Announcing Tri-Chairs for ECA Campaign Leadership Team

March 21, 2016

Recently, Eugene Civic Alliance’s Board of Directors announced that Jon Jaqua, Kip Leonard and Bev Smith will lead a 35-person team to raise funds to build a new Civic Park. The new facility will include the first Kidsports fieldhouse, a turf field for recreational play and semi-pro soccer, and a 2,500-seat stadium.

Jon V. Jaqua owns McKenzie Oaks Ranch near Eugene. He has been farming and ranching for more than 40 years and is now managing the ranch with his son, Josh.  For more than 30 years, he was also an owner, in partnership with Tim Stokes, of Metal Products Company. The company is a metal stamping and fabrication business in Springfield.

Jaqua played in the NFL for the Washington Redskins (1970-74). He was Deputy Director and Operating Officer of the Oregon Economic Development Department (1989-96), and Executive Director of the University of Oregon Foundation (1996-99). Jaqua has served on numerous state and local boards. He has lent his financial support, and has been particularly interested in and involved with organizations that are focused on kids. He also was a Kidsports football coach in the 1980’s.

“As physical fitness and sport opportunities declined for kids in the Eugene schools over the years, it was always my hope that Eugene could create this type of youth sports facility. I actually built a soccer field on my ranch when my boys were growing up. We couldn’t consistently find a good place to play soccer games in Lane County. Kids from all over the state came to play at the ranch. What the Eugene Civic Alliance intends to build is exactly the type of facility that I had envisioned this community needed 30 years ago, and I’m excited to help make it happen now.”

We welcome Jon Jaqua to the ECA team and we are excited to see the impact he and his co-chairs will have on the Civic Park project. Check back next week to learn more about Jaqua’s fellow fundraising team co-chair, Kip Leonard.