Local resident to continue organization’s program to grow strong entrepreneurial base.
Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) announced the hiring of Jim Boeddekeras Venture Catalyst Manager, replacing Jim Coonan in the role, effective December 23, 2013.
“As a founder himself of several companies, Jim Boeddeker is intimately familiar with what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur,” noted Jim Coonan. “He’s particularly adept at guiding young companies through the tricky—but crucial—process of defining their product and service solutions.”
Created by a grant to increase entrepreneurship in Central Oregon, the Venture Catalyst program was federally funded from 2010 to 2012. It is now self-sustaining, supported by EDCO’s general budget, including a recent boost fromDeschutes County, the City of Bend, and underwriting from the Bank of the Cascades. 
“I’m eager to get started at EDCO,” said Jim Boeddeker “and believe that Central Oregon will continue to emerge as one of America’s top locations for both attracting high quality entrepreneurs and growing scalable new businesses.”
Boeddeker’s high tech career spans over thirty-five years and includes leadership stints at Tektronix, Inc. and Raychem Corporation in business development, manufacturing, and marketing. Within the Telecomm industry, he has deep expertise in new technologies, such as digital and satellite television and broadband applications. In 2010, Boeddeker co-founded and served as the first Executive Director of the FoundersPad, Central Oregon’s high tech business accelerator. Prior to that, he founded StreamPort Technologies, Inc., which provided transmission and testing solutions for digital TV services.
For the past three years, Boeddeker has been deeply involved in directly advising Central Oregon’s entrepreneurs. As Chair of the Tech Alliance, he helped launch Bend’s first three Startup Weekend events, which provide budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to shape their business concepts. Additionally, Boeddeker currently tracks nearly 90 startup teams and continues to engage them as a consultant.
Roger Lee, Executive Director of EDCO, added “Jim Boeddeker is uniquely qualified to take over the Venture Catalyst Manager role for our region. He’s been instrumental in expanding Central Oregon’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and has contributed countless hours in mentoring startup teams.”
Express Employment Professionals conducted a professional search on behalf of EDCO for the Venture Catalyst Manager position, spearheaded by Executive Recruiter Karen Turner. A hiring committee representing different community and entrepreneurial perspectives reviewed and interviewed finalists.
“This position generated considerable interest statewide and outside of Oregon,” said Karen Turner, Managing Director of Express Employment Professionals, “and we were fortunate to have several highly talented finalists from which to choose.”
