THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017
Business / Agriculture
New downtown group forms
A group of downtown
merchants and prop-
erty owners have come
together to form “Baker
City Downtown” (BCD).
This non-profit organiza-
tion will be following the
Main Street Approach, a
comprehensive method
to downtown commercial
district revitalization.
“Shortly after I began
working in Community
Development, I started
hearing interest from
downtown merchants who
wanted to know more
about the Oregon Main
Street Program,” stated
Robin Nudd, Community
Development Coordinator
for the City of Baker City.
In February Nudd set up
a community meeting with
Sheri Stuart, Program Di-
rector for the Oregon Main
Street Program. Over 30
people attended and over-
whelmingly supported the
idea of getting involved in
the program.
After that meeting vol-
unteers signed up to serve
as the Interim Board and
work began on creating a
vision and mission state-
ment and draft bylaws for
the new organization.
“A huge thank you needs
to go out to the Interim
Board. They put in so
much time and energy—
we really couldn’t have
done it without them,”
stated Nudd. Interim Board
members included Tori
Brown, Shelly Cutler, Da-
vid Kassien, Jenny Mowe-
Friday, June 16, 2017 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady in an extremely
limited test compared to week ago prices.
Most producers are sold out for the year, and are
busy out in the fields preparing for new crop. Some
producers have cut and starting to bale and are pre-
paring to start selling 2017 hay.
So far, new crop hay pricing, in an extremely lim-
ited test, seems generally steady compared to 2016
pricing for similar quality.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
No new sales confirmed for this week.
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Submitted Photo.
L-R: Tori Brown, President; Bev Calder, Vice President; Jenny Mowe-Joseph;
Rick Stout, Treasurer and Heather Isaacson, Secretary.
Joseph, Tom Novak, Jamie
Ostrander, Carol Phillips,
and Kate Reid.
“We really wanted to
develop an organization
that would give businesses
a voice, and that would
help coordinate efforts to
spur economic develop-
ment in Baker City as well
as support the institutions
of downtown that have
prevailed here,” stated
Jenny Mowe-Joseph.
With draft bylaws and a
vision and mission state-
ment complete, the group
held elections on April
19th.
“We had a great turnout,
over 40 property and
business owners turned
out,” reported Nudd. That
evening the group elected
Tori Brown, Bev Calder,
Heather Isaacson, Jenny
Mowe-Joseph and Rick
Stout to lead the organiza-
tion.
The newly elected BCD
Board is looking forward
to reaching out to prospec-
tive members and hearing
what downtown business
and property owners’ goals
are and how an organiza-
tion such as this can help-
support their businesses.
“As downtown busi-
ness owners, we all share
a common desire—to see
our downtown thrive.
There was a need for
organization, structure,
and new energy, which is
exactly what this group
has. Each of our board
members brings a different
attribute to BCD, along
with a lot of passion for
this town and its success.
We have a good vibe going
and we have a lot of sup-
port from the community
so far. I can’t wait to see
what we can accomplish,”
said Tori Brown, President
of BCD.
Later this month the
Board of Directors will be
attending training provided
through the Oregon Main
Street Program. Soon after
the Board will be holding
a “Meet and Greet” where
business owners, property
owners and community
members will have the op-
portunity to learn about the
four-point approach—the
guiding framework for the
program.
For more information
and to sign up to receive
updates please visit baker-
citydowntown.com.
Halfway quilt shop in magazine
Quilts Plus, a quilt shop
in Halfway, Oregon, has
been chosen as one of the
10 featured shops across
the United States for the
Fall/Winter 2017 issue of
Quilt Sampler® magazine,
published by Better
Homes and Gardens.
Quilt Sampler, published
twice a year, has been
profiling North America’s
top quilt shops for the past
22 years.
Quilt shops submit a
detailed application on
their history, business pro-
motions, charitable work,
teaching schedules and de-
sign philosophies. A panel
of quilt experts led by Jody
Sanders, Senior Editor of
American Patchwork &
Quilting® magazine,
narrows down the applica-
tions to 10 featured shops
for each issue.
Competition to be
included in Quilt Sampler
is keen. Nearly 3,000 quilt
shops are eligible to ap-
ply for this year’s honor.
Quilts Plus and the other
nine shops chosen were
photographed and inter-
viewed by a team from
Quilt Sampler, and a mul-
tipage profile of the shop
will appear in the issue,
which will be available on
newsstands on September
5, 2017.
Employees of each quilt
shop also design an origi-
nal quilt for the magazine,
and the full-sized pattern
for the quilt appears in the
issue of Quilt Sampler.
Quilt Sampler has
proven to be a huge suc-
cess, and early out-of-
print issues are collector’s
items. Chosen shops are
inundated with visitors
and requests for the shop’s
quilt patterns and fabrics.
Quilters are known to try
and visit all the shops in
each issue, getting the sig-
nature of each shop owner
in their copy of the issue.
The art of quilting has
changed dramatically
since the days of quilting
bees in church basements,
with quilting enjoying a
major renaissance across
the country.
A Quilting Consumer
Insights study, completed
in 2011 by American
Patchwork & Quilting
magazine, reports that the
U.S. quilting market is
comprised of 4.2 million
avid quilters.
Further research shows
that readers of American
Patchwork & Quilting
spend an average of $1,165
per year on quilting sup-
plies and complete nearly
11 projects per year.
This group is over-
whelmingly female,
well-educated, affluent,
and have been quilting for
almost eight years.
Gentry sells company
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
McCurry, 46, has been in
the car dealership business
just over 20 years, begin-
ning with the Ford dealer-
ship in Mountain Home in
1997, adding the Chrysler,
Jeep, Dodge, and Ram
brands in 2003, acquiring
the GMC Chevy Buick
store in 2013, opening the
Meridian Auto Ranch out-
let in 2015, and adding the
Ontario Chrysler Dodge
Jeep Ram dealership in
2016. The Subaru brand
is included, too, he said,
speaking of a dealership
also located in Ontario.
“It’s really a good
brand strategy, and
eastern Oregon’s a great
market, with our kind of
people—a more rural,
and more hometown-type
atmosphere, which is how
we like to go, to market.
We’re not really interested
in doing stores in cities like
Boise, that are larger...We
think people in the more
rural markets pay a little
— Weekly Hay Report —
more attention to where
they trade, and appreci-
ate hometown service and
hometown values a little
more than some in larger
markets, so, that’s who we
like to talk to,” McCurry
said.
He said that short-term
plans include “refreshing”
the Baker City facilitie—
new paint, new carpet, and
ingress and egress work,
for example—rather than
any major remodeling, and
long-terms plans include
finding a site for a new
facility, expanding, and
adding more staff. The
consolidation won’t result
in any layoffs, he said, and
acquisition of the Gentry
facilities meant keeping
95% of the team, with
the remainder of person-
nel leaving mostly due to
retirement.
McCurry’s known
Gentry for over 15 years,
through the dealership
business, and he said
that Gentry, President
of Ontario-based Edge
Performance Sports, will
continue in that role. Edge
Performance Sports is a
full-service dealership that
sells new and used motor-
cycles, ATVs, and parts,
and is one of the largest
franchises for Honda,
Suzuki, Kawasaki, Can-
Am, KTM, Polaris, Polaris
Power, Sea-Doo, Ski-Doo,
and Timbersled, according
to the company’s website.
According to a press
release, Gentry said,
“Turning over the legacy
my grandfather, Keith,
started in 1952, in Weiser,
was not an easy decision.
Gentry Ford has been a
part of Ontario since 1958,
owned and operated by my
grandfather, my dad, and
myself. It was important
to me to remain a ‘local
owner’ business. I believe
I couldn’t have found a
better buyer. For over 20
years, Todd has owned and
operated dealerships, and
has done business in this
Valley. He is a very com-
munity minded person, and
cares about his employees
and customers. I am very
confident that I am turning
the Gentry Auto Group
over to the perfect car
dealer. Customers can ex-
pect to find the same great
experiences and people
with his company, as they
did with mine. I will con-
tinue to own and operate
Edge performance Sports,
with our continued support
of the Western Treasure
Valley.”
McCurry said, “It’s
important to me that the
community knows that
Ryan and I are friends, we
have been for some time,
that we remain friends,
and I wish him the best...It
definitely was a close-knit
family dealership group,
we wish Ryan and his
family the best, and we’re
looking forward to bring-
ing the Auto Ranch service
and the Auto Ranch values
to the Baker community,
and all of eastern Oregon.”
For now, McCurry and
crew remain busy with the
transition, and an official
grand opening is expected
later this year.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1549
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 153.00-178.00 Top 179.00
400-500# Bulk 162.00-173.00 Top 175.00
500-600# Bulk 149.00-170.00 Top 171.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk N/A Top N/A
400-500# Bulk 147.00-158.00 Top 159.75
500-600# Bulk 142.00-155.00 Top 156.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 145.00-166.00 Top 167.00
700-800# Bulk 127.00-142.00 Top 144.00
800-900# Bulk 123.00-138.00 Top 139.00
900-1,000# Bulk 113.00-126.00 Top 129.00
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 126.00-140.00 Top 143.00
700-800# Bulk 127.00-134.00 Top 135.00
800-900# Bulk 119.00-126.00 Top 128.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 64.00-71.00
Butcher Cows 72.00 - 79.00
Butcher Bulls 83.00-102.00
Stock Cows Young 1110.00-1480.00
Hfretts 87.00-103.00
Pairs Young - 1125.00 - 1500.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Prices are based on the majority of saw mills in
Northeastern Oregon and Central Idaho. The prices
listed below are a composite prices of various saw-
mills willing to visit with me about this topic.
Ponderosa Pine—small diameter class 8-11 inches
diameter class $250 per mbf. Only one sawmill was
willing to buy small diameter pine at this time.
Ponderosa Pine—medium diameter class 12-17
inches diameter class $300 to $350 per mbf
Ponderosa Pine-large diameter class 18 plus inches
diameter class $380 to $410 per mbf
The Pine prices are still approximately $40 per mbf
below average lumber/log market due to 2017 fire
salvage
Doug Fir & Western Larch—$380 to $420 per
mbf. Normal prices typically ranged between $425
to $475 per mbf.
White Fir-$300 per mbf. Normal prices typically
ranged between $340 to $360 per mbf.
Engelmann Spruce—$350 at one Idaho sawmill,
other sawmills including with White fir prices.
In general, the log prices still impacted from 2015
fire season and fire salvage that resulted. Sawmills
are starting to get log yard inventory in line with
sawmill production needs. With a new Administra-
tion as of 1/20/2017, a more normal economic envi-
ronment should result and hopefully a more healthy
housing situation will result in a better climate for
Northeast Oregon Sawmill and private forest land-
owners.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,244.10
Silver: $16.43
Platinum: $922.35
Palladium: $874.63
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $378.00/bu/USD
Wheat: $487.75/bu/USD
Soybeans: $938.75/bu/USD
Oats: $261.25 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $11.66/cwt/USD
Canola: $483.60 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $115.90//lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $143.93/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $81.65/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com