Business
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
A9
B USINESS B EAT
Board to
discuss
hiring
new GU
principal
Watt lights up off-road paths
Light bar accessories
touted as tough
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Nate Watt of John Day
is lighting up the way to a brighter off-
road experience for his customers.
He opened Kilowatt Lighting last
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cles since then with lighting he says is 40
percent brighter, and more durable, than
other brands.
He said stock lighting reaches 50-75
feet of usable light, while his light bars
reach 250 yards or more.
His products range from 10-watt pods
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter to 52-inch light bars with single- or du-
Nate Watt is owner of Kilowatt al-row lights, and are for off-road use.
Lighting in John Day, installing
Everything from 9-36-volt sys-
off-road lighting for vehicles for tems can be fitted onto trucks, cars,
a brighter night view.
ATVs, UTVs, motorcycles and agri-
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
CANYON CITY – The
consent agenda for this
month’s Grant School Dis-
trict No. 3 school board
meeting includes an item
to recommend hiring a new
Grant Union Junior-Senior
High School principal.
The meeting, at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 15, will
be held at Seneca School.
Superintendent
Mark
Witty said Monday that
three applicants had met
with an interview team, and
one more was scheduled
to be interviewed before
Wednesday’s meeting.
All the job candidates
are from Oregon, but the
names were not released.
School board presi-
dent Chris Cronin said, “If
all goes well, we hope to
have a recommendation
for the board to consider on
Wednesday.”
cultural and logging equipment.
Watt said the idea for the business
began when he looked into purchasing
a light bar two years ago.
“The competitor’s price was a little
over $2,000, and I wanted to buy one
cheaper,” he said. “We now sell the
same style for about $550.”
The Kilowatt light bars he sells are
his own design and are manufactured
in Japan.
“We always have new products
coming in,” he said. “They’re half the
price of other competitors, and a third
to a quarter of some competitors.”
A lifetime warranty on Kilowatt
Lighting products covers deer collisions,
wrecks and water damage; he added the
products are durable, water tight and sub-
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water behind the lens, it will be repaired or
replaced. To test the strength, “We parked
a diesel pickup on a light bar,” he said. A
video showing this test is at the business
Forestry consultant honored
Blue Mountain Eagle
RENO, Nev. – Local for-
estry consultant Irene Jerome
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gation Award at the Internation-
al Association of Fire Chiefs
Wildland Urban Interface Con-
ference held in Reno, Nev. on
March 25.
Jerome was recognized for
her efforts to raise awareness of
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sues, and her success in organiz-
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ty in Eastern Oregon, in the Pine
Creek area east of John Day.
Jerome said, “I am thrilled
about the award – it means that
we are beginning to make a dif-
ference.”
She was one of 21 people
or groups receiving the awards,
and the only one from Oregon.
Contributed photo
This Polaris RZR sports a light
bar from Nate Watt’s Kilowatt
Lighting business.
website, www.kilowattlighting.com.
He runs his business at JD Rents,
where he is head of maintenance at
the saw shop. JD Rents is at 727 West
Main in John Day, and is owned by his
parents Robert and Bonnie Watt.
For more information, call Nate at
541-575-1156.
Rick Price Ministries is
pleased to present...
The Blackwood
Legacy Q uartet
B USINESS B EAT
Ochoco wins grant for wood innovation
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY – Ochoco
Lumber Co. will receive a
$25,000 Cohesive Wildfire
Strategy grant to explore a
new biomass development.
The company is one of
four operations chosen for
a total of $110,000 in grants
targeted at biomass use, ac-
cording to the Oregon De-
partment of Forestry. The
funding comes from the U.S.
Forest Service.
Ochoco, which operates
its sawmill and pellet-bio-
mass operation in John Day,
received the grant to explore
the commercial viability of
a torrefied wood facility in
Grant County.
According to ODF, tor-
refaction is a thermal pro-
cess used to produce high-
grade solid biofuels from
wood biomass. If the process
is viable, Ochoco could sell
torrefied wood to coal-fired
power plants, helping to re-
duce their carbon emissions.
The other businesses cho-
sen for the grants are:
• Wallowa Resource
Community Solutions Inc.
of Enterprise, $30,000, to
design and engineer con-
version of three public
buildings in downtown
Enterprise from costly oil
heating to regionally pro-
duced biomass fuel.
• Heritage Sustainable
Resources, $25,000, to de-
sign and engineer a kiln-
dried commercial firewood
operation in North Powder.
• North Slope Resources
Co., $30,000, for a project to
use local low-value biomass
to diversify its agricultural
operation in North Powder.
In all, there were six ap-
plicants for the funding.
“The grant funding by our
federal partners is aimed at
forging solutions to forest
health and community vital-
ity,” said Marcus Kauffman,
ODF’s biomass resource
specialist. “The grants are
designed to provide business
the resources to jump-start
new ventures that will uti-
lize the low-value material
resulting from forest health
treatments.”
Kauffman said that creat-
ing demand for the by-prod-
ucts of restoration – small
trees and brush – enables
agencies to accelerate the
pace of restoration, and also
puts people to work.
Long Creek Community Church
269 Hardisty st (on Hwy 395) Long Creek
Info: 541-421-3016
blackwoodlegacy.com
Admission is free and so is the blessing!
Love Offering will be received.
Michael B. DesJardin
Dentistry, PC
New Patients Welcome!
Preventive, Restorative,
& Endodontics
208 NW Canton,
John Day
Don’t
Forget
to Floss
541-575-2725
mbddental@live.com &
michaelbdesjardindmd.com
01652
Project eyes
torrefaction for
energy plants
FRI-APR 17-7 PM
Debbie Ausmus
245 South Canyon Blvd.
John Day, OR 97845
OPEN WED. & THUR.
9 am - 5 pm
541-575-1113
24 hrs/7 days wk
debbie.ausmus@
countryfinancial.com
G.R.E.A.T., CORP .
invites you to celebrate
the Grand Opening of...
EASTERN OREGON
COLLEGE OF INDUSTRIES & ARTS, LLC
College of Cosmetology
April 16 at 5:30
EOCIA • 743 W Main St • John Day
Meet the Faculty & Staff
Tour the Facilities
Refreshments will be Served
G.R.E.A.T., CORP .
Encouraging Economic Growth in Grant County.