Lehi Dowell

Lehi Dowell serves as Deputy Director of Community & Economic Development for CCD Business Development Corporation, the federally designated Economic Development District serving Coos, Curry, and Douglas counties in southwest Oregon. He leads regional initiatives focused on helping rural communities move complex infrastructure, community development, economic development, resilience, and revitalization projects from identified needs toward funding and implementation. Over the past five years, Lehi has helped secure more than $50 million in infrastructure funding for communities across southwest Oregon, leveraging state and federal resources to advance critical investments in rural communities that often lack the staffing and capacity to pursue complex funding opportunities on their own.

Lehi Dowell serves as Deputy Director of Community & Economic Development for CCD Business Development Corporation, the federally designated Economic Development District serving Coos, Curry, and Douglas counties in southwest Oregon. Over the past five years, he has helped secure more than $50 million in infrastructure funding for southwest Oregon communities while leading and supporting initiatives in infrastructure and community development, predevelopment, brownfields revitalization, rural business development, technical assistance, and resilience planning. A seasoned conference presenter and panelist, Lehi has presented on community and economic development issues to professional and public-sector audiences across the country.

Lehi's connection to rural Oregon is also deeply personal. Raised in rural Douglas County in significant poverty, he learned early how circumstances can shape the expectations placed on people and communities—and how important it can be to challenge them. From advocating for his place in advanced coursework in high school to leaving Oregon to pursue higher education, his own experience informs his belief that limited resources should never automatically define what people or communities believe is possible. Lehi is now a Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization at Virginia Tech's School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), where his academic interests complement his applied work in rural development, governance, institutional capacity, and cross-sector collaboration. He also participated throughout the Southwest Regional Resilience Forum process supporting development of the Plan for a Resilient Oregon.