Redmond’s enterprise zone has snared the attention of yet another outside company considering expansion.

This time it’s a company that may be prepared to offer an average wage of $21.63 an hour, including medical and retirement benefits.

And for those handsome wages, GreatOutdoors.com, a Web site based in Kirkland, Wash., promoting outdoor lifestyles and the gear to get out, would receive five years of tax exempt status from the city on new capital investments.

GreatOutdoors CEO Mike Morford declined to say Monday how many employees his firm would hire if it opened offices in Redmond or how large a facility GreatOut doors.com would be looking to build.

It was unclear Monday whether the company could include management salaries in figuring out the average wage; it’s also uncertain exactly how much the base-level positions would pay.

Redmond has never before approved a five-year enterprise zone deal, but the City Council is expected to do so tonight at its regular meeting, said Redmond city officials.

So far, Redmond’s citywide enterprise zone has worked like this: Manufacturing, industrial or ”primary-employment” companies that create new jobs and invest more than $50,000 in capital improvements are exempt from local property taxes on those capital improvements for three years.

The zone has been very successful in Redmond, said Art Fish, who manages the enterprise zone program for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

It played a large role in the choices of many companies to move to Redmond, including T-Mobile, said Redmond Mayor Alan Unger.

If the deal with GreatOutdoors goes through, the company will also be the first to have to pay its workers an annual average wage of 150 percent more than the Deschutes County average of $14.42 an hour, which is a requirement of the five-year zone.

Morford said his company, which has been in business since 1996, became interested in Redmond because of the city’s enterprise zone, but said it has made no final decision to come to Redmond.

”It’s more exploratory,” Morford said Monday.

Though the company is still weighing its options, the agreement set to be approved by the Redmond City Council tonight will lay the groundwork for the deal, Morford said.

Fish said 26 of the 94 companies using enterprise zones across the state last year were working under agreements longer than three years.

The decision by a city to offer a five-year agreement is an indication it is ready to ramp up its efforts to pull in larger companies with more money to spend on employees, Fish said.

”If you are a place like Redmond – it’s getting a lot of interest, a lot of employers that have plenty of jobs. One of the reasons we have the five year is so you can attract those (larger) investments,” Fish said.

Morford declined to say Monday how many employees his firm would hire if it opened offices in Redmond or how large a facility GreatOutdoors.com would be looking to build.

He did say his company’s focus on beautiful places and an active lifestyle would fit well with Central Oregon and that the high wages the company would be expected to offer would mesh with the company’s commitment to its employees, he said.

”We really believe in the people we hire and have a very strong record of retention and loyalty,” he said.

Morford said his company would continue to consider Redmond among several other locations in the West for the next few months.