Lane County storm drain cleaning program accepting business signups through May
■ After launching last fall, Lane County’s Storm Water Management Program is back and accepting business applicants.
The voluntary program allows businesses in Lane County to help maintain storm drains for a reduced flat fee of $65 per drain. Last fall, nearly 100 businesses from across Lane County signed up to participate in the program, which Lane County coordinates in partnership with Stormwater Protection Systems.
Lane County-based businesses can sign up each fall and spring in anticipation of heavy rainfall and more water entering the storm drain systems. To register a company for the fall program, visit LaneCountyOR.gov/SCAP and sign up by May 31.
“We all have a vested interest in keeping our community’s waterways clean,” Lane County Waste Reduction Supervisor Angie Marzano said. “This is a low-cost, high-impact way for businesses to make a real difference in those efforts while meeting their responsibilities.”
Agritourism making economic impact
■ A first-of-its-kind economic analysis finds that the annual economic impact of agritourism in the Willamette Valley is nearly $1 billion.
The Oregon State University Extension Service and the OSU College of Agricultural Sciences produced “An Initial Economic Impact Estimate of Agritourism in Oregon’s Willamette Valley,” which quantifies the economic effects of agritourism.
In agritourism, producers combine farming with aspects of tourism. Agritourism can take the form of farm-direct sales, education, entertainment, outdoor recreation, and hospitality.
When the report’s co-authors totaled the economic effects of agritourism sales – spending by both daytime and overnight visitors – direct sales annually exceed $985 million. Value-added sales, which are sales minus outside supply or production costs, exceed $572 million.
The study estimated that between 3.7 million and 13.7 million people visit agritourism farms annually in the valley.
Rosboro picks partners for expansion project
■ Rosboro Company, LLC has selected USNR, HOMAG Group, and Chambers Construction as the primary suppliers for the company’s upcoming expansion project. The project will expand and modernize the company’s vertically integrated production process which converts logs into structural glued laminated timber (glulam) for residential and commercial construction.
The investment includes a state-of-the-art lamstock planer mill, expanded dry kiln capacity, and a technologically-advanced laminating plant. In combination, the project will increase Rosboro’s integrated glulam production capacity by 50% while allowing the company to produce glulam from smaller logs that would typically be converted into stud lumber or chips.
USNR is performing the dry kiln expansion and will provide the primary components for the new planer mill.
The glulam factory project will be delivered by Stiles Machinery, Kallesoe Machinery, and SystemTM – all members of the HOMAG Group. The factory layout will include a high-efficiency lumber infeed and finger jointing line that is seamlessly integrated with two high-capacity Radio-Frequency Press Lines.
Chambers Construction will oversee the design and construction of approximately 225,000 square feet of new buildings. The company expects the projects to be fully operational in 2026.
