Oregon’s manufacturing innovation does not stop at the edges of the Portland metro area, and neither does OMIC R&D. In deliberate effort to reach the parts of the state that are too often unseen or overlooked, the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, Research & Development (OMIC R&D) packed up its expertise and headed east to John Day, a small community in the heart of rural Grant County, Oregon, for a capabilities “road show” built around a simple idea: meet innovators where they are.
The opportunity came courtesy of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN), which invited OMIC R&D to engage with the region’s entrepreneurs in advance of OEN’s own hosted event. That early access proved invaluable. Rather than competing for attention in a crowded room, OMIC R&D’s team had the time and space to sit down one-on-one with the people doing the inventing, to hear what they are working on, understand the obstacles in their way, and talk through how advanced manufacturing might help them move forward.
On the Ground in John Day
Leading the effort were OMIC R&D Additive Manufacturing Solutions Researchers Kyle McGann and Dave Eames, who spent the day in conversation with inventors and entrepreneurs from across the John Day River/Owyhee region. For many attendees, it was a first introduction to what additive manufacturing and a state-backed research center can actually do for an individual or a small business working on a big idea.
One connection stood out. The team from AudibleCone, an emerging Oregon company, met with Kyle and Dave at the road show to talk about the work they are doing and the manufacturing challenges in front of them. That first conversation proved to be the start of something: AudibleCone followed up with OMIC R&D a couple of weeks after the event, and the two teams have been linked almost daily ever since, exactly the kind of lasting, productive connection the road show was designed to spark.
“Meeting the team from AudibleCone is a perfect example of why this is important – and being done. Making these connections is the whole point of taking the show on the road,” said Dave Eames, Additive Manufacturing Solutions Researcher at OMIC R&D. “Here’s a company with a real product and a new market opportunity, held up by one small part. Additive manufacturing is perfect for the kind of fast iteration prototyping work that could help them solve a problem.”
Closing the Distance for Rural Oregon
Geography has long been a quiet barrier for rural manufacturers and inventors. Resources, expertise, and equipment tend to cluster around metropolitan areas, leaving entrepreneurs in communities like John Day to bridge the gap on their own. The road show was OMIC R&D’s answer to that imbalance, a way to make clear that the center’s capabilities belong to every corner of Oregon, not just the Willamette Valley.
“OMIC R&D exists to serve Oregon. All of Oregon,” said Don Hendrickson, Executive Director of OMIC R&D. “It is easy for advanced manufacturing to feel like something that happens somewhere else, in some other zip code. John Day showed us how much appetite there is in rural communities for exactly what we offer. The conversations Kyle and Dave had out there were every bit as substantive as the ones we have on our own research floor, and that tells us we are reaching the right people.”
The day was by every measure a success, enough so that OMIC R&D plans to return to John Day to follow up with the region, continue the conversations it started, and turn promising introductions like Audiocone into active projects.
Powered by Oregon’s Innovation Investment: The Center of Innovation Excellence
Outreach like the John Day Road Show is made possible through OMIC R&D’s designation by Business Oregon as one of Oregon’s five Centers of Innovation Excellence (CIE), the state’s economic development agency. The CIE program supports public-private partnerships focused on advancing technology commercialization and applied research within targeted industries, with OMIC R&D serving as Oregon’s designated CIE for additive manufacturing.
The CIEs are a cornerstone of Oregon’s 10-Year Innovation Plan, serving as industry-led Innovation Hubs that connect entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and industry leaders to each other and to the resources they need to bring new technologies to market. For OMIC R&D, that designation translates directly into the ability to engage Oregon companies — from established manufacturers to first-time inventors — without placing a financial burden on the businesses being served. The goal is straightforward: lower the barrier to entry for Oregon’s innovators, wherever they happen to be.
“The CIE designation is what lets us say ‘yes’ to communities like John Day,” said Hendrickson. “It means we can show up, roll up our sleeves, and start solving problems without first asking anyone to write a check. That changes the entire conversation and it is how an idea born in rural Oregon can end up reaching a market in Europe.”
OMIC R&D will soon be making additional stops on its Road Show in locations like Bend on July 14th, Grants Pass and Tillomook in September, Sherwood in October, and Klamath Falls in November.