THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
Business & Ag
D&J Taco Shop has a
successful opening week
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
A little over a week ago
David Kassien and Jamie
Ostrander opened what
they expected to be a
successful business: D&J
Taco Shop.
The shop, with an
anchor theme for personal
reasons, is unlike any
other in town and based
on the idea of fresh, fast
and friendly—that is their
motto; it’s even printed on
their business cards.
They both were shocked
at the reception they
received.
“That fi rst day, people
were lined up out the door
and down the sidewalk,”
they said. “It’s fl attering.”
It has been a steady
stream ever since with
some customers.
“They come back
sometimes two times a
day, then the next day and
the next day. It is kind of
crazy the amount of people
we’ve had come through
this building. We were a
little worried opening up in
January in Baker City. We
had heard all these horror
stories of not making it and
not having people come
in, that there is nobody
in town who will eat, and
we gotta tell you we’ve
been wondering ‘Are they
anywhere else in town, is
anyone else getting any
business?’ We’ve exceeded
our goals, we expected to
be busy but not like it’s
been,” Kassien said.
Kassien explained that
extra pans for more back-
up had to be ordered to
meet demand. He said, “So
we’re not scrambling to
keep up. Our food order,
our meats are kind of
specialty meats, already
marinated and prepared by
chefs. I mean if we wanted
to use raw meat we could
get that all day long, but
the specialty meats are a
different story. Our food
rep had to get in touch with
his suppliers to up what we
are getting, too. We used
up the all of the shredded
beef and I had my own
recipe so I whipped it up
and we decided we liked it
a little bit better so, we are
using that. Once it settles
down we will have a bet-
ter even fl ow. Everybody
knows though, when you
start a business it takes up
all your time. You’ve got to
work at it.”
After being open for over
a week now and knowing
what to expect, the em-
ployees at D&J Taco Shop
are getting a routine down.
Knowing what needs to
be done and Kassien and
Ostrander have been teach-
ing them their ways how to
prepare certain items, thus
relieving the load on them
some, and they are train-
ing employees on closing
procedures in hopes they
won’t have to be there all
the hours of operation.
Kassien and Ostrander
did work with Economic
Development and The
Chamber of Commerce as
well and said, “Everyone
should join the Chamber
and support local busi-
ness.”
Ostrander stated, “Since
we’ve started this ven-
ture we’ve tried to keep
as much local as we can.
Signs, T-shirts, Contrac-
tors. We are fi rm believ-
ers in ‘if you scratch my
back, I’ll scratch yours.’
We’ll go to them and give
— Weekly Hay Report —
Friday, January 29, 2016 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to week-
ago prices. The recent cold snap has increased
sales. Many producers have decided to hold on to
their hay for now, in hopes for higher prices. Snow
has hit some of the hay producing areas. Many hay
producers are sold out for the year. All prices are
in dollars per ton and FOB unless otherwise stated.
This week was diffi cult to get hold of hay produc-
ers, so it is a limited test.
No new sales this week. Last week’s were:
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa —Large Square Good
250 135.00-135.00 135.00
Alfalfa / Orchard Mix —Small Square Premium
35 190.00-190.00 190.00
Prairie Grass—Small Square Good
25 150.00-150.00 150.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
L-R Jamie Ostrander and David Kassien opened their new taco restaurant in
the Baker Tower last week.
them our business. They’ll
come to ours and give us
their business. We have
seen everyone we’ve gone
through for services come
in for food.”
Kassien added, “We’ve
gotten gifts from other
business owners. We have
gotten an overwhelming
response from the com-
munity.”
It was however, friends
they made while cooking
for the VFW that made this
dream a reality.
Kassien and Ostrander
developed a following
among the local veteran
community and were urged
to begin this venture.
They have high regards
for veterans and consider
many close friends.
When funding seemed
an impossible hurdle to
put this dream together, a
couple of the friends they
had made at the local VFW
agreed to loan them to the
money to turn the business
into a reality.
“We are veteran backed,”
they said proudly.
Kassien and Ostrander
are both relatively new to
Baker City, only settling
here within the last few
years.
Kassien is originally
from Southern California
and Ostrander is from
upstate New York.
They worked for the lo-
cal Dairy Queen (with two
stores in the local area they
managed) for a period of
time before embarking on
this adventure together.
Kassien has a back-
ground in the cable
industry, which he worked
in for 20 years beginning
in the 80s, owned a pet
grooming business, worked
for Lowes —working his
way up to an administra-
tive manager—and was a
General Manager at Taco
Bell.
Ostrander brings to
the table an extensive
background in the food
service industry working
with Darden Restaurants
for eight years at Olive
Garden.
He then worked with
TGI Friday’s for 11 years
and Buffalo Wild Wings
for three years. He then
became a General Man-
ager for Salsarita’s Fresh
Cantinas for four years
before buying the franchise
and owning it for another
fi ve years.
He has a degree in Busi-
ness Administration and
Management.
Kassien and Ostrander
are very customer service
driven. They say they
believe if one treats people
well and produces a good
product—they cook and
prepare all food fresh daily,
make fresh salsa daily and
fry tortillas fresh to or-
der— customers are going
to come back.
Due to that freshness
element, Ostrander said,
“That’s why we haven’t
done fi sh yet, but we are
going to pick a day to do
fi sh taco; it’s just that with
fi sh you have to serve it
fresh and that does offer
some challenges.”
They also want custom-
ers to know they do listen
and try to adapt to satisfy
them in fact they went out
and bought olives for one
customer and have since
discovered it is a big item
a lot of customers want. So
now, they stock olives.
They also want to let
customers know they do
have plans to add Tortas
(a Mexican sub sandwich)
and an anchor wrap, simi-
lar to the Taco Bell crunch
wrap.
Aside from keeping
customers happy, they also
believe in paying their staff
a little higher wage to ob-
tain and retain employees
who are going to promote
and maintain the values
that are important to them.
Currently the business
open 11:00 a.m. till 9 p.m.
Monday through Saturday
in the lobby of the Baker
Tower located at 1705
Main Street. They employ
fi ve.
Ostrander said, “We felt
this was a good location.
We’ve lived here long
enough to know there
really isn’t anything on
this end of town to capture
business.
“There are a lot of busi-
nesses down here, too.
Hearts and Petals just
opened. Mad Habit is do-
ing a huge remodel. Beard-
ed Dog just opened around
the corner. City Hall, the
Federal Building—there
are a lot of people with
nowhere to go on this side
of town to eat so we saw
that as an opportunity. And
we are right on the way out
of town to Sumpter.”
Ostrander also indicated
he would like to look into
how to get a sign on the
interstate that may bring
people into town.
“Once spring and sum-
mer start to hit and we see
an increase in foot traffi c
and tourists walking up
and down the street we
have no problem staying
open later,” Ostrander said.
Kassien added,“We’re
applying for a permit so in
the summer we can have
outside seating and we are
in the process of applying
for a beer and wine license
so we are hoping to be able
to add that soon. We’ll
react to the public needs.”
The two also expressed
interest in a future expan-
sion that may include the
current ballroom of the
Baker Tower to add seating
and possibly a lounge type
area.
“We just wanted to give
Baker City someplace dif-
ferent, new and kind of hip
to go hang out.”
A grand opening and
ribbon-cutting* are
planned soon.
* Two newly opened
Baker City businesses
will celebrate their Grand
Openings this Friday,
February 5th:
Hearts & Petals Flower
Shoppe, owned by Denise
Harmon and located at
1788 Main Street, will
have their ribbon-cutting
at 2:00 p.m.
D&J Taco Shop, owned
by David Kassien and
Jamie Ostrander, is located
at 1705 Main Street. Their
ribbon cutting is scheduled
for 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1497
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 179.00 - 219.00 Top 224.00
400-500# Bulk 176.00 - 219.75 Top 220.50
500-600# Bulk 173.00 - 193.00 Top 197.50
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 173.00 - 199.00 Top 202.00
400-500# Bulk 159.00 - 194.00 Top 194.50
500-600# Bulk 146.00 - 168.00 Top 168.50
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 152.00 - 172.00 Top 173.25
700-800# Bulk 139.00 - 151.00 Top 154.50
800-900# Bulk 136.00 - 144.60 Top 145.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 138.00 - 162.00 Top 162.50
700-800# Bulk 127.00 - 145.00 Top 148.00
800-900# Bulk 112.00 - 133.00 Top 134.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 42.00 - 51.00
Butcher Cows 51.00 - 61.00
Butcher Bulls 52.00 - 68.00
Stock Cows Yng. 1125.00 - 1575.00
Younger Hfrts. 84.00 - 120.00
Stock Cows Older. - 785.00 - 1100.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Currently the local log market is fl ooded with
fi re salvage logs. The log buyer for Malheur
Lumber Co. stated they have all the logs they
need under contract and are not accepting any
new purchases. BCC/LLC of La Grande has
receive so many burned fi re salvage logs they
are no longer accepting logs at the La Grande
log yard. Any additional pine logs have to be
delivered to the Elgin Log yard cut in plywood
lengths and to a 8 inch top. For these pine
logs cut in plywood lengths, BCC is offering
$280.00/mbf. They are also paying $410.00/
mbf for Doug Fir & Western Larch. For White
Fir they are offi ng $310.00/mbf. At the Pilot
Rock Saw Mill BCC is offi ng $360.00/mbf for a
12 to 15 inch top, for 16 to 19 inch top $400.00/
mbf & offi ng $425.00/mbf for 20 inch plus top
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Take out a Valentine's Day
greeting for the one
you love!
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: 1,039.70
Silver: $14.66
Platinum: $879.70
Palladium: $510.32
Just $5 per heart. Greetings will run next week.
Email news@thebakercountypress.com with exact
message, name and address. You’ll receive an
invoice via email. Click to pay and your ad will be
scheduled. It’s just that easy!
— Ag Commodities —
Happy s
tine’
Valen
Day!
Wyatt,
Life isn’t about fi nding
someone you can live
with. It’s about fi nding
someone you can’t live
without.
—Josephine
Bloomberg.com
Corn: $371.00/bu/USD
Wheat: $480.00/bu/USD
Soybeans: $876.75/bu/USD
Oats: $196.25 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $11.14/cwt/USD
Canola: $471.90 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $136.05/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $158.18/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $69.83/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com