Built on Experience

With a growing population, the Central Oregon Builders Association (COBA) is helping Central Oregon work through some growing pains. That includes many opportunities, including everything from helping builders navigate the expanded Urban Growth Boundary to creating new opportunities for affordable housing in the area.

As 2017 arrives, Jeff Payne is preparing to take over as president of COBA’s board of directors for the new year.

Payne has been in the building industry for more than 30 years, and is passionate about envisioning and developing new projects and ultimately about seeing the final outcomes.

Payne joined COBA a decade ago, and then became a member of the board five years ago, when he first got involved with the “Ramp-A-Thon,” an annual project created and ran by COBA to build exterior access ramps for low-income homeowners.

“The Ramp-a-thon is one of COBA’s special projects that I was able to captain. We find worthy candidates, then at no cost to the homeowner, build accessible ramps,” Payne explained. “That led me to joining the City of Bend’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and changed my focus to building universal design homes.”

Universal design homes are designed to be completely accessible to all people, regardless of age or ability.

COBA partners with builders who specialize in residential, commercial, and remodeling projects — and Payne’s background will help him work with builders in multiple fields.

“Our presidents are usually in our leadership line for at least three years so we get to know them pretty well,” said Tim Knopp, executive vice president of COBA. “It’s exciting to have both a homebuilder and remodeler as a president for COBA. Jeff [Payne] has done a great job on things he has worked on here at COBA, so we are excited for next year.”

Payne is taking over for Dan Goodrich, co-owner of Structure Development NW, who spent the past year as COBA president. Goodrich says his term was mostly “business as usual,” except for the hiring of a new director of government affairs for COBA.

“I think the biggest part of COBA is the government affairs piece of it — making sure we are going to city council meetings and planning commissions and reviewing development code updates,” Goodrich said, reflecting on the impact hiring the director of government affairs had. “They are really there to serve the builders and make sure their voices are heard.”

Goodrich said he knows he is leaving COBA in good hands with Payne.

“I’ve had the privilege to get to know Jeff [Payne] over the past few years on the COBA Board,” said Goodrich. “[He] has a great vision and good insight of the construction industry, and he will be a great representative of the association.”

With the continued growth in building, Payne said he recognizes that he will face challenges this year as president of COBA, but acknowledges that many of those challenges are related to the explosive success of the building industry. One of his main goals, therefore, is to expand the local workforce through partnering with local schools.

“We are working on an opportunity to try to expand the workforce,” Knopp explained. “And so we are working together with the community colleges and the high schools and the people who drive the workforce in Central Oregon to try to provide an opportunity for kids who are graduating high school to get into a trade. There is just a lot of opportunity.”

Payne will also help COBA, along with Building Partners for Affordable Housing — a nonprofit organization COBA helped start nearly a decade ago — to plan and develop affordable housing developments in Central Oregon.

“I really feel like COBA has been at the cutting edge of being involved with, and best figuring out how to help the community with affordable housing,” Knopp said. “We have invested a lot of time, effort, and energy and that is because of our board and people like Jeff Payne who see the vision and understand the need and want to help the community.”