Auburn welcomes new economic and planning manager

A former city manager of a small city in Oregon is the newest face roaming the halls of Auburn City Hall this week. Jonathan Wright is stepping into a new position for the city – Economic and Planning Manager, overseeing economic development across the city from Downtown to the airport. Wright has been busy since he officially started last week, meeting with the Auburn Chamber of Commerce and three local business associations. He has been walking around town making cold contacts with business owners as well. "I'm here to be a part of the community and help work with business owners and property owners," he said. "Whatever I can do to help Auburn." Wright said he moved to the area to assist with his mother's health. She lives in Grass Valley and Wright said he was looking for a job he could commute to. Wright began his career in a planning in Douglas County in Oregon after serving one term in the Army. After seven years working on the county level, Wright got the city manager position in the 4,000-person town of Reedsport, which he served for another seven years. "We were out on the coast so we were isolated from the county seat," Wright said of Reedsport. "There were two unincorporated communities that we looked at as part of our municipal boundaries." Wright said he worked on a lot of economic development in the neighboring communities and likened the relationship with those communities to Auburn and North Auburn. "Rising tides float all boats," he said. Wright discussed working with a local shipyard owner and encouraging him to purchase an additional 38-acre property, and he helped him with the development of that new property. "I got him two grants and now they manufacture more fishing vessels than anyone else in the nation," he said. Wright said he hopes to build those types of relationships in Auburn. "I really want to find those value-added businesses and really start to develop the community with some clear intent," he said. Wright will also be in charge of the Auburn Airport Industrial Park. He will manage the leases with property owners on the city-owned spaces. He said he hopes to bring new businesses to the community. Wright said he also wants to look at opportunities for a central corridor plan and find unique funding sources for those plans. He said he's been tasked to streamline development in Auburn and work on master planning on form-based code. "Most of my economic development is self-learned," Wright said. "It is basically all through trial and error. The best way to work with people is to be solution-minded and work with their needs. I like to work outside the box and get businesses where they need to go." So far, Wright said he's enjoyed getting to know Auburn. "The welcome has been very warm and the community itself, with all its historic assets, its just incredible," he said. Wright said his door is always open and he looks forward to meeting more of the community. "My goal is to better the economic success of the community," he said. "I'm here to benefit the public whenever they need it."