Wallowa County Chieftain
Business
wallowa.com
March 29, 2017
A7
New energy brings benefits to Enterprise
BIZ BUZZ
Kathleen Ellyn
first heard about the work that the McKee
brothers were doing in conjunction with
an announcement that there would be an
indoor archery range in Enterprise.
That was exciting enough for me, but when
I went to see Andy McKee of Joseph I found
out that he and his brother Todd (who lives
in Michigan) have been buying buildings in
Enterprise, fixing them up, and giving them
new life for a couple of years.
This is exactly the sort of energy we want
to encourage.
Here are a couple of young guys who
believe Enterprise is a good place to invest in
– a place that will attract more business.
Not only that, these guys are remodeling
and creating rentals – and that’s something the
entire county desperately needs.
Andy is the flight instructor at the Joseph
Airport, but like many people who live here,
he needs at least two jobs to make it in Wal-
lowa County; thus, the business and residen-
tial expansion business.
The Brothers McKee’s most recent acquisi-
tion is the 1916 Bowlby Stone building at 107
River Street (across River Street from El Ba-
jio and kitty-corner from Ace). The building
was formerly owned by the late Doug Terry
and housed Friends Restaurant in addition to
providing several rental units upstairs.
The interior stone walls bear chisel marks
from back in the day when the stone was
brought from the Bowlby Stone Quarry out on
I
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Andy McKee takes a practice shot in his new indoor archery range in Enterprise.
Swamp Creek (for $1 a cord), the soft stone
was hand-sawn as well.
“It’s really unique to our area,” said Andy
McKee. “You don’t see this anywhere else.
These old buildings are such a neat part of
Enterprise, it’s fun to be part of preserving
it while upgrading it for someone who may
want to rent it.”
That upgrading is extensive.
The McKees first got Ralph Swinehart of
Wallowa Mountain Engineering to inspect
the building and declare it safe to remodel.
Now, Melville Stone is doing the “tacking
and pointing” on the exterior stone. That’s
scraping out some of the crumbled mortar and
refilling with glue and new mortar.
Inside, the building has been reinforced,
gutted of all of its lathe and plaster and di-
viding walls, stone and brick exposed on the
outer walls, double pane windows replacing
the old, and highly efficient electric and heat-
ing installed. Even the light bulbs (historically
appropriate Edison-style bulbs) are highly
efficient with an entire six-light fixture pulling
just 24 watts.
There are now two very modern, high-ef-
ficiency business rental spaces being finished
downstairs, an archery range in the basement,
and a fourth apartment being completed
upstairs.
The fourth apartment will be a 1,000
square-foot luxury apartment with one and
one-half baths, quartz counter tops, high-end
appliances, circle sawn fir floor, walk-in closet
and more.
The archery range is 69-feet long by
18-feet wide, carpeted, and beautifully lit by
three LED flat-panel “skylights” that feature
a bright blue sky. There is also a viewing area
behind glass and that will include a couch, a
music system and other comforts.
“This place looked like the set of a horror
movie when we started,” Andy McKee said.
“We tried to think of a way to use the space
Kathleen Ellyn/Chieftain
Andy McKee looks out the historic door of
one of the energy efficient offices he and his
brother are remodeling in Enterprise.
that would benefit the community and the
archery lane seemed a good idea.”
Andy posted an announcement on Face-
book and got 150 responses from the com-
munity, enthusiastic about the idea and that
sealed it.
There will be a monthly membership; the
range will be open seven days a week, 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m.
“It’s a really neat space, now, and the
virtual skylights make it so you don’t feel like
you’re in a basement,” McKee said.
A grand opening and open house is
planned for the end of April.
To purchase a membership to use the ar-
chery range, email andy@eaglecapflight.com.
Business planning NE Oregon Forests seek members
retreat scheduled for resource advisory committee
at Wallowa Lake
A business retreat offered
specifically for experienced
entrepreneurs is being offered
by Northeast Oregon Econom-
ic Development District April
27-29 at Wallowa Lake.
The retreat, titled “Alpine”
is recommended for individ-
uals who feel like their busi-
ness has overwhelmed them
and begun to run them instead
of vise versa; have a new idea
and wonder how to fit it into
the larger business; feel they
are at a crossroads and wonder
whether to scale up or scale
back; know they could benefit
from support of peers and hear-
ing how they have handled the
same issues you face.
The three-day retreat pro-
vides an opportunity to assess
how your business has been
going up to this point, while
also developing a vision for the
future. This process, offered
within a peer-to-peer learning
environment, will reconnect
you to the “why” of your ven-
ture and help create in-roads to
meeting short- and long-term
goals.
The course also provides
the opportunity to determine
if and when to scale your busi-
ness model.
Annie Milroy Price, found-
er of Birdseye Business Plan-
ning & Adventures, which is
used in the Business Founda-
tions curriculum offered twice
a year here in Wallowa County,
will lead the retreat.
NEOEDD staff will be in
attendance to learn from her as
well.
Attendees will be able to
learn from their peers through-
out the retreat, focus on the
numbers and the stories that
they tell, and learn how to use
financial tools to control and
understand your operations.
The retreat will be at Wal-
lowa Lake Camp, 84522
Church Lane, in Joseph. Most
sessions will be in Hill Hall and
meals will be in Bailey Lodge.
Sessions begin on Thurs-
day at 12:30 p.m. and continue
with several breaks and meals
until 9 p.m. Various housing
and meal packages are avail-
able. Costs are from $235 for
full lodging and meals to just
$55 for commuters. Contact
NEOEDD for further details.
The cost of the training is
subsidized by a Community
Development Block Grant,
which requires NEOEDD to
confirm that a majority of the
attendees have a low-to-mod-
erate income. All registrants
will be required to complete
a registration form and dis-
close household income. If
NEOEDD already has this in-
formation, participants won’t
be required to submit it again.
Registration deadline is
Wednesday, April 19. Our cut-
off date for reserving rooms
and arranging for meals is
April 19. We will not be able
to accommodate requests to
participate after that date. Re-
quests for refunds made by
April 19 will be honored minus
a 3 percent processing fee for
payments made electronically.
To register, contact Kristy
Athens at kristyathens@
neoedd.org.
The Northeast Oregon For-
ests Resource Advisory Com-
mittee is seeking nominees for
new members to serve on the
committee.
The committee is tasked
with recommending projects
to improve forest health, wa-
tersheds, roads and facilities
around Malheur, Umatilla and
Wallowa-Whitman National
Forests.
The projects that are funded
through the committee have a
major impact on the commu-
nities of Northeast Oregon and
are varied in focus and scope,
ranging from fish passage res-
toration to constructing new
trails.
Projects have also utilized
youth crews, which provide
young people with unique op-
portunities to develop a love
of the outdoors while gaining
valuable hands-on work expe-
rience.
Committee members are
officially appointed by the
Secretary of Agriculture for
a term of 2 years, and can get
reimbursed for travel expenses
to, during and from meetings.
In order to ensure that the
group is able to accomplish
its goals, members are expect-
ed to be able to commit to up
to two full-day meetings each
year.
Residents of Wallowa,
Baker, Grant, Union, Harney,
Malheur, Morrow, Crook and
Wheeler Counties are particu-
larly encouraged to submit ap-
plications although others may
apply.
Such committees have
been found to work best when
many interests and industries
are represented by their mem-
wallowa.com
uo matter
what your business is,
the Wallowa County
Chieftain has the
audience you need!
We have many options
to market your business
in an affordable
and effective manner.
Call
Jennifer Powell
today!
541-426-4567 poffice)
or email jpowell@wallowa.com
bers. Recreation groups, en-
vironmental groups, industry
leaders and employees, elected
officials and local residents are
all needed to provide a bal-
anced and diverse group.
The three categories of
committee members needed
are: 1) Industry profession-
als with experience in forest
products, recreation, mining,
grazing, or timber; 2) environ-
mental groups and individuals
connected to groups interest-
ed in wild horses, archeology
and dispersed recreation, and
3) elected officials, American
Indian tribal representatives,
school officials or teachers.
Nominations will be ac-
cepted until April 30, 2017.
If you are interested in
serving on the Northeast Or-
egon Forests RAC, or would
like more information about
the responsibilities of the com-
mittee, please visit https://
www.fs.usda.gov/main/mal-
heur/workingtogether/advi-
sorycommittees or contact a
following representative near
you:
holistichealing.windingwaters.org
NOW OPEN
• Jeff Tomac, Northeast Or-
egon Forests Designated Fed-
eral Official (541) 523-1301 or
by email at: jtomac@fs.fed.us
• Arlene Blumton, Wal-
lowa-Whitman NF RAC Co-
ordinator (541) 962-8522 or by
email at: ablumton@fs.fed.us
• Susan Garner, Malheur
NF RAC Coordinator (541)
575-3039 or by email at: sc-
garner@fs.fed.us
• Ian Reid, Umatilla NF
RAC Coordinator (541) 427-
5316 or by email at: ireid@
fs.fed.us
Hours & Location
Monday - Friday
9:00am - 5:00pm
507 S. River St, Enterprise
Appointments available with...
Renee Grandi, MD
Amy Zahm, Acupuncture
Colleen Whelan, LMT #15230
Tai Jacques, LMT #22745
Call 541-426-4502 to schedule today!
www.windingwaters.org