Considering all the lumps Bend’s economy has taken in recent years, it’s refreshing to talk with Matt and Jessica Williams.

They’re the new owners of the Pine Ridge Inn in Bend and new residents.

And they couldn’t be more thrilled to be here.

They closed their purchase of the upscale 20-room hotel on June 1 and the lifelong Minnesota residents moved here in July, but they’re already some of the best ambassadors for living and doing business in Bend.

They also demonstrate how tourism can showcase Bend and lead to economic development. Their visits led to buying a business and home.

The Williamses — avid cyclists, runners and skiers — discovered Bend 10 years ago, loved it from the start and visited about every other year. While vacationing here, they’d sit in the Century Drive Starbucks, watch the people coming in for coffee before work and picture themselves living here. “We were 100 percent jealous of those people,” Matt Williams said.

When housing prices soared mid-decade, they almost gave up on Bend, figuring they couldn’t afford to live here, he said. As the nation’s housing market withered, especially in places like Bend, the couple took note. Then when Matt, whose passions include bicycle racing, heard last summer the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships were coming to Bend that December, the couple decided to re-examine Bend as a place to live while Matt raced.

They stayed at Pine Ridge “and just loved the property, loved the location, loved Bend.” They returned home to St. Cloud, Minn., and talked endlessly about Bend. Matt, who’s worked in the lodging industry his entire life, called Pine Ridge owner Don Moilanen on a whim and asked if he’d be willing to sell. He was. After closing the deal, they moved into their west-Bend house up Century from their hotel on July 29.

The 39-year-olds can access running or mountain bike trails steps from their house, downhill and cross-country ski at nearby Mt. Bachelor, raise their four children with a love for the same activities in good schools, and do business in a place that’s beckoned them for years.

“Bend is better than we expected,” Matt said last week.

They see the Pine Ridge Inn — too much of a well-kept secret, in their opinion — as a huge opportunity.

Having never stepped inside the inn, I can attest to its charm, overlooking the Deschutes River and Old Mill District, close to downtown, Bachelor, etc. The well-appointed suite we met in was large, comfortable and smelled of the homemade cookies placed on guests’ pillows each night. The inn makes cook-to-order breakfasts and has evening wine and beer socials. Who knew?

That’s part of the challenge for the Williamses, they say, getting more people to discover the inn tucked behind the pines along Colorado Avenue, across from the Marriott TownePlace Suites.

I sense they’ll get the word out. Matt applied for a lodging seat on the Visit Bend board of directors in August. He wasn’t chosen, but sees plenty of other ways to get involved. A competitive cyclist, he’s a big believer in sporting events like cyclo-cross to introduce the area to visitors.

No stranger to the hospitality industry, his family ran a fishing resort in summer in Minnesota. At 18, while in college, he began working for the president of AmericInn hotels, who later started Minnesota-based ETC Enterprises Inc., a development, management and supply company servicing hotels mostly in the Midwest, and has been with ETC ever since. He’s now vice president of development. In 1999, he helped start an offshoot of ETC, the GrandStay Hospitality LLC hotel franchise, for which he’s also VP. He’s phasing out of his VP roles this year and will consult for each company, but says Pine Ridge Inn is his focus. The Williamses also own or are partners in four other hotels in Minnesota.

They know Bend’s taken an economic hit, but they also know its appeal and are banking on it coming back. That’s demonstrated by their business and personal commitment. Their enthusiasm is contagious — and Bend can’t have enough of that these days.