Preparing for a new era

Business Opportunity Expo highlights North Clark County’s potential for growth

BY CHARITY THOMPSON of the VBJ

As the green fields of North Clark County are dotted with more homes and businesses, the area’s leaders are preparing to harness its growth.

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To some, Battle Ground, Ridgefield and La Center are still considered rural towns. But during the last decade, they have seen an influx of businesses and residents. Ridgefield saw a 14 percent population growth from 2006 to 2007, while La Center increased 5.4 percent and Battle Ground grew 2.7 percent, according to Clark County. The county itself grew 2.9 percent in that time, and from 2000 to 2006, gained more than 58,000 residents, according to the Columbia River Economic Development Council.

And the area is on track to gain at least 129,000 more residents by 2025.

The Business Opportunity Expo on May 29 is the first major event of the North Clark County Leadership Group – which includes the cities of Ridgefield, Battle Ground and La Center and the Port of Ridgefield – and is a major effort to help the area prepare for that projected growth.

“There are only two ways for Vancouver to grow – one is east and the other is north,” said Michael Williams, spokesman for the port of Ridgefield. “We’re seeing a lot of business folks taking advantage of the opportunities out here because of the vast amount of land available.”  

Being located on Interstate 5, the Port of Ridgefield has seen growth coming, said Executive Director Brent Grening.

“We’re seeing more job producers investing in the area,” he said. “It’s changing the way people think about the area.”  

Joining forces

The North Clark County Leadership Group formed in 2002, at the same time the Discovery Corridor was designated from 134th Street in Vancouver to 319th Street in La Center, Williams said.

The jurisdictions agreed to work together to promote the corridor as grounds for new opportunities. Initially, the expo was to introduce outside businesses and developers to the area. But most of the anticipated 400 to 500 attendees are from the Vancouver-Portland metro area and the Northwest.

“As we started building the event, it became apparent there are a lot of locals who don’t know what’s been going on there,” said Karen Ciocia, the event’s coordinator at Normandeau Assoc., a sponsor. “If you haven’t been there in the last five years, you haven’t been there.”

Heading north

Dave Wechner, a principal of Sherwood, Ore.-based AKS Engineering and Forestry, will be in the expo’s vendor showcase. The Vancouver office of AKS opened in July 2005 and Wechner hopes to expand the 12-year-old firm’s residential and industrial development further into Clark County.

Wechner, a former Clark County land use planner, said recent changes to the county’s comprehensive plan allow for more mixed-used development to the north. He’s hoping to connect with industrial and commercial developers.

As economic staples of timber and agriculture provide less for the area, its leaders welcome new growth.

Battle Ground’s development got a jump start about three years ago with the Gardner Center on Southwest Ninth Avenue, said Diane Rivera, executive director of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce. Also new to the town are the mixed-use Battle Ground Village, Battle Ground Best Western Inn and Suites, residential developments and two schools.

Distribution centers for Dollar Tree and United Natural Foods are now in Ridgefield. There are plans in Ridgefield for rail expansion and office, retail and professional development on the waterfront and Southwest Washington Medical Center plans to develop at I-5’s Ridgefield exit.

La Center is seeing some business revitalization and residential development. The possibility of a Cowlitz tribal casino nearby remains a controversial economic opportunity – that reportedly could employ 3,000 people.

There’s hope the area’s current and incoming residents, as well as new commuting workers, will help support a commercial and industrial influx.

“The area is really attracting a different type of resident – young families with room to grow,” Ciocia said. “(The area’s industry) has gone from small retail businesses that serve the existing population to more of a destination with more industry.

Wechner added the state’s growth management act requires jurisdictions to plan for growth with a 20-year horizon, and to designate property to accommodate that growth.

“Growth is inevitable, but bad design is not,” he said. “There are many nice spaces being created in dense areas like Northwest Portland, downtown Vancouver and Camas.”

Those places made density work with good design and well-thought-out utilities, transportation corridors and movement, he said.

The expo

The Business Opportunity Expo will include a narrated bus tour of available lands and new developments, a showcase of as many as 75 local firms and businesses and afternoon panels to help companies with business planning, expansion and relocation.

Jerry Greenfield of Vermont-based Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream is the event’s keynote speaker. Ciocia said the global dessert maker’s ability to keep small town values and sustainability at the forefront are an example for local development.

Adrienne Moser, former chief operating officer of the Portland-based Nau sustainable clothing start-up, was originally scheduled to speak at the event’s kick-off breakfast. But with the May 2 announcement of Nau’s closure, it’s unlikely Moser will appear. Coordinators were considering several speakers at press time but had not confirmed a replacement.

Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com.