News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Adam St. Clair can identify malfunctioning computer components and repair or replace them at his new shop in Sisters.
Adam St. Clair’s story is a classic tale of American entrepreneurism: He had a talent and a passion, saw an unmet need, and set about filling it.
St. Clair has launched Three Peaks Computers at 625 N. Arrowleaf Trail, Ste. 106 in Sisters (next to Level 5 CrossFit and Sisters Dance Academy).
“I’ve been working on and rebuilding computers since I was about 15 years old,” St. Clair said.
There was a strong impetus for the teenager to learn to repair a computer: His broke down, leaving him with no way to play his video games. A new computer or an expensive repair weren’t in the cards, so he took the computer apart and figured out that one part had gone bad. He went down to the local computer store and bought the part, installed it — and he was back to gaming.
The folks at the computer store were so impressed with his ingenuity that they took him under their wing and taught him the ins and outs of computer repair. St. Clair has continued building on that knowledge and capability his whole life.
Stranded in Missouri after a divorce, St. Clair and a good friend who became a romantic partner headed west to Oregon, where his friend had family — and a vacation condo at Pine Meadow Village.
“Her mom was heavily into the Quilt Show,” St. Clair said.
He and his partner first visited Sisters in 2013 and “just fell in love with the town.”
Living in Portland, they figured out a way to move to Sisters last year, and St. Clair immediately started contemplating opening a business repairing and rebuilding computers, tablets, and cell phones.
“It’s the one thing we don’t have in town,” he said, noting that the idea received highly positive feedback.
“Everybody was so excited about it,” he said.
St. Clair works on Macs and PCs, tablets, and smart phones, and he can do custom builds. He’ll offer a free 15-minute diagnostic assessment, and he won’t steer anyone into an unneeded repair.
“If it’s not cost-effective, I won’t tell you to do it,” he said. “For me, it’s about keeping it affordable.”
That said, a problem can often be traced to a single failed component that can be repaired or replaced cost-effectively, extending the life of a device — just like the computer St. Clair first repaired back in his youth.
St. Clair can set up workstations at businesses or homes, and eventually plans to carry desks in his expansive workspace. He’s also offering keyboards, headphones, and mice, and offers electronics recycling services. He also loves to create vehicles and other devices driven by computers.
“My first thought is, ‘How can I put a computer in it,’” he said. “I’m a fabricator by heart.”
Three Peaks Computers offers a 10 percent military and first responder discount.
“I grew up in a military family,” he explained.
St. Clair wants to be more than just a business in Sisters — he’s eager to give back to the Kiwanis Food Bank and to the Quilt Show and other Sisters entities.
“I want to be part of the community,” he said.
For more information, call 541-904-4353.
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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