SALEM — The economic development committee received end-of-year updates from the Sustainable Opportunity Development (SOD) Center and Elevate Building Solutions.

During the committee’s March 17 meeting, SOD Center Executive Director Julie Needs reported Elevate Buildings Solutions, the city’s contracted third-party commercial building department, issued 125 permits in 2025. Those permits account for 604,147 square feet of new construction, and a total project cost valuation of $60,854,538.63 in 2025.

Elevate conducted 258 inspections in 2025 with a six-day average turn-around time for plan reviews. Needs said that Elevate has maintained that six-day turn-around since its formation.

Needs said that 2025 saw a jump in new construction within the city, driven primarily by the ongoing construction of the Salem City School District’s new $57 million K-8 school building. Once Elevate submits its final reports to the state for 2025, the city will receive a portion of all permits collected and will be receiving a check of $13,422.81. Needs said that with the return the city’s net cost for operating a local building department for 2025 will be approximately $11,600.

Needs also provided an overview of the SOD Center’s economic development impact.

Needs said that in 2025 the SOD Center had a total of $16,492,750 in direct economic development impact which is a measure of new revenue sources entering the city like new payroll, real estate development and investment, and grant funding. The figure includes 87 new jobs created within the city through SOD’s efforts with a total payroll of $3,980,000 and an estimated increase in income tax of $49,750.

It also includes $11,572,000 in private real estate investment within the city, $2,060,000 of which was in the downtown area specifically, and $236,000 in grant funding awarded and $655,000 in leveraged private funds for development.

The SOD Center’s indirect impact, which is a measure of value retained through the city of Salem’s ongoing working relationship with the SOD Center like payroll from jobs which would otherwise have moved out of the city, totaled $46,324,140 in 2025. That figure includes 995 retained jobs with a payroll value of $45,500,000 and estimated retained income tax of $569,140.

It also includes $130,000 in project support provided by the SOD Center and $125,000 in workforce development training conducted by SOD. That training included 24,314 total training hours for 6,110 employees from 139 companies.