Ribbon cutting held at Fit
Park
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 137
NO. 33
6 Pages
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
2018 Morrow County Fair
begins today
The official opening of the Fit Park was held Saturday, Aug. 11. The Willow Creek
Park District and the Howard and Beth Bryant Foundation celebrated the event with
a ribbon cutting ceremony.
The ribbon cutting was performed by Hadlie, Mikalie and Whitlie Duncan, daugh-
ters of Mike Duncan, owner of Silver Creek Contracting. Corey Peterson performed
and Blas Elguezabal demonstrated the equipment.
Neal reflects on successful Port
of Morrow career
Long-time manager retires
Superintendents Karen Clough, Karen Smith-Griffith and Jannie Allen prepare for the
opening of the Morrow County Fair. -Photo by Megan Futter.
Baseline gets plowed
Someone got a little carried away with their field work last week and ran across Baseline Road
between Hwy 207 and the Lexington Grange with their farm implement. The unidentified
tractor driver crossed the road from one field to the next about 5:45 on Tuesday August 7
causing the above damage.
The road was damaged enough the Sheriff’s Department shut it down until the Morrow
County Road Department could repair the damage. The road had only recently been repaved.
-Contributed photo.
Community meeting called to
discuss ‘negative changes’ to
Heppner
Vandalism, drug issues to be addressed
A community meeting
of citizens and businesses
is scheduled for Monday,
Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. at the
Heppner City Hall. Among
the topics to be discussed
are recent vandalism, drug
issues and other negative
changes to the Heppner
community. The meeting
is being sponsored by the
Heppner Chamber of Com-
merce.
“Come and participate
in conversation to discuss
and decide what action
our local community and
businesses want to take
to address and eliminate
these issues,” a release
from the Chamber stated.
The purpose of the meeting
is to address problems and
issues, develop solutions
and create action items and
next steps.
Refreshments will be
provided and the Chamber
asks that you RSVP if you
plan to attend. Call 541-
676-5536 or email heppner-
chamber@centurytel.net.
By David Sykes
When Gary Neal looks
out across the Port of Mor-
row’s industrial park today,
he sees a much different
landscape than when he
took over as general man-
ager in 1989. Over the past
29 years The Port of Mor-
row has seen tremendous
growth and expansion and
much of that can be attribut-
ed to Neal’s aggression,
skills and business acumen.
When Neal arrived,
there were a few businesses
and services such as the
potato flake plant, Oregon
Potato, Lamb Weston and a
couple of terminal docks on
the river. By comparison,
a recent economic impact
analysis shows that port
businesses generate $2.7
billion of economic output
and have created approx-
imately 8,500 direct and
indirect jobs.
Neal, who is preparing
to retire from his job in a
couple of months, says he
does have a satisfying feel-
ing with all that has been
accomplished. “I do feel
a sense of satisfaction. We
have accomplished a lot,
and it does give one a good
feeling knowing you have
made a difference.” But like
any hard charging manager,
Neal adds with a grin, “And
you always think about the
ones that got away.”
There doesn’t seem to
be too many that got away
however, as Neal speaks
about the difficulty of eco-
nomic development. “Some
people don’t realize how
much effort goes into this.
We (the commissioners and
port staff) can sometimes
work on a project for two to
three years before it comes
to fruition. And sometimes
it falls apart and never hap-
pens,” he explains. Neal
does enjoy the process,
however, of bringing new
businesses to the port. “I
like the opportunity to nur-
ture a project along. Things
don’t happen overnight and
there are lots of curves in a
project before it becomes a
reality. I’m going to miss
that,” he says.
Port of Morrow general manager, Gary Neal, in his office
overlooking the Columbia River at Boardman. -Photo by
David Sykes.
The economic devel-
opment business can be
competitive, and Neal says
although the Port of Mor-
row has a lot going for it,
they can sometimes find
themselves in competition
with other areas for busi-
ness. “Utah and Nevada are
pretty aggressive,” he says,
adding that Washington
state is there because of the
river, but the Port of Walla
Walla “has good people and
they do a good job.” On the
question of the port getting
into bidding wars with other
ports or industrial parks,
Neal says they usually give
prospective businesses their
best deal and see where it
goes from there. “My meth-
od has been to offer them
as good and fair deal as we
can and see where it goes.
Sometimes we have to just
say ‘you might find a better
fit somewhere else.’”
Neal says the Enter-
prise Zone has been suc-
cessful at the port, and a
tool they need to compete.
The zone offers tax re-
ductions for businesses
locating here if they meet
certain investment, job and
wage targets. “The enter-
prise zone is working, and
it is the only tool the State
of Oregon gives you of any
significance,” Neal says. “It
will probably continue, and
when I go out to recruit I
want to make sure I have
the tools so I can compete.”
One of the lessons Neal
says he learned early on
at the port, was you need
the infrastructure to attract
businesses. “I remember
going out and taking a cli-
ent to see a bare piece of
ground we had, painting
a nice picture and telling
them all the things we could
do there for them. That
didn’t work so well,” he
says. Neal says businesses
want to see the infrastruc-
ture in and operating, not
promises, when they get
ready to commit to a site.
With that lesson, the port
has put in water and steam
systems, rail and road lines,
power and even a cold stor-
age facility. He says these,
and other improvements,
have helped attract busi-
nesses to the Port of Mor-
row. As part of the “build it
and they will come” theory,
he says the port is looking
at installing a non-potable
(lower grade non-drinking)
water system, and possibly
a new freezer storage sys-
tem. There is currently a
cold storage facility, but the
lower temperature freezer
system would allow the port
to attract yet another type of
customer.
Being in the center of
three transportation systems
hasn’t hurt either. “When I
came here I saw opportu-
-See NEAL RETIRES/PAGE
FOUR
Morrow
County Grain
Growers
541-989-8221
1-800-452-7396
350 Main Street,
Lexington, Oregon
MORROW COUNTY GRAIN GROWER
350 MAIN STREET
LEXINGTON, OR
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