FEBRUARY 2007: DISPATCHES
BOARDMAN
The cheese never stands alone, at least not when it’s
from the Tillamook County
Creamery Association. Tillamook’s subsidiary
plant, Columbia River
Processing, completed a $50 million expansion totaling
65,000 square feet. The plant employs 78 people but plans to
add about 50 employees to turn 1.5 million pounds of milk into
cheese and whey each day, according to Mark Wusenberg, vice
president of member relations and public administration.
Plans for an international speedway five miles west of
Boardman on Interstate 84 have shifted gears. The Port of Morrow Commission, which
owns the speedway land, has revised its agreement with Oregon International Speedway
(OIS) to allow construction of smaller projects to begin
before the building of a banked speedway and an 80,000-seat
grandstand. Steve Brucker, with OIS, says the revised plan
calls for beginning the construction of a 3½-mile road
course by mid-year, with completion targeted in 12 months.
“What works in Boardman is a combination of racing
activities,” Brucker says, adding that the benefit to the
revised rollout is that it will start generating revenue
earlier. Gary Neal, general manager of the port, says,
“The developer was getting strong signals to start the
construction of something.” OIS has invested $100 million
in the venture, and last year voters approved an 8% excise tax
for the speedway district. Also planned are a kart-racing
course, a drag strip, a 3/8-mile oval, a 5/8-mile oval and an
off-road course. The road course is the only project with an
announced timeline, according to Brucker.
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