Sisters business woman honored

Tara O'Keeffe, of Sisters, was honored among the top entrepreneurs from around the country last week during the National Small Business Week celebration, May 17-23, in Washington, D.C.

O'Keeffe, founder and president of O'Keeffe's Company, the manufacturer of Working Hands, Healthy Feet and Life Out There creams, was selected as the 2009 Oregon State Small Business Person of the Year.

The Sisters businesswoman met President Obama during the visit.

"I shook his hand and left some hand cream with President Obama," O'Keeffe said. "I wasn't going to leave there without leaving him some hand cream."

Following the awards ceremony, O'Keeffe attended the Town Hall Meeting: "Successful Business Strategies in a Tough Economy" at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The meeting, and subsequent forum, was designed to help entrepreneurs with current, real-world issues that impact their business.

During a panel discussion, O'Keeffe explained her view on the critical elements for success in a challenging business climate.

"Adaptability is the key to life," she said. "In the wild, mutations occur randomly, and the organism with the best set of traits survives in a constantly changing environment. My role as leader of the O'Keeffe's organization is to serve as a catalyst through our adaptation to the market challenges we face today. I strive to promote innovations within the organization, and select, test, and implement those I believe to have the highest potential to help the organization thrive through these turbulent times."

In 2005, after struggling with a packaging innovation to meet unique market needs, O'Keeffe developed the company's "Grip Pak," which can be marketed exclusively from the lid allowing merchandising versatility in stand up trays, clip strips, floor displays, and gravity-fed wire dispensers with no additional packaging. 

"It was just macho enough", said O'Keeffe. "It worked for men. It was perfect. We made a decision to sell skin care products in a novel way, marketed in home improvement centers. It was a decision that has propelled us in ways I never imagined."

O'Keeffe said participants in the events often asked her about the challenges of operating a manufacturing business in a small, relatively remote location such as Sisters, where the labor pool is limited and transportation and networking are more difficult.

"That came up a lot," she said. "One of the challenges is instant kind of networking with business people. But I have found there are brilliant business people in Sisters and Bend, and you just have to seek them out and find them."

A narrow and shallow labor pool has not posed much of a problem she said.

"I have the greatest employees in the world," she said. "What they don't know, they learn."

The 20 or so employees at O'Keeffe's cross train and engage in continuing education to develop the skills they need to meet new challenges. Their adaptability means that O'Keeffe is not stuck looking for employees with a particular skill set, but can develop her employees' skills in-house.

There was another Sisters connection involved in O'Keeffe's visit to Washington, D.C.

For her reception with the President, she chose to wear a dress she purchased at the Sisters consignment shop Shop It Forward, located adjacent to Siesta Suntan on Main Avenue.

When anyone commented on her dress, she proudly told them of its origins.

"It was fun saying it was from Shop It Forward in Sisters, Oregon," she said.

O'Keeffe's advice to other businesses trying to survive and ultimately thrive in challenging times is pretty basic:

"Remember your final customer," she said. " (The keys are) remembering your customer, having an exceptional product, exceptional service, and then be(ing) willing to adapt."

With her most recent product, Life Out There Skin Therapy Hand Cream, O'Keeffe hopes to penetrate the outdoor sports market, a move that could stimulate significant growth.

"I really hope to see that O'Keeffe's can become global," she said.