Seeking input
Fruitland officials prepare to distribute survey to gauge ideas on economic development

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Bishop said Friday, the survey would serve two purposes. First, it would be to find out what the community wants and desires for Fruitland in terms of economic development opportunities. The second aim, he said, is to then use that survey as a marketing tool to take to prospective commercial or industrial ventures interested in the city to show them there is a place and demand for them in Fruitland.

“It shows the direction or path we need to follow, or at least the steps to accomplish certain goals,” Bishop said.

The idea initially started from the question of whether Fruitland needed and would support a grocery store, and the idea grew out from there.

“Going beyond that, that’s a difficult thing, how to ask and what to ask,” Bishop said.

He said he thinks a good portion of the survey will focus on what Fruitland residents’ believe the city needs, whether it’s enterprises that will bring in more jobs, more employment opportunities or higher wages rather than what kinds of ventures should come in or whether they want a refinery in their back yard.

People who work in Fruitland on a regular basis have some ideas on that, however.

Even with a survey and goals, barber Randy Buker, Randy’s Barber Shop, said he is skeptical whether Fruitland will become a hub of development any time soon because the city is like many others in the United States at the moment — mired in recession.

He also said he hasn’t given much thought to what he would like to see Fruitland achieve in terms of economic development, nor does he even think the city could support a grocery store simply because it’s been tried before. 

Fruitland, he said, can’t compete with Oregon’s lack of a sales tax, and with the state of the economy, he doesn’t think many people are planning new ventures.

“I don’t see a lot of changes for Fruitland in the next few years,” Buker said.

Valerie Olson, owner of Val’s Gifts & Florals, agrees the economy must improve before any economic development is likely in Fruitland. However, she said she thought Fruitland could grow and the city could use more jobs, but with so many people laid off, that seems unlikely.

She said she doesn’t think Fruitland residents would support a big industrial venture such as a power plant or refinery, but smaller manufacturing companies might be OK, as long as the product being manufactured wasn’t something that people could already find locally.

A small grocery store might be able to survive, but she thought it must offer products that would draw people’s interest to it rather than going across the river to Wal-Mart, such as items from local growers or producers. Mostly, however, she thought Fruitland could improve on a more local level.

“I think more people need to just support the town,” Olson said.

Down the street at Big Sky Sportswear, employees Nathan Pabst, 17, and Ann Rush, 25, had a few ideas of what the town needed.

Both agreed the town could use more medical services, such as chiropractors or dentists, or services people or business owners needed that are otherwise hard to find.

“Something that businesses really need to keep going,” Rush suggested.

Pabst, a student at Fruitland High School, said computer services, such as repair, fell in that category, adding whenever computer repairs need to be made, people have to go up to Nampa or Caldwell. He also said those businesses should be people-oriented as well, with employees serving the customers directly.

Pabst, who intends to go to college to study nuclear engineering, said he supported the idea of a nuclear power plant, stating such entities produce inexpensive power that would serve many people, but he didn’t think people would support that in Fruitland.

Rush, however, said a large greenhouse may work well in Fruitland. She said, when she lived in Kansas, the town had a large greenhouse, or actually four including growing fields, that grew and provided potted plants and seedlings and flowers that were sold to large retail centers like Costco, Albertsons and Wal-Mart. That greenhouse business was very significant, she said, and employed 200 to 300 people.

Fruitland School District Superintendent Alan Felgenhauer said he would like to see light industrial ventures come in, but he doesn’t know if there is much room for heavy industrial without creeping up on residential areas because Fruitland is “so long and narrow.”

“I’m really happy to see all the professional offices that are going in,” he said. “Those will be a nice addition.”

Felgenhauer said he has heard a lot of people say they are tired of having to go across the border to do their shopping and that it would be nice to have a Winco or Paul’s come in.

While Felgenhauer said he hasn’t thought about it that much, any expansion of the tax base, especially if it brings population growth, is beneficial because if there are more students in the district, the school district provides additional jobs in the community in the form of additional teachers and staff.

“It’s a win, win, really,” he said.