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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2021)
8 Wednesday, March 3, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Sisters company garners national attention By Bill Bartlett Correspondent If you bought shares of Laird Superfood (Symbol LSF on NYSE) on September 22 last year, at the opening price of $22, you could have sold them the next day for $40.80 and popped some fine cham- pagne. That was the Initial Public Offering (IPO) price of the Sisters plant-based food- products company which is frequently a topic of con- versation in Sisters Country. The IPO caught the atten- tion of Barron9s, Forbes, Fox Business Channel, Market Watch, The Street, and Yahoo Finance, among others. The shares reached a high of $60.80 since inception. Last week they traded as high as $45.65. This is all the more interesting, considering that despite its explosive sales growth, the company had an operating loss of $8.35 mil- lion in the first nine months of 2020 on sales of $18.7 million. Comparable sales in 2019 were $8.9 million. Prior to its public offering of 2,650,000 shares, the com- pany had six rounds of private funding totaling $51 million. Its total shares outstanding are 8.87 million, translating to a market capitalization of $378 million on February 24. The fast-growing business currently employs 150 work- ers. It projects a total work- force of nearly 500 in the next three years, as it meets rapidly expanding demand. The com- pany claims to exceed mini- mum hourly wage require- ments for all workers. Many in the community originally embraced Laird9s ambitious hiring plans, given the lack of living-wage job opportunities in Sisters and dependency on cyclical tourism jobs. Two-thirds of the jobs are filled by workers residing out- side of Sisters, mostly from Redmond and Bend. Fifty- five employees list ZIP code 97759 as their residence. Paul Hodge, CEO, lays the lower proportion of local hires to the lack of affordable housing. He and Paul and Carla Schneider of Sisters have purchased 31 acres from the Forest Service about a quarter-mile from the Laird campus and intend to develop it into a multi-use project with as many as 250 cottages, town homes and multi-family units, partly in hopes of alleviating work- force housing shortages. Laird9s growing pains come with a price. A number of citizens have been vocal in their concern at how Laird is changing the composition of Sisters. And, as the com- pany9s footprint becomes larger, it no longer resembles the little coffee creamer outfit created by world-famous big wave surfer, Laird Hamilton, in Hawaii. Neighbors in Clearpine, the 97-unit housing subdivi- sion whose southern bound- ary is immediately across the street from Laird9s operations, complain about the noise from the 53-foot refrigerated trailers the company has been forced to position in its park- ing lot that run generators 24/7. The trailers are a tempo- rary solution for product stor- age until its 27,000-square- foot warehouse is completed. Ground has been broken for the building scheduled for occupancy by summer9s end. One neighbor on Forest Edge Drive remains dissatis- fied, saying, <My husband is confined with Parkinson9s and needs rest and quiet. In the summer we cannot leave our windows open with the noise. Even in winter it is a nuisance.= Laird is also the recipient of complaints for the high- intensity lighting it has erected in its employee parking lot. Neighbors take issue with the PHOTO BY BILL BARTLETT Laird Superfood has broken ground on a new 27,000-square-foot facility in Sisters. lights9 infringement on the dark-sky movement embod- ied in Sisters Ordinance 251H. Corrective measures were taken promptly, adjust- ing the lights9 spread and hours of illumination. A neighbor on Heising Drive said, <We brought the light issue to their attention Holistic Mental Health Solutions Medication Management Counseling • Functional Medicine Audry Van Houweling PMHNP-BC Quick and Affordable Help 541-595-8337 • www.shesoarspsych.com 204 W. Adams Ave., Ste. 202, Sisters and within 36 hours they reached out to us and in a few days we could see workers on the light poles making adjust- ments. That was the kind of response we expected given Laird9s reputation.= According to a 2020 study by Ipsos Retail Performance, about 9.7 million Americans now follow a plant-based diet, up from just 290,000 in 2004. This may just be the start. With exponential demand likely, the plant-based mar- ket could be worth $74.2 bil- lion in the next seven years, according to Meticulous Research. Laird Superfood is very much in the mix. HIT A POTHOLE? WE CAN HELP! Alignments, Shocks, Struts, Wheels, Tires DAVIS TIRE 541-549-1026 Serving Sisters Since 1962 188 W. SISTERS PARK DR. IN SISTERS INDUSTRIAL PARK Contact your representatives... SCHEDULE YOUR SPRING & SUMMER FENCING PROJECTS NOW! Craftsman Built, Custom Fencing, Ranch & Agricultural, Residential, Commercial 5 541-588-2062 CCB#228388 F FREE R E E E ESTIMATES S T I M A T E S & C COMPETITIVE O M P E T I T I V PRICING Locally Owned, Superior Customer Service www.SistersFenceCompany.com SISTERS CITY COUNCIL Mayor Michael Preedin mpreedin@ci.sisters.or.us Council President Nancy Connolly nconnolly@ci.sisters.or.us Councilor Andrea Blum ablum@ci.sisters.or.us Councilor Gary Ross g.ross@ci.sisters.or.us Councilor Jennifer Letz jletz@ci.sisters.or.us Sisters City Hall 520 E. Cascade Ave. PO Box 39 Sisters, OR 97759 541-549-6022 DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Commissioner Patti Adair Patti.Adair@deschutes.org 541-388-6567 Commissioner Phil Chang Phil.Chang@deschutes.org 541-388-6569 Commissioner Anthony DeBone Tony.DeBone@deschutes.org 541-388-6568 OREGON HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Daniel Bonham District: 59 503-986-1459 900 Court St. NE, H-483 Salem, OR 97301 Rep.DanielBonham@ oregonlegislature.gov www.oregonlegislature.gov/ bonham OREGON STATE SENATE Senator Lynn Findley District: 30 503-986-1730 900 Court St. NE, S-301 Salem, OR, 97301 Sen.LynnFindley@ oregonlegislature.gov www.oregonlegislature.gov/ findley Senator Tim Knopp District: 27 503-986-1727 900 Court St. NE, S-309 Salem, OR, 97301 Sen.TimKnopp@ oregonlegislature.gov www.oregonlegislature.gov/ knopp U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Cliff Bentz Congressional District 2 541-776-4646 14 N. Central Ave., Suite 112 Medford, OR 97501 https://bentz.house.gov/ contact U.S. SENATE Sen. Ron Wyden https://www.wyden.senate. gov/contact/email-ron Sen. Jeff Merkley https://www.merkley.senate. gov/contact