No Expansion Plans Yet For Waitsburg

WAITSBURG - At the end of August, the Mc- Gregor Company bought about 25 acres of land from the City of Waitsburg, but don't expect any expansion plans anytime soon, accord- ing to company officials.

Pat McConnell, the gen- eral manager of retail operations for McGregor, said the land purchase was a wonderful opportunity to keep a Waitsburg branch of the company in operation.

"In order to consider Waitsburg for expansion in the future, we need more acres," McConnell said. " The opportunity was great."

Without purchasing this land from the city, he said Waitsburg may not have ever been considered for ex- pansion, and other branches that could expand may have taken jobs out of the town. He said when the company saw the city put the bunk- house acreage out to bid, it knew it had to jump on the opportunity.

"I want to see the facil- ity stay there," McConnell said. "And it will."

The Waitsburg branch now employs about 25 people.

McConnell said once the purchase has closed and the land is cleared of all remains of the bunk house and is ready to build, the company will assess the land and look into differ- ent options for expansion. Meanwhile, the farmer who had been leasing the land from the city will continue to farm the acreage in 2013, he said.

Right now, the company is working to expand many branches around the Pacific Northwest.

The Waitsburg branch will be added to the list of the growing operations, but it will take time. There are already big projects the company is working on.

"It's a fairly long process," McConnell said.

Once the land is cleared and some options are considered, the Waitsburg expan- sion plan would be put into the capital budget and on a list and ranked. It could truly be years before any project is started, he said.

As of right now, McCon- nell said he "can't offer spe- cifics" as to what the expan- sion could include. But, he said the company will want to "increase capacity to better serve the Blue Mountain region."

And this also means re- gardless of what direction the expansion goes, more people will be needed, he said. The company has suggested an expansion in Waitsburg could add about 10 jobs.

Waitsburg Mayor Walt Gobel said when he visited with McGregor officials they never promised immediate growth, so he's not surprised the company won't make a move for a while.

But, Gobel is happy with the land sale because before, the city was only making money off of the crop that was farmed. Now, as soon as the closing is completed, the city will reap property tax from McGregor.