Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is excited to announce the semifinalist companies advancing in the Growth Stage and Impact Track competitions for the 20th annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on Thursday, October 19 – Friday, October 20, 2023.  The ten semifinalists in the Early Stage competition category were announced last week. Each year, new […]

BEND, Ore. – September 11, 2023 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announced the 10 semifinalist companies advancing in the Early Stage competition for the 20th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC), which will take place at the Tower Theatre in Bend on Thursday, October 19 – Friday, October 20, 2023.  In the next round […]

Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) will again host the annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on Thursday, October 19 – Friday, October 20, 2023, at the iconic Tower Theatre in downtown Bend. Tickets to the 20th Annual BVC are available through bendvc.com. Each fall hundreds of entrepreneurs and investors from around the country descend on […]

Bend-Redmond jumped five positions to fifth place in Milken Institute’s recently released 2023 Best-Performing Cities study. The Los Angeles-based Milken Institute compiles their listing annually. The metropolitan areas included in these rankings generated almost 90% of the national GDP in 2021 and the study provides a valuable framework for evaluating the relative performance of US […]

Nearly 800 business leaders and community members packed the Riverhouse Convention Center for the Annual Luncheon hosted by Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO). ITR Economics CEO and Chief Economist Brian Beaulieu presented his forecast for the local, national and global economy including how business owners could best prepare for the future. Sherm Bloomer, Chancellor […]

Data Compiled by EDCO Shows Top Public & Private Regional Employers Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is pleased to announce the 2023 Central Oregon Largest Employers List, complete with breakouts of the top employers in each Central Oregon community. This data, collected by EDCO annually for the past 22 years, is the most comprehensive […]

Last October, 14 finalists presented their ideas and business models to an audience of hundreds at the Tower Theatre in hopes of gaining investment from prominent funds. Of those finalists, seven companies walked away that day with checks totaling $665,000 in investments. But that was just the beginning of the Bend Venture Conference (BVC) magic. […]

Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) is committed to helping develop the regional workforce by fostering connections between businesses and local students. Part of that commitment includes managing Youth CareerConnect (YCC), a regional initiative that provides career services and internship opportunities for high school, college and alternative school students. Since its inception in 2017, YCC […]

BEND, Ore. – October 23, 2022 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) hosted the 19th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) at the Tower Theatre in Downtown Bend. During the conference, 14 finalists presented their ideas and business models to an audience of hundreds in hopes of gaining investment from prominent funds. Of those finalists, […]

September 15, 2022 – Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announced the semifinalist companies advancing in the Growth and Impact Stage competitions for the 19th Annual Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on Thursday, October 20 – Friday, October 21, 2022.  The nine semifinalists in the Early Stage competition category were announced earlier this week. Each year, […]