Comments on: Why is Chris Nordyke Doing This?

By: Marcy Eastham

Marcy Eastham — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:22:32 +0000

Todd is absolutely correct — locally owned businesses need to be good at what they do. That goes beyond a quality product; they have to be responsive to customers and provide a level of service the chains don’t or can’t provide. Businesses fail for a lot of reasons, but if they face competition by reinventing and differentiating themselves rather than fight it, they can flourish.

Reinvention is an art. Look at The Inkwell Home Store. How many of you were in Corvallis when it was just an art supply store? Pat & Amy have grown that business into a downtown achor, but they had to adapt and change to keep it going. We lost the Happy Cooker in Timberhill, and Pat & Amy picked up the merchandise they carried to ensure customers could continue to get those product lines.

Perhaps we need to help our local businesses celebrate their successes more.

By: Cynthia Spencer

Cynthia Spencer — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:57:02 +0000

@Todd W. Tum-a-lum and Copeland’s were already gone or on their way out, but since Home Depot we’ve lost the large contractor’s hardware on 53rd and two Corvallis Hardware Stores. I don’t know the exact circumstances behind their closures, but the only independent’s left are Robnett’s and Spaeth’s–which, by the way, has gone out of its way to improve its customer service with a Pirate Theme.

By: Fred Kane

Fred Kane — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:18:02 +0000

Marcy, that would be interesting and it would be equally interesting if some time has passed to see how those communities have changed since the study was done. It would be fascinating to know which communities were studied and what criteria were used to select them!

By: Marcy Eastham

Marcy Eastham — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:43:51 +0000

The Chamber actually did a study several yearss ago of college communities similar to Corvallis and the business composition of those towns. It was the basis for one of our business plans. Perhaps we can unearth it and update it? Anyone at the Chamber know if it’s still in the archives?

By: Fred Kane

Fred Kane — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:39:37 +0000

Jillian, there may also be some external topographic and boundary limitations to Pleasanton’s growth that we don’t face here. Pleasanton has the regional park and Pleasanton Ridge to the west, the cities of Dublin on the north and Livermore on the east and hills to the south and southeast. Pleasanton is a major Bay Area center for corporate headquarters and centers even beyond those that you listed.

Still, it would be interesting to consider what cities we would consider as models or benchmarks for our development? Who has done development well and how?

By: Marcy Eastham

Marcy Eastham — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:37:39 +0000

Jillian, one thing Pleasanton has that we don’t is an International Airport 30 miles away. One of the greatest complaints I have heard over the years from business leaders about Corvallis is the distance to PDX. For company execs, 4+ hours of down time to get to the airport, check in and try to find a place to plug in your laptop waiting for your flight is a killer. Shuttles don’t have privacy for conference calls or even using your laptop.

A flight out of PDX always used to cost me an extra day in travel time. Flying out of Eugene is easier, but much more expensive and with fewer desinations. For most trips, you wind up going to PDX or SEA anyway!

The international nature of high tech businesses requires access to airports. That’s just one stumbling block for Corvallis since we can’t change geography, but one we have to be cognizant of as we try to recruit businesses for economic stability.

By: Todd Washington

Todd Washington — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:24:54 +0000

Can anyone tell me how many stores have had to shut down because Home Depot came to town? How many people have a job because of Home Depot instead of having to go elsewhere for a job? How many restuarants have shut down because of Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday? If you want to talk “Big Box” impact you need not look further than a click away right now, the internet! Let’s get real, if you have a good product or service and people are willing to pay for it you will be successful. American Dream Pizza is a prime example this. Block 15 is an unbelievable success story. If we took every “Chain” store/restuarant away, it doesn’t mean the locals would be booming. They need to be good at what they do. Those that are good will be successful, chain store in existance or not.

By: Jillian Ada Burrows

Jillian Ada Burrows — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:58:00 +0000

@marcye435 Thanks for what you said. I’ll reiterate, Corvallis needs to find what will really work for the city and for encouraging the right industries to move in and employ the talent that we have here without causing excessive growth?

Why do people here fear growth so much? It can be controlled in other ways to prevent it from being discordant with the towns current feel. What do you think it will take to change peoples’ minds about the annexation by vote? What else has the city ruled that makes it hard on growth?

To any local entrepreneurs: What is it about Corvallis that makes it hard to start a business?

About 20 years ago, Pleasanton, CA looked a lot like we do now industry, income, and population wise. They have only grown to have approximately 65,000 people. They are a very good model of what Corvallis could do.

By: Fred Kane

Fred Kane — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:55:01 +0000

Chris, Yes, it is OK to disagree, my friend!

I recognize that the statistics for those in Corvallis living below the poverty line are skewed by lower income university students.

I know that there is certainly some abuse of the free and reduced price lunch program in the school district. It has informative for me that this past year the annual random sample in which 3% of the families are required to document their resources led to no changes in the status of those sampled. That indicates to me that the free or reduced price lunch rates have some strong validity as an indicator of economic conditions.

I am looking right now at the latest student count and find that nearly a third of public school students are in that category. So I am not quick to claim that, “…the numbers tell a very different story here.”

By: Jillian Ada Burrows

Jillian Ada Burrows — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:47:48 +0000

@ChrisNordyke, I agree that most of the data is skewed in some manner. Part of what is skewed is the poverty line itself. It is actually really high in Benton county. The other part that might be skewed is the household income, and per capita income is quite skewed. The data I think is a little less skewed are the data from families in the table in the following link (mind the margin of error though):

http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ADPTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=16000US4115800&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_DP3YR3&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-_sse=on

If you want some data on how the employment numbers in Corvallis has changed over time, go see http://bit.ly/CVOecon (numbers in light grey represent numbers from before the 2000 NAICS was implemented)You can also find comparisons between here and Pleasanton, CA.

Speaking of Pleasanton, CA: I actually think it is a good model to look at and draw contrasts and comparisons. I know I’m contradicting what I said in earlier posts, but I’ve looked at the data more. I think we can see a few areas that really need be focused on — those are highlighted in green and yellow in the Industry Comparison tab. They’ve have done a good job with keeping an amazing set of industries in their city. As a side note, I have a relative who just recently moved from Oregon for a job in Pleasanton. I don’t know his exact job, but I’m sure it’s in the Information sector. What could Corvallis do to attract more jobs and more talent like that?