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About The Redmond spokesman. (Redmond, Crook County, Or.) 1910-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2021)
Wednesday, November 24, 2021 redmondspokesman.com Redmond, Oregon • $1 A special good morning to subscriber Kathleen Clark INFRASTRUCTURE Funds could speed expansion at Redmond Airport Biden’s massive spending plan could help expand terminal BY MICHAEL KOHN The Bulletin The signing of the massive infra- structure bill on Monday by Presi- dent Joe Biden could help speed up expansion of the Redmond Airport terminal. Plans to double the size of the ter- minal that were expected to take 10 to 15 years can now potentially be completed in half that time due to the availability of funds from Biden’s bill, said Zachary Bass, the airport’s direc- tor. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill includes billions of dollars to up- grade America’s transportation net- work, including roads, bridges and airports. Central Oregon, the state’s fastest-growing region in both pop- ulation and the economy, is expected to receive millions of dollars to fund projects. “The infrastructure bill is exciting. When it passed, it was a very positive thing for the airport,” said Bass, di- rector of the Redmond airport since 2016. The bill will provide $25 billion for airports, to be spent on airport infra- structure, airport terminal programs and Federal Aviation Administra- tion facilities and services. Airports across the country are getting projects shovel-ready in order to be in line for funding, and Redmond is no excep- tion. “We are about two years into this process already, and it has been on our planning sheets for five to six years prior. So basically, what I am hoping from the infrastructure bill is that it will mostly go into that major terminal expansion,” said Bass. Bass said construction on Red- mond’s expansion could start as soon as 2023 with the project broken down into five phases. Redmond Airport, the 120th largest in the country, was prepared to start on phase one with its own financing, but the infrastructure bill allows it to start multiple phases at once. See Airport / P5 Economic Development for Central Oregon to name CEO ACQUIRED Redmond-based BasX to merge under Aaon, an Oklahoma company Jon Stark to step in as interim director BY SUZANNE ROIG The Bulletin BACKGROUND: Construction is nearly complete on the 75,000-square-foot manufacturing floor expansion of BasX in Redmond. Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin BY SUZANNE ROIG The Bulletin R edmond-based BasX Solutions, a man- ufacturer of data center cooling and HVAC equipment, has been acquired by Aaon Inc., a publicly traded company firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for $180 million. This is the third merger and acquisition of a Red- mond company to occur in the past few years. There was Medisiss, which was acquired by Medline Re- Newal in 2012, Central Oregon Trucking that was acquired in 2013 by Daseke and Consumer Cellular that was acquired in 2020 by GTCR, a private equity firm. The acquisition puts Central Oregon on the map as a place where businesses can start and scale and grow, said Jon Stark, Redmond Economic Develop- ment Inc. senior director. “A merger like this will add horsepower to their operations and sales side by opening up markets for them,” Stark said. “It’s good for the community. We’re seeing more of this and it is a testament of the strength and health of these companies, a testament that an Oregon company can start and scale and grow here.” Under the terms of the deal, Aaon (NASDAQ: AAON) will pay $100 million upfront and $80 mil- lion of additional payments through 2023. An ad- ditional $22 million will be paid to the co-founders Matt Tobolski and Dave Benson for the real estate, all funded through revolving credit and equity, ac- cording to Aaon’s public statement on Friday. The purchase will be complete by the end of the year. “The company (BasX) has experienced robust growth with a five years’ sales compounded annual growth rate of 45%,” Aaon CEO and President Greg Fields told shareholders on Friday. “They are pro- jected to generate $70 million in sales by the end of 2021.” At BasX LLC, all 260 employees working out of the 200,000 square-foot Redmond facility will re- main with the new company, as will the manufac- turing operations of the company, Tobolski said. BasX was founded in 2012 but operations ramped up in 2014, Tobolski said. “We have a long history with Aaon,”Tobolski said Friday. “We’ve made strategic moves and invest- ments over the years and we’ve kept in touch. We didn’t go out there trying to sell BasX. “We’ll continue to do business as we had before, but now we’ll have additional leverage from Aaon. We’re committed to this location.” In a meeting with investors on Friday morning, Fields, said the merger will enable growth and sup- port for both companies. Neither company compete for the same kind of equipment cooling business. BasX is known for its data center cooling systems, which contributes to about half the business. Aaon said it anticipates revenue and cost syner- gies to result from the merger. Reporter: 541-633-2117, sroig@bendbulletin.com After 22 years, Roger Lee who has led the Economic De- velopment for Central Oregon, a nonprofit dedicated to bring- ing in new business, is stepping down, according to a prepared statement. EDCO has named Jon Stark as interim CEO, beginning Jan. 3. Stark has been with the Red- mond Economic Development Inc., which operates under the EDCO umbrella, for 13 years, most recently as senior direc- tor. Stark was looking forward to his new role and to continuing the legacy that Lee will leave behind. “There’s a good team in place that has helped make things happen,” Stark said in an interview. “I have an oppor- tunity coming from a senior director position to in for a 20- year veteran. I don’t take that lightly.” Lee has accepted a position at Summit Bank, according to the statement. “I am personally very excited that Jon has accepted this new role,” said Carolyn Eagan, city of Bend recovery strategy and impact officer, in a prepared statement. “EDCO is so lucky to have an outstanding eco- nomic development leader in line to follow a legendary one.” Eagan is EDCO’s president of the board of directors. See EDCO / P5 The Spokesman uses recycled newsprint WEDNESDAY 11/24 Events in and around Redmond The Redmond Spokesman welcomes event information for its community calendar. Submissions are limited to nonprofit, free and live entertainment events. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday for the following Wednesday’s paper. Items are published on a space-available basis and may be edited. Contact us at news@redmondspokesman.com or fax 541-548-3203. Trivia Night: Bring some pals, team up to play genuine UKB Trivia live and possibly win gift certificates; 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Initiative Brewing, 424 NW Fifth St., Redmond; facebook.com/InitiativeBrew or 541-527-4380. THURSDAY 11/25 Holiday Lights: A walk-through holiday light show spanning 100,000 sq. ft. with more than 3 million dazzling lights happening daily; 4 a.m.- 10 p.m.; $25 per person, $65 family four pack, $95 family six pack; Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center, 3800 SW Airport Way, Redmond; holidaylightexperience.com or 541-548-2711. The Redmond Turkey Trot: The 5K & 10K run through the canyon, in the heart of Redmond. Every entry includes a Hoodoo Ski ticket, high- quality T-shirt, and post-race pie; 9-11 a.m.; $25 for 5k, $35 for 10k; Sam Johnson Park, 333 Southwest 15th St., Redmond; redmondturkeytrot. com. INDEX FRIDAY 11/26 Puzzles ............. 2 Flashback ........ 3 Gardening ....... 2 Classifieds ....... 6 Fourth Friday: Visit the art galleries of Sisters for art, music, demonstrations and more; 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; free; Downtown Sisters, 252 West Hood Ave., Sisters; sistersartsassociation.org or 541-719-8581. Volume 112, No. 13 USPS 778-040 Three Sisters Lions Club 10th Annual Holiday Faire: The annual boutique-style fair features gift items made by local vendors; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; free; Sisters Lions Holiday Faire, 142 E. Main St., Sisters; sisterscountry.com or 541-549-0251. See Calendar / P6 U|xaIICGHy02326kzU
