News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters students will soon be sending circuit boards down the assembly line at Desertronics, a once-defunct Sisters company that is getting a new lease on life as a vocational training facility.
The company is expected to start producing again in May, under the umbrella of the Sisters School District. A paid staff will supervise students in the production of the circuit boards. Weitech, a local manufacturer of electronic pest control devices, is the sole buyer for the circuit boards at this time. Schools superintendent Steve Swisher said the company's marketing plan calls for expanding the client base.
The program is a unique business/education partnership, providing a Sisters company with a vital product, while providing vocational-skills training to special education and alternative school students.
"It's a real business producing real stuff under the umbrella of the schools with the help of the business community, Swisher said. "And that makes it unique.
In addition to the supervisory staff, the company will ultimately employ from 10 to 15 students on a part-time basis.
"The main priority is to work with our own kids in special education, said high school counselor Dan Saraceno, who will run the vocational program.
According to Saraceno, the special education students will learn basic job skills and proper work habits and learn how to operate in a production line.
"They should exit that with multiple skills in that kind of environment, Saraceno said.
Those skills are transferable to companies such as Weitech, Saraceno said.
In addition to the special education students, the facility will also provide jobs for students in Sisters' alternative FLEX school.
"I think we can provide some employment opportunities for them tied to their school performance, Saraceno said.
The Oregon Economic Development Department is to provide $48,456 in startup funds to purchase equipment. OEDD will also provide business consulting services, according to Swisher.
Robert Raimondi of OEDD said that the project is "in the funding process at the agency. He acknowledged that there have been no objections to the project and all of the agency's questions have been answered, clearing the way for granting the funds.
The Sisters Schools Foundation is the stockholder in the company.
Desertronics' plant is in the industrial park, in the same building that houses the Sisters sheriff's station. Swisher noted that the long-term business plan calls for building the company for several years and then selling it to help create an endowment fund for the Sisters Schools Foundation.
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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