Last week saw the inaugural The Ford Family Foundation GRO (Growing Rural Oregon) Gathering summit, where community leaders from around Oregon met at the Independence Civic Center to discuss building up their cities through omnichannel strategies.
Key topics from the summit included how the Ford Family Foundation approaches community outreach and engagement, how to grow communities through entrepreneurship, networking opportunities, and more. The Ford Family Foundation is a private, non-profit foundation with a major aspect of its work being the creation of grants to public charities and agencies predominantly benefiting communities in rural Oregon.
When asked why Independence was chosen as the city to host the first GRO Gathering summit, Anne Kubisch, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, shared, “Independence is a perfect example of what growing rural communities are capable of.”
The City of Independence extends a great thank you to the foundation’s leaders, whose devotion to building and investing in rural communities helps create a better tomorrow for our city, region, and state.
