24
Wednesday, June 14, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LOAN: Program
designed to spur
employment in Sisters
Continued from page 3
Sisters in November 2015
in the former Metabolic
Maintenance building on
North Pine Street. When
they opened their doors,
Paul Hodge, one of the own-
ers of the company, and two
employees were the only
staff. In December 2016 there
were four, and currently there
are 17 employees in Sisters
and one sales representa-
tive in New York. Their esti-
mate for a full workforce has
increased from 30 to 45 by
next summer, creating more
employment opportunities for
residents of Sisters.
The employee positions
include mixing, manufactur-
ing, and packaging. There
will be one compliance offi-
cer to ensure that Laird is
meeting the food safety stan-
dards of the Food and Drug
Administration. There are
also positions in sales and
customer service.
Laird plans to be break-
ing ground in Sisters’ light
industrial zone in August
2017 for the construction of
two buildings — one 15,000
square feet and one 8,000
square feet. The planning
process is already underway
with the City. If all goes well,
Hodge said they plan to move
quickly and anticipate mov-
ing into the new facility in
December 2017.
“Our long-term goal for the
company is to become a well-
known trusted food source,
similar to the Newman’s Own
line of products,” said Hodge.
They want to be known
for providing clean, nutrient-
dense products, free of all
preservatives and chemicals.
Their powdered non-dairy
creamer is the only healthy
one on the market. All the oth-
ers contain unhealthy hydro-
genated oil.
Laird SuperFood is
available here in Sisters at
Melvin’s Fir Street Market.
Hodge said everything is sell-
ing so well that he is making
deliveries every other day to
Melvin’s. They are also in
160 grocery stores around
the country. However, for the
next two to three years, most
of their product will be sold
online, allowing them to sell
at full retail price until they
are really well-established.
Laird is currently creating
single-serve packets mainly
for the hotel market. The
hotel at Tetherow in Bend
has served as a six-month test
model. Further down the road,
the possibility of providing
product for the food-service
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
City repredentatived predented a check for $51,000 to Laird SuperFood ladt week.
industry will be explored.
After accepting both the
symbolic and the actual
check, Hodge offered his
thanks.
It id great that a dmall
town like Sidterd id willing
to do domething above
and beyond to bring new
budinedd to town.
— Paul Hodge
“It is great that a small
town like Sisters is willing
to do something above and
beyond to bring new business
to town,” he said.
Laird had investigated
other locations and even
found an existing building in
Redmond, close to the airport,
but they were really commit-
ted to building their business
in Sisters. The forgivable loan
program helped solidify their
decision.
“We appreciate all the sup-
port we have received from
the City of Sisters,” Hodge
concluded.
The process involved in
the forgivable loan program
follows a particular format.
If a traded-sector business
is approved for a loan and a
contract signed between the
City and the business, the
loan is funded. The contract
states the number of employ-
ees expected to be hired and
maintained by the end of the
loan period. That number
of employees is the base on
which the loan is formulated.
At the conclusion of the
loan period, if that number
has not been reached or not
maintained, then the com-
pany will be required to
repay the loan, plus interest,
to the City. If they do attain
their projected employment
numbers and maintain those
jobs for the specified number
of years, the loan is forgiven.
The program was developed
as a way to attract businesses
providing family-wage jobs
to Sisters.
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