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Upper Rogue residents probe economic renewal TRAIL -- An economic specialist from a Colorado think tank meets Friday with Upper Rogue residents hoping to jump-start the local economy and create jobs for youth. The four-step economic renewal process to be presented by Michael Kinsley of the Rocky Mountain Institute has been used in 33 states and four nations. "People's highest concerns are about the out-migration of our youth due to lack of job opportunities and family wage employment. We want to do something to help people, not just fish," said Carol Fishman of the Upper Rogue Watershed Association, which is sponsoring Kinsley's visit. The four principles for sustainable community development identified by the institute are keeping money circulating in the community, supporting existing businesses, encouraging new businesses and recruiting compatible businesses. "In every community I've worked in, I've learned something new to add to economic renewal," said Kinsley. An economic renewal project in Eugene created 100 new jobs and $2.5 million in contracts in the first year of the "Oregon Marketplace." Locally, Applegate residents have designed three projects to boost their valley's economy since meeting with Kinsley in 1997. Friday's meeting at the Upper Rogue Grange Hall on Crowfoot Road begins with a community potluck at 6 p.m. and Kinsley's presentation at 7 p.m. For more information, call Fishman at 878-7647 or Karen Carnival of the Rogue Institute at 482-6031. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA