New NSCEDC project brought to the Canyon!

I am glad to announce to the community that we will now be offering IDAs among the rest of our programs aimed at enabling the Santiam Canyon to thrive. An IDA or Individual Development Account is a program which helps people who are struggling financially to acquire assets that will help to start a positive revenue stream into their life. We will be strictly dealing with helping folks acquire funds to add on to an existing business or start a completely new venture. You could add a new seating area to your restaurant, put in paved parking, start a brewery, or develop your hobby into a full working business. When you match this program with our GROW North Santiam program the ideas are limitless.

The IDA program works like a savings account, but instead of making only 1-2% interest on your money, we will match the funds that you put in by 300%. The program doesn’t stop there though. We will help you develop a business plan to accompany the newly gained money and teach you how to properly manage your money in the future. Just another project that we hope will open some doors for you in this community! Please contact the North Santiam Canyon Economic Development staff with any inquiries or questions.

Start Saving!

Eric Puro

Words of Encouragement

As we rapidly approach springtime, business is in the air. The light snow-pack thus far has many of the local small businesses that draw much of their revenues from summer traffic, wondering what the Detroit Reservoir water draw-down will be like this summer. The tourism dollars that come into the area from water and outdoor recreation are so very important in balancing out the local economy.

I operate two businesses in Mill City. The local laundromat and a small café, both of these are dependent on the mix of local support and the highway traffic. One thing that I feel is so important to all local entrepreneurs is that we must be proactive in drawing tourists into our communities and individual establishments. We cannot simply hang an open sign and expect results! We must have clean and inviting storefronts. Find those advertising dollars and use them wisely, where they can get your business the most exposure.

If you can get the people through your door, give them a great experience, a product or service that you feel passionate about, throw in some good money management, and you’ve got a successful business. As a community, our businesses don’t so much compete, rather they complement each other. We should be as active in local support organizations as time allows, and weather the ebbs and tides of the economy with unity.


Were all in this together!


Tim Kirsch

We had an excellent showing on Sunday the 7^th for the Monument Peak Trail System hike.  Many of the hikers were part of the local Chemeketans hiking group.  There were 25 hikers in all and we completed the 10.1 mile hike in about 5 hours.  Little bit of mud here and there, but all-in-all good trail hiking.

If you missed out, the purpose of this hike was to give a little visibility to some of the trails that the North Santiam Canyon has to offer.  The main goal of the many avid hikers and walkers in the area is to have a large interconnecting trail network that links many of these single trails and isolated trail systems to a larger path – the North Santiam Trail.  The North Santiam Trail is a canyon-wide trail system that will connect the Canyon communities and provide a safer non-motorized travel alternative to State Highway 22.  For more information about the trail, click on the link above.

Many who know me know my affection for the outdoors, particularly hiking and backpacking.  Needless to say, I try to get out hiking as much as I can, and have been doing so frequently – at least once a week.  I have several hiking books to get ideas from, and working where I do at the Detroit Ranger Station, I am always a literal step away from somebody that has good ideas for hikes.  Most of my recent hikes have been local to the North Santiam Canyon.  Some have been strenuous, some easy enough for the kids to go on, but one of the best things about these local hikes is that we have made a type of tradition for stopping at a local business. 

I can tell you that the gas station in Detroit has fantastic homemade burritos; the restaurant in Marion Forks has great clam chowder; at the Sierra Mexican restaurant in Gates you really get your money’s worth in food; and that the times when we decide to make a nice fresh meal after getting home from a hike, a trip to the produce market in Mill City has great deals.

So if you have the chance when you are up this way recreating or just passing through – stop in try out the local hospitality, we have lots to offer!

Happy Hiking,

Josh Weathers 

Vice Chair, NSCEDC Board

Monument Peak Trail Hike

Coming up soon on March 7th at 9am is a hike that we have scheduled for the Monument Peak Trail to discuss the future of the North Santiam Trail System. The North Santiam Trail System will utilize abandoned rail beds and existing trails from Lyons to Idanha, connecting recreation areas along the way.  Please join us at the trailhead at 9am, bring water, lunch, and dress appropriately for the 10 mile hike of moderate difficulty with some steep terrain and mud. 

I am personally very excited that we will have hikers , mountain bikers and equestrians participating on the Monument Peak hike; no horses will actually be permitted because the trail is closed to horses in the winter due to the excessive mud. This trail offers a spectacular look at the Pacific Rainforest along with the occasional wildlife, mostly birds, we see some large animal prints sometimes but I think they are using the trail at night or very early morning.

I am most excited for the lunch meeting that day which will take place at Coyote Rock. This formation is a giant boulder of red volcanic ash. I am hoping that someone will be on the hike who understands volcanoes and might offer a scenario for how that boulder got to be where it is. It is HUGE! I am used to seeing the red ash as crumbled cinder, never a massive boulder....it is very curious.


Best,


Jahn Hoover
NSCEDC Board Member
Co-chair, North Santiam Trail System committee
info@growsantiam.org