Promoting the notion that Sisters is more than just a cowboy tourism stop, last Thursday’s “Made In Sisters” tour offered an eclectic sampling of light industrial, interesting retail and manufacturing businesses in the greater Sisters Country area.
The aim of the morning, spearheaded by Sisters Economic Development Manager Mac Hay, was to showcase a sampling of key local enterprises and foster an ever-increasing network of vital business relationships to solidify the idea of Sisters as a viable and thriving location for continued commerce.
Specially selected businesses represented a wide range of products and services were Metabolic Maintenance, Rescue Response Gear, an outdoor sportsmen’s firm manufacturing custom ropes and harnesses for Search and Rescue teams, Ponderosa Forge and Ironworks and Energyneering Solutions Inc., the innovative engineering and energy consulting firm founded in 2007 and owned by Sisters Airport’s Benny Benson.
Starting at Sisters City Hall, a congregation of civic leaders, chamber directors, county commissioners, business owners and economic development team members gathered to promote good will and networking in a troubling economy. The group, including Commissioner Alan Unger, EDCO executive director Roger Lee and Sisters City Manager Eileen Stein, tucked info packets under their arms and grabbed a marionberry scone before boarding the school bus to deliver them to the four scheduled stops.
“I want to welcome everyone to Sisters for what I think is a hell of an idea,” said Sisters Mayor Lon Kellstrom. “It’s an idea that came from the fertile mind of Mac Hay and we appreciate you all being here this morning.”
“Word travels fast and this event is made to raise the visibility of Sisters on the radar screen. Things happen because we build relationships with people and making sure the rest of the world out there knows what makes us tick.”
METABOLIC MAINTENANCE
First stop was Metabolic Maintenance, producer of vitamins, mineral, nutritional supplements and herbal extracts to the physician-exclusive market with a total catalog of 150-160 products. The company was founded by Ed Fitzgerald in 1994 and employs 32 people, 75 percent of them from Sisters. They are ready to expand in the years to come and about to enter the competitive retail world with their entire line of specific amino-acid and health related lines, moving beyond their healthcare professional customers.
“We moved here from Sand Diego and chose Sisters because I wanted a good place for my daughter, Kelly, to grow up, go to school and play sports,” Fitzgerald said.
Guests were taken on a tour of the facilities, labs and quality control areas by Quality Control Manager Kevin Holman. Exacting care is taken in the sample scanning and purity procedures enacted on every substance and material imported and used in their inventory, testing for microbes, E-coli and bacteria before packaging. The main 17,000 square foot building on Pine Street is stuffed and stacked to the rafters with sacks, bags, bins and barrels, evidence of some severe growing pains.
“As you can see, we’re kinda cramped in here,” Fitzgerald said. “We’d like to double our square footage, adding onto the existing structure and building out onto the property here we own.”
PONDEROSA FORGE
At the Ponderosa Forge roadshow stop, owner Jeff Wester proudly displayed their quality line of hand-forged tools, fireplace doors, andirons and elegant iron railing. Wester started the business in 1988 in a tent set up in the back of a house. Visitors were led into the heart of the operations inside the original 1991 fabrication shop and blacksmith room with its cold and gas forges and loud forging hammers.
Using a mixture of historic benches and traditional equipment, paired with more modern CNC cutting machines, Wester produces some of the finest iron, bronze and copper work in the West.
ENERGYNEERING SOLUTIONS
“There’s always a big surprise to people how much is being done in Sisters,” said Benny Benson of Energyneering Solutions.
“Our core business is engineering in the bio-gas and bio-mass energy world and the operations management team is based right here in Sisters, as well as some of the actual overhaul work. There’s a real uniqueness to the area and our ties to the airport give us that needed mobility.”
Benson was initially drawn to the area for its quality of life and desire to grow and expand his businesses.
“With the internet and air transportation in Sisters I can conduct business worldwide,” he said. “The tour was real positive and further highlighted we’re not just a sleepy tourist town. Sisters needs to have a technology, commercial and industrial backbone in order for it to exist as a recreational tourist destination and allow it to be whatever it wants to be. It gives you the best of both worlds.”
Following the tour, the assembled group was treated to a buffet lunch a Blazin’ Saddles Cycle-N-Style with food provided by the Depot Café.
“This was a great day,” concluded Hay. “Everybody did an excellent job putting this together and the four featured businesses were so impressive. It exceeded my expectations and want to thank everyone for their support, ideas and inspiration, and attending this important tour today.”
