Priest River Industrial Park: A small-town economic success story

PRIEST RIVER – As cities around the nation try to land the second Amazon headquarters and the bounty it brings, small rural towns are satisfied to fill a few buildings in their industrial parks – if they even have them.

Towns have tried, failed or dreamed of building an industrial park to attract a mix of manufacturing companies and jobs not dependent on their resource-based economies.

After 37 years, a group of tenacious volunteers in Priest River, Idaho, just a few miles from the Washington border, can claim a spot among those that have succeeded.

“I wish more cities had them,” said Joe Tortorelli, an economic development consultant with 30 years experience in this region. He most recently helped Deer Park, Colville and Cheney.

He said the Priest River park is one of the longest operating and most successful in the region.

Their success is manifest in a kaleidoscope of buildings of various designs, sizes and shapes on 40 acres a mile north of U.S. Highway 2. The lack of consistency is a result of building as-needed for over 30 years.

The seven buildings now provide 172,000 square feet of work and storage space. In them are a collection of unique companies, which employ almost 200 workers to make products for distribution around the world. Today all the buildings are full and some are working on expanding.

The variations in company size and product are extreme. The smallest employs only a handful of workers; the largest more than 50 and looking to expand.

Custom saddle blankets, state-of-the-art floats for aircraft, custom timbers for homes, gun parts, commercial recycling machines, kitchen cabinets and safety clothing are among the products manufactured and shipped from the Priest River Industrial Park..

“We try to help,” said Amy Emmons, manager of the nonprofit Priest River Development Corporation for the past 15 years. She is the only full-time PRDC employee.

She credits the organization’s success on the PRDC volunteer board and the business-friendly Priest River and Idaho governments.

The PRDC began as a private, nonprofit economic development corporation formed in 1980 by local leaders, with the Priest River Industrial Park as its ultimate aim. Rental and the sale of property provides their only operating capital.

They own 15,000- and 36,000-square-foot buildings in the park. The rest are owned by the companies occupying them.

Emmons said they lease space for about 25 cents a square foot, roughly 20 to 50 percent less than in Spokane.

Humble beginnings

The 1980 start of the park was funded from an unusual source: the local Timber Days float.

The logging celebration earned the Priest River Chamber of Commerce about $15,000 annually, which was the seed money for the purchase of the first 20 acres.

John Connolly, who runs a retail glass business, said the organizers borrowed money to pay for water and septic service. Then they started working on recruiting and obtaining grants for buildings.

They scored big in 1980 with the Advanced Input Device keyboard plant from Coeur d’Alene, and then a large sewing manufacturer from Sandpoint.

Connolly said those first companies left, but the PRDC never gave up on its long-term goals. Other parties were recruited to fill empty buildings. Some of the land was sold. New companies built more buildings.

“It was a long process, lots of ups and downs,” Connelly said. He is not on the board now, but still believes it was the right way to go.

Two hundred jobs in a town of 1,800 can give a significant boost to the local economy. The only other large employer is Stimson Lumber. Another sawmill in town closed several years ago.

The draw of ‘business friendly’

Tom Clark, owner of SKITO Saddle Pads, is near retirement age but still enjoys his work. His business career moved him from manufacturing in San Francisco to Sandpoint, and finally to Priest River.

He said he intentionally downsized to four employees in a building he shares in the park. Saddle blankets and machines pack the room, with his desk and computer at one end. Orders are primarily made online.

“I look out and see the number of parked cars go up and down,” said Mike MacAlevy, owner of Selkirk Timberwrights when explaining how he estimates the current status of his fellow park residents. He has over 20 years of custom woodworking experience and is assisted by just a few employees.

They started in rented space in Priest River 12 years ago and were encouraged by a PRDC member to build and move into the park.

“We enjoy living here,” said Tanya MacAlevy. They sell their products around the country although most of their sales are to contractors in the region.

A well-known company in the park and one bursting at the seams is Aerocet, which makes composite floats for aircraft. The founder, Tom Hamilton, had a pilot friend from Sandpoint who told them they should look in this area.

Hamilton ended up starting the company and buying a 160-acre ranch for his family near Priest River. Initially, they rented 5,000 square feet in the park. They expanded, and today use about 40,000 square feet. Aerocet CEO Garry Hojan said that isn’t enough and they are working on expanding again.

They employ about 50 people in Priest River and are hiring more.

“Business friendly,” is how he describes Idaho and Priest River. He also said the industrial space is less expensive than in larger surrounding cities.

Mark Blankenship, owner of Recycling Equipment Manufacturing, said he was trying to expand his facility in Spokane but found permitting slow and costly. A friend owned property on the nearby Pend Oreille River and told him about Priest River, he said.

“Best thing that ever happened to us,” Blankenship said about his move to the park.