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Rogue Valley Microdevices CEO Jessica Gomez has been nominated to the Business Oregon Commission by Gov. Kate Brown. A state Senate panel approved Gomez and Keith Leavitt, chief commercial officer for the Port of Portland, for four-year appointments last week and forwarded them with a general slate of commission and board nominees to the full Senate for ratification. Business Oregon, the state's economic development agency, has recalibrated its efforts to focus on supporting and encouraging entrepreneurial and start-up efforts instead of attracting existing companies from elsewhere. That strikes a chord with Gomez, who launched Southern Oregon's first microelectronics manufacturing firm in 2003. "The new emphasis is 'Grow Our Own' by supporting innovation and entrepreneurship," Gomez said. "Taking existing companies, growing them, and really supporting start-ups forming around the state." Gomez said younger companies encounter obstacles when they are ready to expand beyond mom-and-pop-size operations. "We need to find a way to make it affordable to grow a company," Gomez said. "Rural Oregon is an especially fantastic place to start a company. If you keep it medium-smallish — under 20 people — there are lots of great resources. But as you get to 30, 50 or the 200-person range, it starts to become a little more difficult. Some of that has to do with the cost of land and real estate. "If there is something we can do to make that affordable to companies, that would be really fantastic," she added. "It's not crazy-high everywhere, but in certain pockets like our area, for instance, it really does inhibit local companies from growing as quickly as they could. It also hurts our competitiveness when we are trying to attract new companies." Gomez heads the Sustainable Valley Technology Group board and is a board member of Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. The seven-member Business Oregon Commission is next scheduled to meet July 31 in Pendleton. The agency is on the right track in its recruiting and promoting efforts in rural regions, she said. "Something that Sustainable Valley and SOREDI have done for a long time." Leavitt oversees the Port of Portland’s maritime and aviation commercial business development and its real estate portfolio. Before joining the port in 1999, he managed ports and economic development programs at Business Oregon. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at  www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 , and read his blog at  www.mailtribune.com/EconomicEdge