Doing Business in Redmond

Redmond’s business costs compared to the Western U.S. region is extremely competitive. The following sections provide a concise overview of factors of doing business in Central Oregon and Oregon including:

Utilities
Workforce
Incentives - Enterprise Zone

Utilities

Water & Sewer

Redmond's municipal water system supplies a minimum of 2.2 million gallons of domestic water daily (mgd), a maximum of 16.0 mgd and has a peak usage of 12.2 mgd with an average daily summer use of 5.5 mgd for a total of 7 mgd of current excess capacity. Current storage capacity is 10 million gallons and the 2007 addition of well #7 and related reservoirs brings the maximum capacity to 19.25 mgd. There are 9,200 water service connections, of which 80% are domestic households. All of the system's water sources are subsurface from deep wells.

Water

The monthly rate includes a fixed charge based on meter size, plus a volume charge that is applied to the monthly usage in hundred cubic feet (ccf). The rates are as follows:

The rates are as follows:

Sewer

Commercial and industrial accounts pay a base fee per month, plus a volume charge per ccf of water usage above the winter months average water usage (December through April). Base sewer charges for commercial customers includes up to 7 ccf of water usage. The volume charge is based on the City's cost or treating the accounts' strength of sewage.

Natural Gas

The Redmond area is served by a 36" and a 42" high pressure (900#) natural gas pipeline operated by Gas Transmission Northwest Corporation. All locally distributed natural gas service in Central Oregon is provided by Cascade Natural Gas. The utility serves more than 42,000 customers, both industrial/commercial and residential. Cascade Natural Gas can be reached at (541) 382-6464.

The Current approximate commercial rate, after a basic charge of $3.00, is $1.09/therm. The industrial rate, after a basic charge of $12.00, is $1.05/therm. Large volume users may qualify for further reduced rates. Contact Cascade Natural Gas at (541) 382-6464 or (800) 422-7559.

Power

As part of the Northwest electric grid, several high capacity electric transmission lines provide bulk electricity to the Redmond area. Redmond is locally served by Pacific Power (888) 221-7070 and Central Electric Cooperative (541) 548-2144, which is headquartered in the city. Both power companies have ample capacity to serve large and small users.

At a 2007 average industrial rate of $.0458 and $.0537 per kwh, Pacific Power and Central Electric Cooperative respectively provide Redmond with some of the lowest electric industrial utility rates in the U.S. – as much as 34% lower than the 2006 $.0616/kwh national average reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Solid Waste & Recycling

High County Disposal provides solid waste and recycling services for Redmond.. For more information contact them at (541) 548-4984.

Telecommunications

Redmond is one of the Northwest's most technologically advanced communities for telecommunications -- offering services usually found only in large metro areas, including Ethernet access rates up to 10Gb. Redmond boasts high-end specialized data and telecommunications providers with extensive fiber-based infrastructure throughout the city and region. The city is also connected to multiple regional and statewide high capacity networks that utilize advanced dense wave division multiplexing and self-healing ring technology for redundancy and reliability.

Local companies provide services with access options including land line (copper), fiber optics, and wireless (WiFi, WiMax and secure microwave). DSL, ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM, and Metro Ethernet services, along with the traditional high capacity TDM services (T1, T3, OCx) are available from a number of these providers.

Workforce

Redmond’s workforce dynamic has changed significantly over the past few decades. The region has transformed itself from a sleepy agriculture and lumber community to a booming tourism and destination resort hub that also has a healthy mix of manufacturing and high technology. People have moved to the region in record numbers as they visit Central Oregon and discover what the region has to offer. The Redmond population has grown by over 246% from 7,163 in 1990 to 24,805 in 2007.

In addition to people moving to the area, two related factors – unemployment and underemployment – are also key to the region’s competitive workforce advantage.

Unemployment

Unemployment in the region will remain higher than Oregon and U.S. as a result of 1) rapid population growth (rather than economic stagnation) and 2) ongoing industry and trend shifts in the wood products industry.

Underemployment

Because there are typically more people looking for employment than there are matching jobs available, many Central Oregonians work less than full-time or must settle for lower skill, lower wage jobs. The total number of people who are underemployed in the region is difficult to quantify because this trend is not currently being tracked. Anecdotal evidence suggests, however, that underemployment is prevalent in Central Oregon due to its attraction for those wishing to move from dense urban areas.

2007 MEDIAN WAGES FOR SELECT OCCUPATIONS:

* Oregon Employment Department - 2007 data
** Bureau of Labor Statistics - 2006 data

Enterprise Zone

The Greater Redmond Enterprise Zone is one of four designated Oregon Enterprise Zones in the Central Oregon region. This non-bureaucratic program is administered by Economic Development for Central Oregon’s local offices in Bend, Prineville, Madras, and Redmond. The zones are geographically located in Prineville/Crook County, Madras/Jefferson County, Deschutes County Rural which includes LaPine and the Bend Airport and the Greater Redmond Enterprise Zone which includes 274 acres in Sisters.  It is designed to assist new and existing manufacturing and warehouse/distribution firms with expansion through 100% property tax exemptions on qualified investments (new buildings, remodels, and equipment) during the first 3 to 5 years of that investment. After the exemption expires, the building and/or equipment are picked up on the tax rolls at the depreciated rate.

The Greater Redmond Enterprise Zone program is also designated at an E-Commerce zone which offers the added incentive to predominately e-commerce retail businesses qualifications for the regular Enterprise Zone property tax benefits. The company will be eligible an Oregon income tax credit of 25% of its qualifying capital investment.

The Redmond program also offers an additional benefit package including: Discounted fees depend on job creation and compensation to include up to 40% off building permits, up to a 25% discount on System Development Charges, and a 25% reduction in monthly water and sewer usage charges for three years. It further offers waived fees for water hook-up for sprinkler systems, domestic water, and sewer, as well as the $200 Enterprise Zone application fee. Other fee reductions include 50% of land use fees for businesses meeting the 150% salary and benefit threshold of the area median income or 25% reduction for businesses that do not meet the 150% salary and benefit threshold.  

A full brochure (in PDF format) on the Redmond Enterprise Zone is available. If you would like to have more information regarding the Redmond Enterprise Zone Program, please contact Zone Manager, Jon Stark, at Redmond Economic Development at (541) 923-5223.