Economic Development – Monthly Report – October 2022

Posted on by

Internal projects: 

  • Permanent Outdoor Covered Structures grant program:  The status of the first round of this program is reviewed semi-monthly at the City of Sandy Ec Dev Advisory Board meeting – here is the status of the program as of July 2022:
    • Tollgate Inn – Keystone Architecture is currently drafting a final design for the covered structure and will include a list of qualified installers for this product.  Staff expects to see this final design before the end of 2022.
    • All other projects are now structurally complete and under contract.
    • Three applicants from the first round of this program have already satisfied their financial responsibilities for the applicant portion of the covered structure project.
  • Covered Structures Round 2:  Designs for the second round of the City of Sandy Covered Structures grant program were reviewed at the SURA and City Council meetings on January 3rd, 2022.  Here is the status for this round of the program as of September 2022:
    • La Bamba Mexican Restaurant – Completed July 21st
    • Thai Home – Project on hold due to applicant medical situation.
    • Wippersnappers Kid’s Play Place – Construction contract awarded to low bidder (Mt. View Contracting of Sandy) on 10/12.  Construction to begin (and hopefully completed) in November.
    • The Smoky Hearth – Completed August 2nd



Economic Development items:

Econ Devl – Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):

Paola’s Pizza Barn
  • Façade project – Paola’s Pizza Barn:  On September 20, our Building Official approved the final inspection of the Paola’s Pizza Barn project that was begun way back in 2019. Two custom metal fire stairwells were installed behind the building to provide emergency egress for the mezzanines, the interior stairwell was modified to incorporate a uniform rise and run, and the water heater was moved out from underneath an interior stairwell as a safety precaution.  Many thanks to Pizza Barn owner Denise Overton for staying on task over the years to get this project completed.
  • Façade & TI project – Hood Street Daycare:  This new daycare facility in downtown Sandy was the brainchild of Rick Minor, co-owner of Gartner’s Meats in Portland.  Initially looking to build a triplex on this site, Mr. Minor asked what Sandy needed upon learning that residential development is not allowed in downtown Sandy due to zoning designations.  When told that daycares were in short supply everywhere in Oregon, but especially in Sandy after the pandemic, he switched gears and created a brand new facility for this purpose.  This building will be the new home of Grandma’s House in 2023 after that business was forced to move out of their last location on Pioneer Blvd earlier this year.  Not only is this facility newer, but this building is also significantly larger than the old one, allowing the business to take on more capacity than before.
  • Façade project – Clackamas County’s Sandy Health Clinic:  The clinic had a soft grand opening for the building on October 13th to show off the new building, even as they continue to complete items on the final punchlist for project completion.  Several City of Sandy elected officials and staff members were invited to the official ribbon cutting at the building prior to the opening of the building, and Mayor Pulliam said a few words on behalf of the City prior to the big scissors coming out.
Clackamas County’s Sandy Health Clinic – ribbon cutting


Econ Devl – Internal Projects:

Downtown maintenance:

  • AF Downtown Maintenance:  The Downtown Maintenance program is once again shutting down for the season and will focus on specific individual maintenance items as they arise until we start the program back up again in the spring of 2023.

The crew is now working on thinning street trees on Proctor and Pioneer in preparation for the installation of our annual holiday lighting for 2022.  AntFarm Youth Services will        provide our holiday street tree lighting this year as we transition away from Cedarglen   Floral and (hopefully) towards something more robust for future years.  Stay tuned…


Econ Devl – Economic Development Advisory Board:

There was no EDAB meeting in October.  Stay tuned for the next and final EDAB meeting of 2022, which will take place on November 30th in Council Chambers.  The agenda will include a year-end review of development in Sandy as well as a follow up discussion with Elliot Weiss of CAI.

I would also like to take this moment to thank Councilor Pietzold on behalf of the Board (and myself) for serving as our Chair during the last term and to wish him well in his future endeavors.  Thanks for getting this board off of to a great start, Jeremy.  You will be missed, and we hope to see you around these parts again sometime in the future…

Econ Devl – Conferences/training:

Staff attended the Oregon Economic Development Association (OEDA) Annual Conference in Coos Bay from October 9th through the 11th.  This was the first in-person OEDA conference to take place since 2019, and it was wonderful to reconnect with economic developers throughout the state in person once again. 

Much of the programming at this conference was focused on workforce development, which is still the most important issue to businesses everywhere, regardless of size.  Unfortunately, businesses around the state still seem to be struggling with “the Great Resignation” as much today as they were a year ago.  The most effective strategy to deal with current labor shortages, especially in the categories of business that are somewhat prominent in Sandy (retail, tourism, restaurant), still seems to be to pay increases, particularly at entry level positions.