La Grande, OR, has undergone a business transformation in recent years. The downtown is now home to a winery with tasting room, a sticker manufacturer, a glassblowing studio, and a fabricator of custom bike wheels.
Notice a trend? La Grande’s renaissance is being driven by small manufacturers.
Timothy Bishop, La Grande’s economic development director, says he has identified 79 small home-based businesses in La Grande, and those companies are driving the rebirth. “A lot of these businesses were making products out of their garage, their basement, their back bedroom.” Bishop tells Downtown Idea Exchange. “They don’t need Grade A space,” he says. “They just need more space than their basement.”
In the July issue of Downtown Idea Exchange, Bishop discusses the program’s success and it’s future. To keep the momentum going, Bishop put together a Makers Council to serve as an advisory board, and hosted a Makers Summit, a daylong meeting to talk about the effort. Other than that, La Grande offers makers no direct incentives to locate downtown.
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