News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Weitech, Inc. of Sisters, is planning a major expansion to accommodate a recent boom in business.
The manufacturer of electronic pest-control devices expects to move into a new 30,000-square-foot facility by October 15. The plant will be part of a new Weitech Industrial Park planned on 5.6 acres of newly zoned industrial land at the east end of Barclay Ranch.
Developer Steve McGhehey purchased the land from Ted Eady, who plans to build a motel on the western edge of Barclay Ranch on Camp Polk Road. According to McGhehey, the Weitech plant will be the cornerstone of the development, which will accommodate a total of 60,000 square feet of industrial space in three buildings.
As part of the proposed development, Barclay Drive will be connected to Camp Polk Road, and Eady agreed to extend Larch Street from Adams Street north to the new boundary of Sisters.
McGhehey will seek approval of his site plan from the Sisters Urban Area Planning Commission in April.
Weitech's volume of business has taken a quantum leap recently, with major retailers including Fred Meyer's Home Depot, Costco and Lowe's, (a southeast-based home center) adopting Weitech's line of products.
Weitech designs and builds electronic devices that emit different kinds of sounds to repel different animals, ranging from moles and gophers to deer.
"Most of our sales growth has been from expanding our distribution channels from mail order catalogs to retail stores," Weitech president Stewart Weitzman said. "In the past six months it's gone through the roof."
"We're receiving pressure from Costco because we can't produce (product) fast enough," general manager Todd Weitzman said. "They'll take everything we can give them."
Weitech's boom, described by Stewart Weitzman as "a wonderful nightmare," forced the company to rush to find larger accommodations. The Weitzmans ruled out adding on to their current plant, believing that would be inefficient. They went to McGhehey to see if he could help them find sufficient space so they didn't have to move the company to Bend or Redmond.
"Without the Eady property and Steve coming through, there's not a piece of industrial ground in Sisters that can accommodate a 30,000-square-foot building," Stewart Weitzman said. "This allows us to stay in Sisters, where we want to be, but also encourages others to come here, in my opinion."
Weitzman noted that the move frees up Weitech's current 13,000-square-foot facility for other industrial companies that might be looking into coming to Sisters. Other sites in the Weitech Industrial Park will also be available.
Weitech, founded in Sisters nine years ago, currently employs 40 people. While Todd Weitzman could not say exactly how many new employees the company would need to hire, the workforce will be expanded.
McGhehey said the development will have the look of late 19th century industrial architecture, with brick facades and large segmented windows "like an old-fashioned warehouse."
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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