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If you’re looking for a place to start your own business or incubate an idea, Bend is one of the hottest cities in the U.S. for startups. A vibrant hotbed for ventures of all kinds, Bend has all of the resources that entrepreneurs need – and here’s why.

An Immense Amount of Activity for Its Size

In 2017, Bend registered more new businesses than any other city in Oregon. In 2016, Forbes called Bend “The Best Small Place for Business and Careers.” There’s a lot of other awards and recognitions to note for Bend in the past decade, but the bottom line is that it’s a top spot for entrepreneurs who want to start their own ventures.

That has huge advantages. Not only is it easier to find partners in similar situations to your business that you can work with, but Bend is also filled with resources that can help out new and small businesses. That includes impressive Venture Conferences where millions of dollars are raised annually, excellent economic forecast events, and a ton of resources for local professionals to use as they build their own startups.

Want a good example? Just head over to StartupBend and check out the many conferences and events that are available for entrepreneurs. Or you could go right to an incubator like FoundersPad, the Bend Chamber of Business or Economic Development for Central Oregon to see what business resources they offer!

A Great Tech Industry

Bend is a particularly good place for tech startups. It’s more affordable than many tech industry locales while still being very attractive for people looking to move. There’s plenty of revenue potential, and as the tech industry in Central Oregon has grown there’s also lots of healthy competition and collaboration. Bend is currently the 16^th largest metro in the country for high-tech startup density, and there are plenty of good reasons for it.

Outdoor Ventures Rejoice

Mountains, deserts, rivers, lakes, forests, hiking trails, competitive biking paths, climbing and bouldering – it’s hard to find a popular outdoor activity that Bend can’t support. That means a lot of the population tends to be outdoors and active, and it makes for a great place to incubate ideas for an outdoor business or product. You’ll find plenty of opportunities to test your products and high demand for innovative new outdoor offerings – including many outdoor companies to partner with as you grow sales.

Great for Breweries – and Related Industries

This may not come as a surprise, but Bend has the highest number of breweries per capita in the country. The culture, climate and excellent water quality all come together to make it the perfect place to open a new brewery…but there’s more to it than that. The deeply ingrained beer culture and events in Bend mean there’s also a ton of room for beer-adjacent businesses – that includes food that go great with beer, beer merchandise, bars and restaurants, and many other companies that can connect to the beer industry even if they don’t brew.

An Excellent Potential Workforce

Bend is filled with young professionals who are eager to take advantage of the economic landscape. While relocating personnel is always an option, it’s also a great idea to take a look at Bend’s skilled workforce and see if your company can find the talent it needs right here – and maybe even headhunt a little from other ventures in town.

 

Thinking of moving to Bend? Now is the perfect time! For the fourth consecutive year, the Bend-Redmond metro area has been named the “Best Performing Small City” in the U.S. by the Milken Institute, a Los-Angeles based think tank focusing on health, economics, employment and education. Bend-Redmond surpassed all other small cities for its “well-diversified economy, the best five-year wage growth and second-best five-year job growth”. Read more in the Milken Institute’s press release.

Raise a glass to our friends at the Worthy Garden Club, the philanthropic arm of Worthy Brewing Company in Bend, who just announced an ambitious program to plant 1 million trees across Oregon. Operation Appleseed is designed restore habitat and combat climate change with $1 million in seed money over the next three years from Worthy Garden Club. Cheers!

Worthy Garden Club, partners plan to plant a million trees

Lisa Berg is a lifelong Oregonian and has lived in Bend for the past 15 years. The draw to Bend? It’s the mecca of everything fun! It could be drinking at a brewery on a Sunny afternoon or spending the day up on the mountain downhill skiing, Nordic skiing or snowmobiling. The outdoor adventures here never end! 

Lisa started Mt. Bachelor Property Management LLC about five years ago and has been managing her own investment properties for nearly 10 years. Lisa and her husband purchase, flip and rent their own real estate investments. As a result, Lisa knows firsthand the importance of having a property manager who looks out for your investment in order to get the best renters and the best return. Mt. Bachelor Property Management currently serves the Bend, Redmond, Sisters and Prineville areas of Central Oregon.

Prior to starting her business she was a school teacher in the Bend La Pine School District for 10 years. It is there she learned patience and the ability to multi task at work, traits that she uses daily as a business owner. She is also very knowledgeable about the fabulous schools in Bend and what different schools can offer to individual students.

Lisa has had the distinct advantage of being both an owner and a tenant. She knows each one is an asset to a property management company and is always striving to keep those positive relationships strong and thriving. She knows the importance of having happy tenants in order to have fewer frequent vacancies. Lisa’s team has a system in place to address tenant concerns and maintenance issues quickly. 

When Lisa has a free moment, you will most likely see her mountain biking, camping, boating and, every once in a while, riding the chairlift at Mt Bachelor. She also spends much of her time with her two young kids.  

The spring buying season seems to have begun early this year, much different than in the beginning of 2019. Bend and Central Oregon experienced heavy snowfall in the first couple months of 2019, coupled with interest rates about a point higher than today’s rates, which made for a slow start to 2019. Once the snow thawed and interest rates lowered the Bend housing market heat up quickly and continued to be hot throughout the remainder of the year.

Buyer demand remains very strong in 2020, with multiple offers on well-priced homes. Bend ranks in the top 10 fastest growing cities in America and simply put, there are not enough homes to meet demand. Bend remains very affordable compared to many of the areas where our buyers are relocating from. The average residential sales price in Bend in 2019 was approximately $560,000. 

The challenge we face in 2020 is inventory. Housing is being developed in Bend but may not be enough to meet demand. Inventory levels continue to be under three months’ supply on average.

An interesting trend we have seen which has certainly affected the local real estate market is the ability to telecommute. Technology changes have allowed many people to live and raise their families in Bend and be employed elsewhere. This has brought higher incomes into the area making Bend much more affluent and, in our opinion, much less resistant to any recession which could influence housing.

So far in 2020 we are experiencing buying activity at springtime levels which can be frustrating for buyers competing for homes. Interest rates are at record low levels and coupled with low inventory means one thing, rising prices! 

Bend is a great market whether you are a buyer or seller. The community is growing tremendously offering opportunities for business, education and a lifestyle quality which is hard to match.

About Coldwell Banker Bain 

Coldwell Banker Bain is the #1 Coldwell Banker affiliate in the world with nearly $6 billion in volume in 2018, and has been helping people buy and sell homes in the Pacific Northwest since 1972. With 1,100+ brokers in 32 offices throughout Washington and Oregon, the company provides the full spectrum of services to buyers and sellers, with special expertise in the luxury realm.

Coldwell Banker Morris Real Estate has been recognized as a Chairman’s Circle Company for the past 22 years, an award given only to the top Coldwell Banker Companies in North America and has been consistently ranked the #1 Coldwell Banker office in Oregon.