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Swan Lake Energy Storage Project
The Swan Lake Energy Storage Project (SLE) is set to be located 11 miles northeast of the city of Klamath Falls. Renewable electricity stored at the facility will be transmitted from the powerhouse along a 32.8-mile-long, 230-kilovolt (kV) aboveground transmission line to interconnect with the Malin Substation. The project is an over $750M capital investment, presenting substantial economic benefits to the region as it will introduce an estimated 3,300 construction jobs over a 5-year build out period within the region, and 50 direct jobs once operational. The Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) partnered with Rye Development and National Grid to help advance their project through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) application process, and then later, helped facilitate a Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) between the developers and the Klamath County Board of Commissioners. FERC ultimately approved the SLE application. Through using the SIP, the project will generate approximately $31.5 million from property taxes for Klamath County over a 15-year Strategic Investment Program exemption period, amounting to $2.1 million per year.
Prior to FERC approval, the developers carried out engineering and environmental surveys to evaluate project location alternatives including alternate transmission routes to determine a project footprint with the least overall impact to landowners, environmental, and cultural resources. During the Pre-Application studies, which began in 2010, the development team initiated environmental surveys, hosted open houses, meetings, and participated in local events, all to encourage open discussion with community members, landowners, and public agencies about the design of the proposed energy storage project. These studies, meetings, and hundreds of comments filled with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) generated valuable feedback that helped shape the project’s final FERC application.
Erik Steimle from the project states, “Klamath is a special place. It’s unparalleled outdoor recreation, community spirit, and endless industrial assets make it a perfect choice for enterprises of all shapes and sizes. Let KCEDA help you like they helped us and you will not be disappointed in your investment. Things are happening in the region right now and will only grow exponentially as we begin construction on the Swan Lake Energy project.”
Read More about the Swan Lake Energy Project in Oregon Business Magazine Here: 
Wilsonart
Engineered Surfaces
In October 2020, Wilsonart Engineered Services announced the groundbreaking of a new manufacturing facility in Klamath Falls. Headquartered in Temple, Texas, Wilsonart is a global manufacturer and distributor of High-Pressure Laminates and other engineered composite materials, used in furniture, office/retail space, countertops, worktops and more. The company met with Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) in late 2019 during the early stages of their site selection process to assess the prospect of locating a new facility in Klamath County. The company began the site selection process by looking at several competing locations on or near the West Coast, looking at cities throughout Washington, California, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon.
Following Wilsonart’s first site visit of Klamath County, KCEDA, worked with many partners (both private and public), began providing services to the company and helped them see that the Southern Oregon area was the perfect place for them to grow. KCEDA provided extensive services and support to the project, including: site selection expertise, mapping assistance, incentive packaging, permitting assistance, workforce development support, market research, operating cost proformas, infrastructure development, technical solutions, and several local referrals for companies to assist with the facility’s build-out.
After evaluating several locations the company ultimately selected Klamath. The 95,000 sq. ft. building houses several different operations for the company’s Thermally Fused Laminate (TFL) business segment, manufacturing products that will have worldwide reach for a variety of applications. The company is estimated to create 50 direct family-wage jobs, 40 spin-off jobs, and invest over $20M in their development cycle here in Klamath County.
Scott Sirasuca, General Manager for Wilsonart said about KCEDA effort, “I have never seen a community work so collaboratively to address businesses needs. Through KCEDA, we learned quickly that there are endless advantages to locating in Klamath County. The KCEDA team worked closely with us to achieve the most optimal development pathway possible, helping us move forward efficiently and cost effectively.”
In Fall 2021, a mere 18 months after initially contacting KCEDA, Wilsonart opened its doors, and begin manufacturing at their new facility in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The location boasts state-of-the-art equipment that utilizes advanced manufacturing technology, optimizing efficiencies on the plant floor, and demands highly skilled labor. In 2021, Wilsonart worked closely with a strong KCEDA partner – Klamath Community College (KCC) to develop a talent pipeline from the college, training individuals to be career-ready at Wilsonart and began providing a scholarship program at KCC.
Wilsonart in the news:
Wilsonart Fires Up Klamath Falls Facility
Wilsonart announces new scholarship program for Klamath Community College
Ferguson Hotel Development
Ferguson Hotel Development (based out of Kansas City, Missouri) announced in April of 2019 that they would officially be building a new, “one of a kind” Fairfield Inn and Suites hotel along the waterfront of Lake Ewauna on Timber Mill Shores. 
The Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) began work on the business recruitment project in the fall of 2017. KCEDA actively played a major role in the hotel selecting the area, providing a wide array of services to the development firm. KCEDA services utilized for the project included: site selection consulting, support with feasibility studies, permitting assistance, market research, as well the execution of multiple incentive options.
The hotel is a 92-room, four story building, that includes custom exterior colors, a lakeside patio with a fire pit, and exhibits local artwork which incorporates historical themes of Klamath’s old mill site within the building’s interior design and Crater Lake. The hotel is also centrally placed along pedestrian walking trails throughout multiple lots on Timber Mill Shores. The company invested upwards of $13.75 million, creating 25 news jobs while simultaneously enhancing the region’s ability to accommodate it’s growing tourism base.
John Ferguson of Furgeson Hotel Properties relates, “Klamath County is an undiscovered Oregon treasure that’s on the verge of becoming the West Coast’s next best place to be. I am very pleased with KCEDA’s support services and excited to continue working with them on additional developments in the near future.”
Sky Lakes Medical Center
Community-owned, Internationally Accredited
Sky Lakes Medical Center, a community-owned, internationally accredited acute-care hospital located in Klamath Falls, Oregon, is the only hospital in a 10,000-square-mile area in south-central Oregon and northeastern California.
Sky Lakes combines small-town charm and neighborliness with big-city medical expertise in our main facility, which is licensed for 176 beds, at a variety of primary care and specialty physician clinics, and a home health agency.
The medical center family also includes the award-winning Sky Lakes Cancer Treatment Center with its state-of-the-art radiation treatment suite, the Center for Total Joint and Spine Care, and Cascades East Family Medicine Residency. The joint-care program was the first on the West Coast to be designated as a Center for Advanced Recovery by Stryker Performance Solutions.
The local community widely recognizes Sky Lakes as a leader in social and economic issues as well as in the healthcare industry, and Sky Lakes routinely invests in projects and partnerships to help the community thrive.
Lab analyzer
For example, recognizing that people who live in rural areas face unique challenges of distance and terrain when it comes to health care—and so do their healthcare providers—Sky Lakes worked closely with Oregon Health & Sciences University to bring to Klamath Falls the OHSU Campus for Rural Health located in the Cascades East building.
The OHSU Campus for Rural Health brings together local providers with dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant and medical students in rural settings to better learn about healthcare in a rural setting.
Working in teams enhances students’ educational and clinical experiences, and having these teams learn and serve in local communities has the potential to increase the number of graduates who will work there.
Joyce Hollander-Rodgriguez, MD, a graduate of the Cascades East program, is the regional associate dean of rural health for OHSU’s Klamath Falls-based rural campus, the so-called “hub” for rural medicine in Oregon.
“The rural campus office is in Klamath Falls because of the strength and diversity of our local medical community, the Cascades East Family Residency Program, the OHSU nursing program at Oregon Tech, and because of a strong champion in Dr. Hollander-Rodriguez.”
Sky Lakes also has invested in an assortment of programs intended to help the community be healthier. In addition to hosting smoking cessation classes and organizing the Sky Lakes Wellness Center, Sky Lakes played an important part in bringing the Blue Zones Project to Oregon — Klamath Falls is the state’s demonstration community – and actively promotes many of the key concepts of healthier lifestyles.
During its 50th anniversary celebration in 2015, Sky Lakes helped the community in other health-related ways by providing funding to enhance city parks and the municipal swimming pool; contributing resources to help build hiking trails and consolidate social service agencies on a centrally located site; and provided leadership to help create a protected bike lane between downtown and Moore Park.
Health is not merely the absence of illness, Mr. Stewart told a crowd at the March 12 kickoff for the Blue Zones project. “We want to make it easier for everyone to make better choices, healthier choices,” he said. “The Sky Lakes investments and the other initiatives are all helping our community to be better.”
The Carriage Works
Using Local Supplies to Manufacture
and Sell Nationwide
The Carriage Works began in Klamath Falls in 1978 as a supplier of charming horse-drawn carriages, sleighs and wagons. Their reputation for fine craftsmanship captured the attention of notable customers like Disneyland and Hollywood moviemaker George Lucas.
While building carriages for Disneyland, founding owners John and Barbara Evensizer were asked to design a covered wagon hot dog stand. That success led to a request for a buffet kiosk at another Disney attraction — Goofy’s Kitchen. Over the years, their skillful adaptability transformed this quaint, niche business into a global designer and manufacturer of more than 10,000 kiosks, carts and retail merchandising units for use in shopping malls, cruise ships, universities, amusement parks, and numerous other attractions. So if you’ve ever shopped, ridden a roller coaster, or enjoyed food you can eat without a plate, you’ve undoubtedly come across their handiwork.
Brian and Debbie Dunham bought the business in 2015 and have since hired five more employees with plans for adding even more. Klamath County’s rich history in wood products has produced a high-quality workforce of skilled craftspeople who are the cornerstone of The Carriage Works. Brian has an extensive background in manufacturing, so when he saw the expertise and commitment of the employees at The Carriage Works, he knew they had something special.
While the company’s origins are in wood, their business today also requires employees skilled in metal fabrication, electrical, plumbing, finish application, 3D rendering and more. Having local schools like Oregon Tech and Klamath Community College ensures a steady source of educated employees for years to come.
The Carriage Works is the kind of business that’s critically important for the Southern Oregon economy because it sells products mainly out-of-state, but buys a great deal of its supplies and professional services locally. So, revenue comes into Klamath County from afar and generates significant wages and local spending.
As the Dunhams consider their future needs for more space they are pleased to say the expansion will happen here in Klamath Falls because it’s a great place to do business.
Roe Outfitters
A Dedicated, Passionate Team
Roe Outfitters knows where the fish are
For the last 30 years ROE Outfitters has grown its “Real Oregon Experience” guide business in the Klamath Basin, where natural beauty and year-round outdoor recreational opportunities abound. Darren and Jenifer Roe, along with their well trained team of ten, offer guided adventures such as fly fishing, sport fishing, rafting, kayaking, paddle boarding, bird hunting, and bird watching all over Southern Oregon. They also lead fishing and hiking tours at world-famous Crater Lake National Park.
“Our focus is to help people make meaningful connections. Not just with the beauty of the area, but with each other because they’ll always have unforgettable shared memories,” explained Jen.
ROE attracts an array of clientele to the Klamath Basin, including families with school-aged children ready to experience their first outdoor adventure, as well as celebrities, professional athletes and high profile business people who need a complete change of pace. They’ve even accommodated guests who travel with their own private security teams. Klamath County is indeed a great place to go if you want to get away from the paparazzi.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of our business is welcoming repeat clients – especially those kids who first started coming with their parents, and now they’re booking trips as adults with their own kids.”
They recently expanded their business by building Crater Lake Zipline in the Winema-Fremont National Forest, Oregon’s longest zipline. The adventure is a three-hour, tree-canopy tour that includes nine zips, two sky bridges and two rappels. Upon its opening in 2015, the zipline created 15 jobs with the potential for as many as 27 as the adventure challenge course continues to attract new visitors.
The 1.5 mile course is made up of 9 ziplines and 2 sky bridges
Inspired by their own zipline experience when on vacation in Belize, Darren and Jenifer’s vision for a local zipline became a reality through careful planning, amazing engineering, heavy doses of hard work and determination, and the cooperation and support of the local business community, county government and the U.S. Forest Service. In fact, it is the only tree-canopy zipline built entirely on U.S. Forest Service land.
Historically, about three-fourths of ROE’s seasonal crew returns each year. Darren and Jenifer appreciate the trainable, dedicated and passionate people here in Klamath Falls who are part of their team. But ROE and Crater Lake Zipline also get quite a bit of interest from people who live outside of the Pacific Northwest who want to come to Klamath County to work in the outdoor industry. Some are outdoor enthusiasts who dream of having their own guide business someday. “We attract people who can’t imagine a better work environment than being outside every day.”
JELD-WEN
Full Confidence in Reliable Connections
to Keep Business Moving Forward
JELD-WEN was founded in Klamath Falls in 1960 as a supplier of wood window components, and has grown into a multi-billion dollar manufacturer of windows and doors, operating in 20 countries. In the city limits, near the southern shores of Upper Klamath Lake, you’ll find the heart and soul of JELD-WEN, where it all began, and where it continues to innovate. The company employs about 1,000 people in Klamath County, 2,000 in Oregon, 10,000 in the U.S. and 20,000 worldwide.
“Klamath Falls is the epicenter of all innovation globally for JELD-WEN.”
Passers-by often equate JELD-WEN with an impressively sized manufacturing plant that is highly visible on Hwy 97 about 25 miles north of Klamath Falls near Chiloquin. This plant is just one of several facilities the company runs today in Klamath County. Near its original mill site in Klamath Falls, JELD-WEN operates a sawmill, a wood component manufacturing plant, and a facility that presses wood fiber into interior door skins. But the company’s presence here isn’t limited to production. Surrounding the plants on Lakeshore Drive, JELD-WEN has an extensive campus that houses engineering, research and development, customer service and warranty customer care, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and risk management. The company’s president in 2015 referred to Klamath Falls as “the epicenter of all the innovation globally for JELD-WEN.”
Jeld Wen Klamath Falls Campus
Product Development & Customer Support
Most recently JELD-WEN expanded two significant functions in Klamath Falls: product development and customer support. To accomplish its strategic expansion of product design and testing, JELD-WEN took on 20 new engineers in Klamath Falls.
R & D Engineer Chad Elbert
When management decided to centralize door ordering, it chose Klamath Falls to locate the company’s largest-ever call center. Customer service functions that were once handled by each plant were centralized, which has resulted in more standardized processes and accelerated sharing of best practices. This move doubled the size of the customer support staff located in Klamath Falls, upwards of 40 positions, with the potential for 60 in the future.
Recruiting Locally & Globally
CNC machine
Oregon Tech and Klamath Community College help supply the educated workforce JELD-WEN requires, especially in the areas of information technology, accounting, engineering, and operations management. The company has also had success recruiting employees to the area, especially those looking for a healthy lifestyle focused on the great outdoors and a family-friendly pace of life. The fact that Klamath Falls is a convenient midway point between entertainment destinations such as San Francisco, Lake Tahoe and Portland, means JELD-WEN employees in Klamath Falls enjoy an even greater variety of recreational options than what the Basin already offers.
JELD-WEN requires reliable broadband to support virtually all aspects of its global business, including paperless production systems, financial tracking and reporting, internal networks, call volumes, and video conferencing. The Klamath Basin has redundant broadband paths, one from the west and one from the north, giving businesses here full confidence in reliable connections to keep their business moving forward.
Bell Hardware
At Home in Klamath Falls, with locations in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Bend, and Medford
Bell Hardware is a third-generation, family-owned business in Klamath Falls that grew from one hardware store in the 1930s into a significant supplier of commercial grade doors systems with its own fabrication operation. Today the company supplies customers in Oregon, Northern California, Southern Washington and Nevada with commercial-grade doors, frames and specialized hardware. Products from Bell Hardware have been incorporated into impressive structures such as Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Facebook data center in Prineville, and Adidas in Portland.
Bell Hardware door frame fabrication
Klamath Falls Advantages
Bell Hardware recognizes several distinct advantages to having its hub in Klamath Falls. President John Bell especially appreciates the high quality workforce and says they enjoy a low employee-turnover rate with most managers staying between 20 and 40 years.
He has full confidence in the quality of their shop employees as well. “I would put my crew up against anyone in the business, any day,” he says. The Klamath Falls market provides consistently low operating costs for Bell Hardware, including reasonable wages, rent, utilities, and other expenses. The company also says it has had favorable trucking and delivery arrangements because of the town’s location on Hwy 97, which begins at I-5 in Northern California and connects to I-84 along the Oregon-Washington border.
“I would put my crew up against anyone in the business,
any day.”
A Vision for Growth
So how did this company transition from a one-store retail business to a booming fabricator that supports seven branches totaling more than 70 employees? About 20 years after the family began as a retailer on Main Street, the founder’s son joined the business with a vision to expand into the commercial hardware market. They purchased a building a couple of miles from the store so they could begin producing metal frames and doors, and eventually architectural wood door systems.
Bell Hardware downtown Klamath Falls
Bell Hardware, Eugene
Bell Hardware, Salem
Bell Hardware, MedfordThe venture was so successful they opened sales branches in Medford, Eugene and Redding between 1973 and 1986. Bell Hardware’s growth continued as the third generation of the Bell family entered the business and led the opening of offices in Bend, Portland and Salem from 1995 to 2000. Today the company’s portfolio of products includes a variety of doors and frames with specialized locks, closers, and exit devices for hospitals, hotels, assisted living, government buildings, schools and other buildings that require numerous technical specifications such as fire ratings, panic bars, and accommodation of electronic controls. Each Bell Hardware branch handles project estimating, sales, installation and service for large-scale projects, while Klamath Falls remains home to Bell Hardware’s headquarters and showroom downtown and its distribution and hollow metal fabrication shop on Broad Street.
