David Goodroe new LCEDC director

David Goodroe has replaced Richard Erickson as the executive director of the Lower Columbia Economic Development Council (LCEDC).

Goodroe said he will have a different approach to the job than his predecessor.

“I’m going to do a lot more outreach,” he said last Thursday.

Goodroe, who retired here in 2006 after a long business career, has kept busy. He joined the town council shortly after moving here and won re-election last fall after a closely contested race. He is the town’s representative to the EDC board, the Council of Governments and the South West Clean Air Agency in Vancouver, a seven county agency for air quality management for SW Washington.

Goodroe said he plans on making changes while working for the EDC.

“Our goal is to bring economic development opportunities into town,” he said.

Goodroe worked with former director Richard Erickson on different projects such as the waterfront development and the development of a business park.

“We need to try to find a way to keep our young people here,” Goodroe said. “You have to have decent paying jobs for that to happen."

Goodroe said that businesses contacted Erickson over the years hoping to find a place for a 20,000 square foot building, but to no avail.

“We have no real inventory of places to put things, which makes the development of a business park critical,” Goodroe said.

Transportation is a real issue here, and with SR 4 being the only road in and out of the area, many businesses that are transportation dependant won’t want to build here.

“Tourism is going to be one of the mainstays of our future economy in town,” he said. “We have a beautiful area; there is talk of doing some more development down on the waterfront, trying to make that more of a destination.”

Lodging is a necessity in the area. Goodroe said he recently traveled to La Conner and noticed that the only difference between that town and Cathlamet is there are places to stay there. He said that a lot of people will come to an area and want a place to stay the night, but even though there are a few bed and breakfast (B&B) facilities, many people don’t want to stay in a B&B.

“We have to work on the lodging piece,” he said.

In any area, there are always people that don’t want change, Goodroe said. Whether they are long time residents, or newcomers, someone will always say they want things to stay the same, or go back to the way they were.

“You change or you die,” Goodroe said, adding that a community that doesn't provide enough opportunity for the young people will turn into a very old community.

People would be upset if the local grocery store closed and they had to drive to Longview just to buy their groceries, he said. An area must be attractive for a family. If young people grow in a community, the community will grow, he said.

Cathlamet, Goodroe said, has been discovered. It is a beautiful area, and the baby boomer generation that is retiring here will create opportunities because of the demand for services which the community doesn't yet provide.

“We are the only real town on the river between I-5 and the coast other than Astoria," he said. "There is no reason we shouldn’t have a very robust tourist business and recreation based economy. We haven’t capitalized on that.”

In the next five years, Goodroe said, Cathlamet will see more development on the waterfront. It will be a slow development, but that is how things need to happen.

“That way, the community can change and adapt,” he said.