WMC MOVES TO OAKRIDGE
Oakridge poised to land RV maker
By JOE HARWOOD
The Register-Guard
OAKRIDGE - At last!
After spending six years and more than $5 million in state
and federal money trying to recruit businesses to Oakridge,
the city says it is poised to land a big tenant at its fledgling
industrial park.
Oakridge officials said Monday that the city has entered into
a memorandum of understanding that could bring
RV-maker Alaskan Campers Inc. to town.
Based in Chehalis, Wash., south of Olympia, Alaskan now
makes two camper models that fit on pickup trucks.
If Oakridge officials can hammer out a final agreement,
Alaskan will employ 30 workers in its first year of operations,
said Greg Wilder, city administrator.
By the end of the third year, the company could employ as
many as 350 workers in Oakridge, he said. Wilder said
Alaskan plans to eventually produce four RV models.
The company wants to lease 24.5 acres in the industrial park,
plus lease some buildings and construct others, Wilder said.
"It has been a long struggle," Wilder said of the city's
recruitment efforts. "This should help us turn the corner."
The city has been negotiating with Alaskan for six weeks and
hopes to have a final, signed agreement in the next four
weeks, Wilder said.
The decline of the timber industry has buffeted the
Oakridge-Westfir area for the past decade.
The community, about 50 miles east of Eugene, lost
thousands of jobs as mills closed and new business failed to
materialize.
In 1994, the city began cleaning up and refurbishing the
former Pope & Talbot sawmill and veneer plant for use as a
260-acre industrial park. So far, more than $5 million has
gone into that effort, including construction of roads,
sewers and the like.
The industrial park has only two tenants - a local
construction company and a small wood processor.
Together, they employ about 70 people.
Last April, Sykes Enterprises Inc., a Florida-based operator
of call centers, said it wanted to come to Oakridge.
But Sykes demanded an incentive package worth about $6
million, including a $3 million cash inducement up front.
Oakridge couldn't come up with the cash, so Sykes went
elsewhere.
With Alaskan, the price tag isn't nearly so steep, although
many details remain to be worked out before officials ink a
final agreement.
Plus, Alaskan is a small, family-owned company, not a
nationally known corporation like Sykes.
The industrial park is in an enterprise zone that allows up to
a five-year waiver of property taxes for firms that own
buildings there.
In the case of Alaskan, the company would lease land and
some existing buildings. Wilder said the city will offer
discounted lease rates tied to the number of workers and
wage levels.
"We've fleshed out general details and a general concept
that deals with lease rates commensurate with the number
of employees and the wages paid to those employees,"
Wilder said.
Alaskan intends to cobble together about 123,000 square
feet of space for its assembly line, the city said.
Wilder said about 80,000 square feet already exists in the
form of old mill buildings that will be improved.
The city will apply for state and federal grants to extend
infrastructure to the buildings.
Wilder said Alaskan intends to construct some new buildings
on the site.
Alaskan won't use all of the 24.5 acres itself. Wilder said the
company - mainly an assembler of the finished product -
plans to sublease portions to the site to subcontractors,
such as cabinet makers, fiberglass operators and metal
fabricators.
Alaskan, launched in 1953, is owned by Don Wheat of
Chehalis.
Its campers aren't the typical over-the-cab variety usually
seen on pickups. Instead, Alaskan uses a hydraulic system to
lower the roof of the camper to a few inches above the
truck cab when driving to reduce wind resistance and
increase gas mileage, according to Alaskan's Web site.
When the roof is raised, the camper offers full standing
room.
It was not immediately clear whether Alaskan would keep
its Chehalis-based facility.
Other details about the company - such as sales and number
of employees - were also not immediately available.
Wheat could not be reached for comment Monday night.
Copyright © 2000 The Register-Guard
WMC will manufacture the former GMC Motorhome along with a line of towables based on the GMC Motorhome body which will also include a line of 5th wheel trailers.
Production of the travel trailers and fifth wheel trailers should begin October 1, 2001. The WMC Motorhome will be in production by October 2002 or sooner.
Prior to production an advance deposit order program will be established for both the towables and the motorhome.
Other than a new engine and drive line the WMC Motorhome will remain virtually identical to the GMC Motorhome. A major upgrade of the interior appointments will be noticable in the new WMC Motorhome.