(Photo by David Clewett)
Four growing and emerging Redmond businesses were highlighted by Redmond Economic Development (REDI)during the third annual Made in Redmond Tour in October.
The tour provided a unique behind the scenes look at Redmond businesses showcasing three local food manufacturing companies and a catering company that significantly contribute to the Redmond economy.
Four businesses were given plaques of recognition by REDI Sr. Manager Jon Stark for their commitment and contributions to the community.
“The plaques were copies of the proclamation made by City Council on September 22nd recognizing manufacturing as a significant contributor to the Redmond and regional economy,” Stark explained.
The tour featured four innovative and rapidly growing Redmond based companies including Oregon’s Wild Harvest, Majesty’s, Straw Propeller and Tate and Tate Catering.
Each business was chosen because they have “reached some sort of milestone, recently expanded or that REDI provided assistance to and can provide some good insight to participants in the way they make their products. This year’s cast was intentionally focused on food products,” Stark said.
“The purpose of the event was to have several leaders in the community gather to experience the tour and learn about these local businesses in order to take the information they learn and share it with other members of the community. We bring leadership from the community to the tour so they can share it and we feature businesses that are not on main street and tougher to find,” Stark said.
The tour included approximately forty local citizens and made its way by bus to each of the four businesses.
Oregon’s Wild Harvest
Oregon’s Wild Harvest is an herb farm that has manufactured safe and effective medicinal herbal supplements and products since 1994. They employee approximately 30 people and manufacture over 200 different products. Owners Pamela and Randy Buresh have two farms in Culver and a 40,000 square foot industrial building on NE Hemlock Ave in Redmond.
“Our goals with both farms are to insure that we can have a sustainable source of U.S. grown organic medicinal herbs to offer our customers, not only now but for future generations,” Randy said.
After searching for ten years, in 2014 the company moved their business to Redmond from Sandy, Oregon.
“We are very pleased with our decision to move our business to Central Oregon. Moving here provides us the much needed farmland to grow our crops and the much needed space for our manufacturing facility. Redmond has been very supportive and has welcomed us with open arms,” Randy said.
The company uses validated scientific methodology, strict production standards and environmental stewardship to offer the freshest, purest, safest and most effective herbal supplements available.
“We only ever have an 8-12 week supply so the product is always fresh.We do small batches and I think that is why we have done so well,” Randy said.
At least 25 percent of their manufacturing personnel are employed in the Quality Assurance department to ensure that each product receives rigorous testing at every stage of production.
“We test like crazy and we sample like crazy,” Pam said.“50 percent of our costs are in quality assurance.”
“The tour provided us the opportunity to showcase our products and inform the attendees about our mission, giving them new insight into the herbal supplement business andhelping them understand the level of quality control.We are very proud of what we do,” Randy added.
“Oregon’s Wild Harvest is our most recent addition to the food processing manufacturing community here in Redmond. You can imagine our excitement to hear a 30 + employee company was going to purchase and move into a building that sat vacant for almost two years,” Stark said.
www.oregonswildharvest.com
Majesty’s Animal Nutrition
Majesty’s produces animal nutrition supplies in dosage form for dogs and horses from their First Street plant in Redmond. They have six employees in addition to help from family. Since 2004 David and Merre Friend have been finding new and creative ways to administer supplements to companion pets that is easier and less expensive.
After recognizing the difficulty in using powder and liquid supplements for horses they set out to develop a new and easier delivery system that was less expensive for the horse owner. The result was an easy-to-use wafer processed so that all the nutrients remain in the wafer which resulted in approximately 98 percent feedability with the product.
They now produce more than a dozen different products in various flavors for dogs and horses.
Majesty’s carries a certification by the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) assuringthat their products are high quality, authentic and free of any potentially harmful ingredients.
The advantage of Majesty’s products is the visual acceptance of the product by the animals which means the animal enjoys the treat and there is no waste.
All products are 100 percent natural, made with humangrade ingredients (employees actually taste test the product for quality) and are guaranteed for feed-ability, meaning that if an animal will not eat the treats there is a 100 percent money back guarantee.
Majesty’s currently ships all across the country. Their products are available from online retailers and at most local farm and feed stores in Central Oregon. They can also fulfill orders from their website.
Majesty’s has won many awards for their innovative products and exceeding NASC quality standards. In July Majesty’s Bridle Bites won Equestrian Product of the Year at the SuperZoo Networking Reception which recognized the 2015 New Product Showcase Award winners.
Tony Roth, the Friends’ son-in-law, is production manager and responsible for much of the product development.
“It is a fun and relaxed work environment. We all love pets!” an employee said.
Their mission is to provide benefits of the highest quality, purity, standards, and safety for greater health andwell-being of companion animals, including dogs and horses.
www.majestys.com
Straw Propeller
Straw Propeller is a woman-owned and operated gourmet food manufacturer that was founded in 2011 by Patsy Bartelson. They offer 15 flavors of oatmeal and five flavors of muesli including a health kid’s line.
All products are made with certified gluten-free oats, non-GMO, all natural and kosher certified ingredients.
Bartelson began by sharing her recipes with friends, neighbors and local farmers markets. Now their products are sold across the United States and in several international companies. Products can be found in cafes and coffee shops as well as large retailers throughout the country.
The company believes in charitable contributions and every business quarter they donate 10 percent to Central Oregon Organizations that provide assistance to area residents.
“We have a lot of fun but we also get it done! We want to create a place that our team loves to be for work. We think we can do more together as a team to better our community and people’s lives by making a great product and supporting great causes. Our employees have two pay it forward several days a year. These are paid days they can take and go work or donate their time at a charity of their choice and then come back and share their experience with the whole team,” Bartelson said.
All of their 15-20 employees are from Redmond and an internship is offered to Redmond students.
“The people in Central Oregon make our company great! I value the team here, they really make Straw Propeller what it is,” Bartelson said. “I started Straw Propeller because I wanted to create jobs and give back. We are doing business in Redmond because of the people.”
“Straw Propeller is growing at a phenomenal rate of more than 500 percent per year the past two years. The company started in a home and now occupies a significant portion of a 35,000 square foot industrial warehouse today. Beyond being a great employer in the community, the company really gives back in the form of charitable donations and participates in Redmond High School’s manufacturing program by hosting interns on a regular basis.” Stark said.
www.strawpropellergourmetfoods.com
Tate and Tate Catering
Tate and Tate is a catering company with retail locations at Redmond’s Indian Ave and Bend’s NorthWest Crossing. They employee over 70 people and recently expanded to a building on Highway 97 to house Tate and Tate Manufacturing. George and Barb Tate offer meal catering for convenient grab and go lunches, meal home delivery and large venue service.
In 1994 the Tates left Portland for a calmer life in Redmond. George always had a passion for food and shortly after moving to Redmond he began preparing small care packagesof freshly made soups and breads for friends and family out of his home kitchen. After a short time what was initially a fun way to share his talent turned into Tate and Tate Catering and the company has continued to grow.
Attention to detail isn’t only in their food, it is part of the company’s culture through great service and timeliness. For example, all of the clocks at Tate and Tate are set early.
“We set the clocks 10-15 minutes fast because it is a good reminder to be where you need to be on time,” George explained.
Tate and Tate Catering is considered one of the finest Central Oregon has to offer and they have awards and recognition to support that claim having been voted Central Oregon’s Best Caterer five consecutive years.
The company caters to hundreds of people every day including wedding receptions, business luncheons, small scale dinner parties and meal home deliveries.
“We typically do three to five catered events per day,” George said.
They looked for two years before finding the new location to establish Tate & Tate Manufacturing which houses everything for their catering businesses which was previously stored in their garage.
“We are concentrating on the retail side of the business because we think that can grow more rapidly and this location has more space,” George said.
They offer lunch and dinner service for businesses and have no charge for delivery in Redmond.
“It is convenient quality meals. We are big on value at Tate and Tate,” George said.
www.tateandtatecatering.com
“I was interested in all of the businesses,” Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger said during the tour. They each had something that I learned from and I was especially impressed by their stringent quality control. These businesses prove that you can do anything with anything. All you need is a good idea.”
“The tour shows people what is on the east side of the railroad tracks, in the industrial area,” Redmond City Councilor Joseph Centanni said. “Not a lot of people go out there on a daily basis so they don’t know about the businesses.”
