KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Rodney Todd moved to the Klamath region in 1970, when the timber industry dominated the local economy.
The Weyerhaeuser mill alone employed about 1,000 workers and put out millions of board feet of lumber a day. It was one of about 30 operating in the area – most were in Klamath Falls, but others were in the smaller communities of Malin, Bly, Chiloquin and Dorris. Together they provided thousands of family-wage jobs and accounted for 80 percent of the area’s economy.
Most mills permanently closed or consolidated, and many of those jobs disappeared. Unemployment skyrocketed, hitting a high of more than 13 percent in 1994.
Today, the area is finally coming out of the doldrums, according to city and county leaders and economic development officials.
Unemployment is at 5.5 percent, the lowest rate since the 1970s.
And the towns built on timber are now finding new economic footholds – the service industry, manufacturing, tourism and health care.
Aqua Glass, a company that manufactures bathtubs and showers, opened in 1993 near the Klamath Falls airport.
The manufacturing industry in Klamath County, including Aqua Glass, now employs a total of 2,500 workers with an overall payroll of about $27 million.
In 1996, Jeld-Wen, a Klamath Falls-based manufacturer of windows and doors, invested $217 million to build the Running Y Ranch Resort just west of Klamath Falls between Highway 140 and Upper Klamath Lake.
Diversification is a slow process. The Basin economy needed new incentives to bring both people and new businesses to town, said Jed Etters, owner of John L. Scott Real Estate.
Klamath Falls city manager Jeff Ball agreed.
“Housing seems to have slowed down now,” he said. “It’s still growing, which is a good thing, but the interesting thing is because of that, commercial development is lining up in town. National retailers are lining up. … It’s to a point where you get an announcement almost monthly.”
Home Depot’s decision about five years ago to build east of town and Wal-Mart’s expansion to a Super Wal-Mart kicked off Klamath’s commercial growth, Etters said.
“These big companies don’t just come to places because they think it looks nice,” he said. “They do a lot of data and research to make sure the area is in a growth pattern, and that the sales will be there.
“People don’t invest money in places where you’re not going to get a return.”
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