Perhaps a dozen jobs doesn’t seem at first glance like a big number, but when those dozen jobs are part of an important niche being filled in the local agricultural infrastructure in a town of fewer than a thousand people, it is a big deal.
So congratulations are in order to those working to bring a new potato dehydration plant into being in Malin, Ore. The town of about 700 people 14 miles southeast of Klamath Falls is in an area well-known for its potatoes and other agriculture products along with its Czech heritage and its attractive, well-kept park and pool, which are a showpiece for the town.
Last week’s announcement of plans for the $2 million to $2.5 million investment and “up to a dozen” jobs in 2018 came from Daniel Wiegand, a partner in Cascade Potato LLC, whose parent company is Colorado Gourmet Potato, and Rick Abel of the Klamath County Economic Development Association.
Malin’s closeness to potatoes and natural gas were cited as reasons for the Klamath County location. It should be a shot in the arm economically for the area. Like a lot of rural America, Malin’s population has been dropping in recent years. The 2015 estimate from the Census Bureau listed it at 731, a decline from 805 in 2010.
Construction is expected to begin this summer, after the sale of the city-owned land is completed, and is expected to be open by Jan. 1, 2018.
This kind of economic development seems a good fit for Klamath County since the resources needed are already in place, waiting for a business and the local community to recognize the opportunity. And they did.
Source: Herald & News