TILLAMOOK Tillamook Countys new economic development director is using his depth of experience in the private sector as a model for his public-sector job.   In fact, said Dan Biggs, hes counting on local businesses to help make his public agency successful. Im trying to build up constituencies of people who want to make something happen, he said.  

From 1980 to 1995, Biggs was president of Millennium Pictures, which produced feature films for TV and home video. There, he worked with well-known animated film director and producer Will Vinton, the claymation creator of the California Raisins commercials. 

Biggs is listed as a producer on the thriller/horror films Unhinged in 1982 and Shadow Play in 1986.  A University of Oregon graduate, Biggs early on spent time in Los Angeles working on TV commercials. He subsequently moved to Portland and founded his own company. Dan Biggs Productions produced sales training and PR films for clients such as Georgia-Pacific and Weyerhaueser.  

A self-described serial entrepreneur, Biggs eventually moved into the food industry as co-founder of Roger Hong Foods, which sold sauces and spices. He pioneered the use of in-store video kiosks that taught shoppers how to stir fry.  

Long an advocate of the arts, Biggs served on the board of directors of the Portland Art Museum and the Portland Opera, and was a co-founder of the Portland Creative Conference.  

More recently, Biggs consulted with businesses on marketing, media production and strategic planning issues. Those clients included AT&T, Tektronix, Hewlett-Packard and the National Endowment for the Arts.   

He and his wife, Sue, moved from Milwaukie to Oceanside for his job with the Economic Development Council of Tillamook County, which includes working with the community college as director of small business development.. 

 I was looking for something fun to do and wanted to get back to the coast, said Biggs, because like a fool I had sold my house in Manzanita, and I didnt want to retire.. I was looking for something where I could actually make a difference. I think I can make a difference here. 

He added, If you look at Tillamook County, youve got great pockets of wealth in the Manzanita area, where 70 percent of the people are absentee owners. And youve got great pockets of wealth down in Neskowin. And as Im discovering, theres great pockets of wealth right here in central county. 

The majority of these people want to see some real, positive growth.

 He said an early priority will be to find some money. The Small Business Development Center which receives federal funding has a revolving loan fund for local companies seeking capital. Biggs hopes to grow that fund with matching dollars from private-sector investors.  

Capital formation is really an important part of economic development, he said. I have a revolving loan fund that was started off at about $300,000 and its revolved two or three times. Weve got about $200,000 in that fund now.  

My concern is once that fund is loaned out and deployed, that we cant help other Tillamook County companies with loans until we get repaid.  SBDC loans currently are at 6 percent interest. They go to higher-risk companies that cant get traditional bank financing because they dont have the equity although they do have good ideas.  

By putting a private-sector loan fund together, it says that citizens and business people of Tillamook County are willing to put their money where their mouth is to help their fellow citizens be successful, Biggs said.  

Everybody needs money. Well, there is a lot of money out there. Lets put it to work for people who want to create businesses and jobs. 

He said he also is considering creating a Tillamook County venture capital or angel   fund. The money would be used to finance early-stage start-ups that carry higher risks but also great potential.  

I would love to be able to have a venture or angel fund here so if a good entrepreneur comes forward with a good idea that needs some financing, we would have investors here that would seed that and get it started, said Biggs. We may be able to get in front of some deal flows that are happening in Seattle and northern California.  

Lets just for arguments sake say theres a company that needs $1 million and theyve got $800,000 … If we had a venture fund, we could say well put $200,000 into it, but you have to put the company in Tillamook County. 

Weve got to look at business opportunities, said Biggs. Weve got to help ourselves here. 

Biggs replaces Marshall Doak, who was hired some three years ago, at the same time the countys Economic Development Council and Small Business Development Center were merged under one board of directors and in one location. The board decided in March not to renew Doaks contract.

The director technically is an employee of Tillamook Bay Community College, but he or she reports to the executive board.  

The EDC pays the college 75 percent of the directors compensation. The EDC is funded through the countys portion of state lottery proceeds and from the private memberships of local businesses.  

The Small Business Development Center, which provides free business consulting and low-cost training seminars for small businesses, receives funds from the federal Small Business Development Agency, along with local matching dollars from the community college. 

I think the perception [of the EDC/SBDC] is that nothing has happened in the past, Biggs said. I want to be able to change that by having some real, positive things happen.