biennium. To review a copy of the Regional Investment Plan, see Investment Plan.

Funding for the statewide Regional and Rural Investment Program for the 2005-07 biennium has continued at a reduced level (see Brief History below). The BL3 Regional Investment Board is scheduled to receive $865,883 to fund projects during the 2005-07 biennium.  The program continues to focus on three primary performance measures: 1) short-term and long-term job creation and retention, 2) leveraging short-term and long-term investments, and 3) readiness to proceed within six months. The BL3 Regional Investment Board established a goal of one job per $3,000 of RI funds committed and $5 of matching funds for each $1 of RI funds committed.  For the biennium, the Board is committed to creating or retaining at least 289 jobs and seeing $4,330,000 in matching funds committed.

This biennium, the BL3 Regional Investment Board will use all of its Regional and Rural Investment Funds in an Immediate Opportunity Fund. The Immediate Opportunity Fund will be available to qualified applicants for projects that can use the funds immediately to create or retain jobs within the four county region.  The funds are available through an open solicitation process and applications will be reviewed as they are received.

Brief History of the Regional and Rural Investment Programs

In the 1999-2001 biennium, the BL3 Regional Investment Board received approximately $2.3 million in State lottery funds to distribute to communities and organizations that address priority community and economic development needs. The BL3 Regional Investment Board funded 27 projects approved for Rural Investment Fund money and 20 projects for Regional Investment Fund funding.  In addition, eight projects were approved for multi-region funding - projects which incorporate more than the Benton, Lane, Lincoln, and Linn region. For a list of past and current projects funded, go to the Funded Projects page.

Due to reductions in the overall Regional and Rural Investment Program funding, the BL3 Regional Investment Board received a total of $1,824,086 for the 2001-03 biennium. This represented an approximately twenty percent reduction from the previous year. The Board funded 15 Regional and 22 Rural Investment projects. In addition, six multi-region projects were funded.

 In the 2003-05 biennium total funding for the state-wide Regional and Rural Investment Program was reduced by more than half. The BL3 Regional Investment received $866,904, less than 40 percent of the 1999-2001 program level.  The BL3 recommended 14 projects for funding and these projects will create over 1000 jobs and leverage over $23 million.