Two Baker City auto dealerships are spending between $2 million and $3 million to develop a combined show room, car lot and shop on the other side of the freeway.

“We’re buying 11 acres on the other side of the freeway between the Super 8 Motel and the (United Parcel Service) facility,” said Dennis Wright, general manager and part owner of Gentry Ford on Main Street and Powder River Motors on 10th Street in Baker City. “Our hope in the next two years is to combine all of our dealerships out there.”

“We’d been planning the remodel for a couple of years before the economy turned. We had a little better outlook on the local economy than what the national media painted, and we flat needed the space, so we decided to move forward with it,” said Martin Arritola, a partner and manager of the business founded by his parents, Dan and Mary Arritola.

J.R. and Dana Streifel’s vehicle repair shop is one of several businesses in a commercial area east of Interstate 84 that Baker City annexed a couple years ago

For J.R. Streifel, the economic downturn that has dampened sales of homes, new cars and consumer products has turned out to be a boon for his auto and truck repair business.

“With the economy like it is, I think people are holding off on buying new rigs and they’re choosing to fix up and hang onto the ones they’re driving a little longer,” said Streifel, owner of Grumpy’s Repair.

“We have approved matching grants for several awnings as part of our Destination Downtown grant program,” said Ann Mehaffy, HBC program manager.

 Business owners say the promotion brought in lots of customers

“It was crazy. It was like Christmas. It was one of the best days we’ve had all year,” is how Jacki Adams, owner of The Sycamore Tree, described Tuesday’s launch of the Terrific Tuesdays downtown shopping promotion.

Adams is is co-chair of the Terrific Tuesdays campaign, which is designed to lure shoppers downtown with drawings for merchandise, prizes and gift certificates of $10, $20, $25, $50 or $100 at 26 downtown businesses and a few in other areas of town every Tuesday during the summertime.

Barb Ackerman, left, and Betty Dahlen recently closed their Hallmark store on Main Street in Baker City. (Baker City Herald/Kathy Orr)

Barb Ackerman and Betty Dahlen wrapped up their going-out-of-business sale March 13 and now they’re busy dismantling and selling the shelves, card racks and other remnants of Barb and Betty’s Hallmark Store on Main Street in Baker City.

“It takes quite a bit to take the store down. We spent the last four or five days tearing down the fixtures and getting them out,” Dahlen said.

These programs are designed to strengthen local businesses, keep independent business owners competitive, and draw customers into the shopping district with special events, according to Ann Mehaffy, program director of Historic Baker City Inc.

Unemployment statistics show workers in higher-paying skilled positions are more likely to exhaust their unemployment benefits, and ultimately wind up in lower paying occupations.

However, a little-used Self Employment Assistance program at the Oregon Employment Department offers workers who fit that profile the chance to receive unemployment benefits while they start a business of their own.

“It’s been one of those programs underutilized in the past, and use has just skyrocketed,” said Tom Fuller, Employment Department communications director.

A study presented to the Baker County Small Woodlands Association last week showed a biomass-fueled power plant, together with a wood pellet factory and firewood operation, could provide a consistent market for wood wastes generated on private and public forests.

Ben Henson, CEO of Renewable Energy Solutions in Wallowa, said the study concluded that there’s plenty of woody biomass available in Baker County and within 35 miles to supply a $9 million, three-part project.

It would consists of a 1-megawatt gasification power plant that would use 35,000 green tons of wood a year, a 20,000-tons-a-year pellet mill and a firewood operation producing 2,000 cords of firewood annually.