Walden visits Sisters Country

Rep. Greg Walden visited Sisters last week.

The Congressman stopped at Sisters Eagle Airport to check out the engineering and energy hub it has become and to hear from local businessmen and officials about issues that concern folks in Sisters Country.

"I've been fascinated by the development of the airport here," Walden told the assemblage.

Walden made a few opening remarks that acknowledged the turmoil amongst his party in the nation's capital as the position of Speaker of the House is up for grabs.

"There's a lot of weird stuff going on in Washington, D.C. that they don't teach you in political science, I can tell you," he said. "But we'll work our way through it."

He also noted that the House has passed on a bill to the Senate that he said would help to "better manage forests," noting that the U.S. Forest Service this year has spent 52 percent of its budget fighting wildfire.

But Walden emphasized that he was visiting not to talk about his work but to hear from constituents.

"I'm actually here to listen and learn," he said.

Since he was being hosted by airport owners Julie and Benny Benson, who also operate ENERGYneering Solutions, Inc., Walden heard first a good bit of input on the need for consistent support for renewable energy.

David Wentworth, of Evensol, which is affiliated with ENERGYneering Solutions, noted that, "People should think of renewable energy as an infrastructure project" that should be "blind to politics."

Walden said that "the real debate is how far does the government put their finger on the scale?"

The congressman also acknowledged real concerns about the vulnerability of the electrical grid and the value of distributed energy and individual energy sources - local infrastructure that Sisters Country firms are capable of developing.

"We could probably power the whole town with renewable energy," Benny Benson noted.

Attendees also briefed Walden on the Outlaw Aviation program that is helping high school students make real strides toward careers in aviation.

The conversation turned to one of the major concerns in the Sisters community: the availability - or lack thereof - of rental and workforce housing. That is perceived as an impediment to the economic development of the area.

Benson noted that his company is growing and employing more young engineers and mechanics, but "we fight, a bit, the rental market."

Walden asked, "What constrains that?"

City Manager Andrew Gorayeb replied that "capital availability is definitely a little bit of a challenge."

Gorayeb said, "We've got property here in town ready to be developed for multifamily ... there's no capital falling from the sky available to develop those dwellings."

Walden noted that he hears from bankers that they are lending money and from communities that capital availability is a problem. He hopes to look into the question.

"How do you put those two together?" he said.

Gorayeb is anticipating a growing strain on local infrastructure.

"The exodus from California is going to be bigger than people realize," he said. "We're going to be challenged with infrastructure ... we're going to see a lot more bodies."

As talk turned back to education, Steve Marsan, of Innoviator Flight Science, which recently located at the airport, noted a need for practical skill development. For example, welders are in constant high demand.

Walden recalled the shop programs that used to be a fixture of high schools.

"That all kind of got wiped out," he said. "If you had a welding program at the high school, I don't know if that would solve it, but it's a start."

The congressman emphasized the need for public/private partnerships to fill educational gaps. That's a concept Sisters embraces. Wentworth noted the guitar-building program at Sisters High School, which is a partnership with Sisters Folk Festival. Students learn advanced skills, including computer-assisted design.

"At the high school they've got those kids building guitars," he said. "They're not building birdhouses. There's some real skills being developed over there."

Walden concluded his visit with a tour of the airport facilities, which continue to see upgrades as it becomes an economic hub for the community.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

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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