WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Herald Business
BREIFCASE
Boardman chamber
sets annual meeting
The annual meeting of
the Boardman Chamber of
Commerce will include a
review of the past year, as
well as looking forward to
the rest of 2016.
The no-host luncheon
event is Wednesday, June
15, at noon at the Port of
Morrow, 2 Marine Drive,
Boardman. The meal costs
$12 per person.
Those planning to attend
are asked to RSVP by Fri-
day, June 10 by calling 541-
481-3014.
Boardman bank hosts
barbecue
A customer appreciation
barbecue is planned at the
Boardman branch of the
Bank of Eastern Oregon.
Customers are invited
to enjoy some food and
visit with bank employees
during the Friday, June 10,
event. The barbecue will be
ired up from 11:30 a.m. to
1:30 p.m. at 100 City Center
Drive, Boardman.
For more information,
call 541-481-3445.
Youth art festival seeks
participants
Students
in
ifth
through 12th grade are
invited to apply for an
art festival on the Oregon
coast.
The Oregon Coast In-
vitational Youth Art Fes-
tival is Aug. 27 through
Sept. 5 in Toledo. Those
who would like to partic-
ipate must send two pho-
tos of original work they
created in the past year
that shows their creative
abilities and imagination.
The work of art can be a
painting, drawing, sculp-
ture or ceramic work. The
application is due Friday,
June 10.
Those selected to par-
ticipate will be notiied
by June 20. Participants
will then have two months
to create a “Sculpture in
Paper” for the event. The
top ive places will receive
cash gift cards towards art
supplies and a $100 cash
prize will be awarded in
each grade category.
For more information,
contact 503-790-0952 or
occt.youthartprograms@
gmail.com.
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL
Fireighters put on gear before heading into the Best
Western on Highway 395 north of Hermiston, where they
put out a small ire in a room Thursday afternoon.
Small ire evacuates
Hermiston Best Western
Local ire departments
responded Thursday
afternoon to a small ire
at the Best Western on
Highway 395 south of
Hermiston.
The damage was
limited to smoke
damage in one room and
possible water damage
in adjoining rooms.
A customer had been
staying in the room but
was not present at the
time of the ire.
Guests were evacuated
from the building and no
one was injured.
Hermiston Fire &
Emergency Services,
Umatilla Fire Department,
Stanield Fire Department
and Hermiston Police
Department responded.
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@HermistonHerald
Simmons Insurance takes
over RoeMark’s building
Simmons Insurance
renovating building
for new oices,
hopes to attract
dining establishment
By JADE McDOWELL
Staff Writer
The former RoeMark’s
Men’s and Western Wear
building in downtown
Hermiston has a new own-
er.
Simmons
Insurance
Group purchased the build-
ing last week and has al-
ready started renovations.
The company plans to
maintain ofices on the
eastern half of the building
while leasing out three dif-
ferent retail spaces on the
side facing Second Street.
Since RoeMark’s closed
in 2012, the historic brick
building down the street
from City Hall has become
a symbol of Main Street’s
struggles.
Revitalizing
downtown was one of the
top priorities that Hermiston
residents named in a recent
survey about livability, and
it is rare to hear a conver-
sation about revitalization
that doesn’t invoke the Ro-
eMark’s building.
It’s something that Sim-
mons Insurance managing
partners and brothers-in-law
Justin Simmons and Jacob
Neighbors are aware of.
“We care about this com-
munity,” Simmons said. “We
were both raised here and
RoeMark’s was part of where
we went and shopped.”
The large space was
a good it for the grow-
ing company’s needs, but
Neighbors said that the
partners also recognized the
opportunity to help revital-
ize downtown. Once ren-
ovations are inished they
hope to welcome a winery,
restaurant, bistro or other
promising business to the
high-visibility space at the
corner of Main and Second.
They have already heard
from some interested parties
and said they welcome con-
tact from more.
“We really want some-
thing cool for the downtown
community to go there,”
Neighbors said.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Joshua Simmons, left, and Alden Jemmett, with Jerry Simmons Construction, remove
wooden paneling from the walls of the RoeMark’s building on Wednesday in Hermiston.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The RoeMark’s building has been purchased by the
Simmons Insurance Group and renovations have begun to
transform the former store into ofice space.
The Scrubs store, which
sells medical profession-
al clothing, already leas-
es space along the Second
Street side and will contin-
ue to do so from the new
owners, and Neighbors said
they have a prospective
tenant for the space north
of Scrubs. He said the sec-
ond-story renovations on
that side of the property will
take place in a second phase
in two years.
The eastern side of the
building (where RoeMark’s
used to sell western wear)
and its mezzanine will be
converted into a reception
area, ofice space and con-
ference rooms for Simmons
Insurance.
The 6,000-square-foot
space will hold administra-
tive ofices and commercial
insurance, while Simmons
Insurance’s home, auto and
health ofices will remain in
their current location down
the street at 702 East Main.
Once renovations are in-
ished in November or De-
cember, the company will
vacate the space it currently
leases for administrative of-
ices in the 400 block of East
Main.
Simmons Insurance is
a family-owned company
founded in Hermiston in
1974. Today it has ofices
in 20 locations, but 48 of
its approximately 100 em-
ployees work in Hermiston.
Neighbors said some of
those employees have been
working from home due to
lack of ofice space, but will
now have a desk at the Roe-
Mark’s location.
Simmons said the ren-
ovations that just got un-
derway will include about
$500,000 worth of new
HVAC, lighting, windows,
looring, walls and other up-
dates.
“It will look a lot differ-
ent,” he said.
Despite a complete trans-
formation of the interior,
Simmons said the plan was
to keep much of the outside
brick façade the same, with
the exception of replacing
the boarded-up window
wells with glass panes.
The purchase wasn’t
oficially announced until
Wednesday, but Simmons
said as word leaked out in
the weeks before, people
said they were happy that
someone local was going to
put the building to good use.
“Everyone I talked to is
excited because that is a sta-
ple of the community,” he
said.
The two-story section of
the building was irst built in
1907, and in 1914 it served
as Hermiston’s public li-
brary. Later uses included a
ladies’ boutique and the of-
ices of the East Oregonian
from 1968 to 1973, when
Roe Gardner purchased the
building and renovated it,
turning it into RoeMark’s
Men’s and Western Wear.
To inquire about the re-
tail space that will be up for
lease, contact Josh Woods at
Simmons Insurance at 866-
268-3796.
Port of Morrow donates land for community projects
Latest project
will be a training
center for BMCC
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Staff Writer
The Port of Morrow is
already Eastern Oregon’s
industrial engine. It is home
to power plants, food pro-
cessors and an increasing
number of data centers
along the Columbia River.
But Gary Neal, the port’s
general manager, says they
are focused on more than
just big business. Their
mission is to improve the
quality of life in Board-
man and Morrow County,
which is why they recently
donated land for both the
new Boardman Recreation
Center and Blue Mountain
Community College Work-
force Training Center.
BMCC broke ground on
its facility — one of three
projects approved by last
year’s $23 million bond
measure — on Wednesday,
while construction on the
recreation center began on
May 12. The buildings will
be located next to each oth-
er as part of their own cam-
pus on Olson Road, just
north of the SAGE Center.
The port even moved Les
Schwab’s tire storage and
maintenance shop to the
neighboring East Beach In-
dustrial Park to make room
for the school and gym.
“We do a lot of things
like this for the beneit of
our regional partners,” Neal
said. “If we can help raise
support for all their ser-
vices, it beneits everyone
else as well.”
Not only did the port gift
several acres of land for
each project, but Neal said
they will also extend sew-
er and water services onto
each lot. The area will have
a far different look than the
rest of the port, which is a
24/7 hive of manufacturing.
Port businesses make ev-
erything from french fries
and cheese to wood chips
and ethanol.
Neal estimates the port
accounts for roughly 5,000
jobs, though a whopping
70 percent of workers
commute from elsewhere.
That, combined with the
unique and changing skills
required to ill those jobs,
has created the demand for
local workforce training.
Enter BMCC, which
will house its data center
and industrial technology
programs at the Boardman
facility. The building will
cost $4.78 million and open
by winter 2017.
“This is a momentous
occasion,” said college
STAFF PHOTO BY GEORGE PLAVEN
Oficials broke ground on BMCC’s new Workforce Training Center Wednesday in Boardman.
From left: Tony Turner, BMCC Board; Rob Dreier, bond project manager; Ed Taber, BMCC
Board; Tyson Furstenberg, McCormack Construction; Chris Brown, BMCC Board; Louis
Carlson, bond campaign volunteer; Susan Plass, BMCC Board; Kim Puzey, BMCC Board; Cam
Preus, BMCC president; Jerry Healy, Port of Morrow commissioner; and Gary Neal, Port of
Morrow executive director.
President Cam Preus at
Wednesday’s groundbreak-
ing. “We think this is just
the right stuff for the city
of Boardman and Morrow
County.”
Sixteen students have
already signed up for the
school’s data center pro-
gram, which is entering its
second year. Neal said the
port has two sites where
data centers are up and
running and more could be
coming “in the not-too-dis-
tant future.”
By having BMCC at the
port, Neal said they can
also help local students
make connections that lead
to good-paying jobs in their
own back yard.
“My job is to create jobs
for the people I represent,”
he said. “Now, I just have
to get them skilled up to be
ready to enter those posi-
tions.”
The BMCC Workforce
Training Center will also
host the school’s early
childhood learning class-
es, allowing those students
the opportunity to work di-
rectly with the port’s Early
Learning Center that will be
next door. Neal said that fa-
cility should break ground
sometime later this year.
Because employees at
the port work long hours or
odd shifts, Neal said they
need a place for their young
children to receive care and
start their education.
The Early Learning
Center will be operated
in partnership with Uma-
tilla-Morrow Head Start
and IMESD, and paid for
through $1.6 million in
state lottery bonds.
Finally, the Boardman
Recreation Center is ex-
pected to provide another
shot in the arm for the com-
munity. Nearly 60 percent
of voters approved a $12
million bond to build the
facility in 2014, which will
include an indoor swim-
ming pool, gym and train-
ing center.
Once again, the port
stepped up with free land,
and even spent $250,000
to move Les Schwab from
that location to a new
building on Lewis and
Clark Drive. Along with
the SAGE Center, Neal
said the campus was a
good it and ills a differ-
ent role than the rest of the
port’s heavy industry.
“It’s about supporting
the area we serve,” Neal
said. “We think we’re striv-
ing to do that.”