(Photo above courtesy of Steve Kadel)
The woman named as the City of Redmond’s new community development department director has a rich background in both the public and private sectors.
Kate Porsche was director of urban renewal and economic development for the City of Albany during a 10-year career there. Her experience includes stints in corporate communications, data-base designing, and mortgage lending for Bank of America.
“That combination helps,” Porsche said during an interview with Cascade Business News.
Her first day on the job in Redmond was Thursday, October 6, and she got a glimpse of Redmond’s manufacturing muscle the next day during the annual Made in Redmond Tour. Porsche did lots of background research on her potential new position before interviewing for the job. She set up separate, informal discussions with 14 local policy makers, city staff members and citizens.
“I wanted to understand what the community is like,” Porsche said. “Is it functioning well?”
She found positive answers to her questions. And, her penchant for preparation paid off with a job offer from City Manager Keith Witcosky.
“We were all drawn to her energy, her optimistic outlook and intellectual curiosity,” Witcosky wrote in an email. “Kate’s skill set and personality matches our organizational culture and embraces the innovative values of Redmond. Her background in economic development and using urban renewal resources to spur public/private development partnerships is exactly what Redmond needs at this moment in history.”
Witcosky said city officials received more than 30 applications for the directorship from people in nearly a half-dozen states before Porsche was selected. He predicted the Community Development Department “will achieve a lot through her team-building approach and natural intuition for putting people in positions to succeed.”
Jon Stark, senior manager for Redmond Economic Development Inc., also praises the new department head.
“I’ve had the privilege of serving with Kate on the Oregon Economic Development Association board of directors for the past couple of years,” Stark said during an interview. “I’m excited of her new role as community development director in Redmond. Her leadership style will complement the existing department managers and staff at City Hall. She’s very well organized, she is an exceptional communicator, and her ability to problem-solve will serve her well in this new position.”
Porsche and her husband, Rod, are native Oregonians. He is executive director of the Downtown Bend Business Association. Porsche was born in Eugene and graduated from Wilson High School in Portland.
Typical of her eagerness, she got a high school GED and enrolled at Oregon State University at age 16, earning a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies in 2008 and a master’s degree in public policy in 2012. Porsche managed to hold down the City of Albany job while attending OSU.
She and Rod have daughters Maddie-Jo, 11, and Savannah, 13. The family moved from Albany to a new home just east of Sisters in October 2014 and Porsche commuted to her job in Albany for the past year.
They were drawn by Central Oregon’s lifestyle and the more rural area as a good place for their children to continue growing up. That willingness to believe positive things will happen is typical of the couple, according to Porsche, who said, “We have similar risk tolerances.”
Redmond officials have succeeded in making Redmond a desirable place for people to live or visit, Porsche said, including such things as the pedestrian-friendly downtown area with trees that give the town a unique character.
“Redmond is business friendly and family friendly,” Porsche said. “Redmond is authentic. It’s not a little Bend.”
But like Bend, Redmond suffers from a scarcity of housing. Housing and jobs must be linked to have a strong economy, Porsche said.
“There is a need for all levels of housing in Redmond,” she said. “It has to be balanced. It’s very challenging.”
Porsche is relishing the challenge of her new job, which increases the scope of responsibility she had with the City of Albany.
“It’s an opportunity for me to manage a larger group,” she said.
In Redmond, Porsche will oversee the city’s planning department, building department, code compliance, housing, urban renewal and economic development. When not working, she and her husband enjoy hiking or skiing with their daughters, walking the family dog, and other outdoor pursuits. Indoors, they are both fierce fantasy football team competitors, having put their names on the championship trophy they and friends vie for each NFL season.
A different team commands most of Porsche’s attention these days, though. She said it’s “the Redmond team that I get to work with — the city council, the city staff, the citizens. This is a community I want to be part of.”
