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Ranch Records employee Renee Heister, foreground, completes a transaction for customer Keith Banning. One of the goals for this downtown Bend music store is to stay in business and prosper in the new year.
Dean Guernsey / The Bulletin
High hopes and challenges
Local businesses make resolutions in face of tough economy
By Kimberly Bowker / The Bulletin
Published: January 02. 2009 4:00AM PSTPopular New Year’s resolutions, such as quitting smoking and managing finances, are not just for individuals. Central Oregon businesses also are proclaiming goals for 2009, and the economic recession is on everybody’s mind, according to many business owners.
“I’m in a war with the economy,” said Steve Miller, co-owner with his wife, Sheryl, of The Meet Market Pub in Madras. “The only way I can survive this next year or 14 months is to win, and I am going to win not on a monthly basis, but on a daily basis.”
Miller plans to watch finances daily and has taken steps to cut down his number of employees in order to give them maximum hours.
“You just have to do what is best for the business, and sometimes that’s really hard, especially with a small place like this. We are like a family,” he said.
The new smoking ban in Oregon bars, which took effect Thursday, has forced another resolution on the pub: An immediate decrease in business is expected to be felt due to the ban, according to Miller, but he plans on placing an emphasis on food and the more than 50 items offered on the menu.
“At this point,” Miller said about the economy, “I think this is the only thing anybody will be concentrating on.”
Difficult economic times are also being felt by local retail stores, such as Ranch Records in downtown Bend. The main goal of the music store for next year is to stay in business with hopes of prospering.
“It could be a challenging new year,” said John Schroeder, a co-owner of the store. “I have high hopes at the same time.”
His hopes stem from a new administration taking leadership of the country in 2009. Politics and the economy are tied together, Schroeder said.
On the local level, he hopes to decrease overhead next year.
“I want to be in the same capacity, but just smarter,” Schroe-der said. “I want to get the deals without the expense of cutting back on service or employees.”
Limiting the number of additional layoffs and taking advantage of the slower economic times to improve skills are a couple of the goals for Phil Henderson, the president of Sun Forest Construction in Bend.
“I guess we want to focus on the part of the glass being half full and that people are still doing things, rather than focusing on the things that we can’t control or improve,” Henderson said.
In 2009, he expects to explore new opportunities in areas such as green building and remodeling, and wants to get the message out that now is a good time to remodel or build a house.
The Riverhouse Hotel & Convention Center recently completed a hotel and restaurant remodeling project, with the aim of attracting visitors and matching the look of the existing facility to the convention center.
“We have made significant improvements to the property,” said Lara Wettig, the director of marketing for The Riverhouse. “That was our remodeling commitment in ’08, to provide a better experience to our guests in ’09.”
One of The Riverhouse’s goals in 2009 is to provide the best value in the heart of Bend, Wettig said. A full, hot complimentary breakfast is now being offered to guests, and the hotel will continue to pursue the group business and wedding market.
These are the busiest months of the year for Cascade Lakes Brewing, said Chris Justema, the president of the brewery.
“We don’t have any resolutions or goals,” Justema said. “We are just stoked and happy to be who we are and where we are.”
The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters will make changes in the upcoming year, but ones that are not necessarily based on the economy.
“Our type of business is a little more recession-proof than a lot of them, and we feel very fortunate,” said Jean Wells, a co-owner of the 33-year-old fabric and yarn store.
Wells is adding more classes for 2009, and the Gee’s Bend Foundation, a nonprofit quilting organization, will make its first appearance at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July.
“I feel pretty well positioned for the new year,” Wells said. “We’re excited about it.”
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Kimberly Bowker can be reached at 541-617-7815 or at kbowker@bendbulletin.com.
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