An upswing in new businesses opening in Bend, ranging from a yogurt shop to a barber shop, pet supplies store, restaurants and many others, appears to reflect a resurgence in confidence and the American entrepreneurial spirit.

“The economy has been depressed since the last quarter of 2007, and I think the increase in new businesses we’re seeing this spring show people are tired of the doom and gloom,” said Tim Casey, executive director of the Bend Chamber of Commerce.

“People are picking themselves up, dusting themselves off and getting back in the game. They are not waiting for somebody else to save them,” Casey said. “People around here are not sitting on their derrieres looking for government to bail them out. They are embracing innovation and using that as a guiding light to start a new business, or take an existing business to a new level,” Casey said.

The city of Bend reported an upswing of 5,623 business licenses during the 2010-11 fiscal year, which ended Thursday. This showed an increase for the first time, after declining for three consecutive years, according to Justin Finestone, the city’s communications manager.

A report compiled and released Thursday by Colleen Miller, the city’s GIS coordinator, showed business licenses dropped from 6,069 issued during the fiscal year from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2008, to 5,821 during the 2008-09 fiscal year. License numbers hit bottom at 5,542 during the 2009-10 fiscal year.

During the downturn, Miller said, a majority of the decreases in licenses were in construction-related businesses: trade contractors such as electricians, plumbers and carpenters, residential remodelers, painting and wall-covering contractors, flooring contractors and land subdivision companies.

Miller said new business licenses have included restaurants, mobile food services, physicians, specialized design service such as green building designers, traveler accommodations, used merchandise, janitorial services and landscaping services.

Casey said the Chamber also saw a decrease in members who rode a wave of success during the boom. Those members who worked in construction, real estate sales and home loans were among the hardest hit by the housing crash and recession.

Not just yogurt

That scenario played out for Anne Barrans, 29, a former real estate sales agent who, along with her husband, Tim Barrans, 30, opened Bend Yogurt Factory on June 26 on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Bond Street.

“I worked for D.R. Norton, which is known as America’s builder because they were building more houses than anybody in the country,” Anne Barrans said.

During that four-year career, from 2003-07, Anne Barrans said she sold many homes in the Bend area, mostly in the 1,200-home Arrowhead community and the 1,400-home River Canyon Estates.

“That was a great job, but it ended when the market slipped,” she said. “We love it here and wanted to live here forever. When the housing market crashed, I had to find another way to make a living and stay in Bend,” she said.

She grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where she was an avid skier and snowboarder. She went to school and earned a business degree from George Fox University, Newberg, where met Tim Barrans. They both wanted to live in Bend because they both enjoy the summer and winter recreational opportunities found here.

Tim Barrans has worked steadily as an electrical engineer with Central Electric Co-op for seven years.

The Bend Yogurt shop, which features YoCream yogurt, is the second business the Barrans have opened. In December 2008, the couple opened a franchise of Snap Fitness in northeast Bend.

“We are just the type of people who are driven to succeed, even in a down economy,” said Tim Barrans. “We opened the Snap Fitness Center first, and that went so well that we decided to open a second business in Bend.”

“Our yogurt shop is not part of a franchise. It is based on the concept we saw in Vegas and other places, but it is our own,” said Tim Barnes.

He said he believes advance planning is the key to the success of their Snap Fitness Center and to the successful opening of Bend Yogurt Factory.

He estimated the cost of opening Snap Fitness was around $300,000; and the cost of opening Bend Yogurt Factory was about $200,000.

Looking at the list of new businesses and new members of the Bend Chamber of Commerce, Casey said it appears the increase may be triggered in part by the realization among people who lost their jobs in the housing sector that it may be years before that portion of the economy fully recovers.

Bend, barbershop and best friends

However, Casey said he has also seen a number of new businesses started by people who vacationed in Central Oregon and loved the area so much they decided to relocate here, despite the depressed economy.

That scenario fits the openings of Best Friends Pet Supply and Sal’s Barber Shop, which are located on Bend’s south end, off Third Street.

Sal Marca Jr. held a grand opening July 1 for his new barbershop. He followed in his father’s footsteps in Sacramento, Calif., where his father opened the family’s first barbershop in 1961. Over the years, the business grew to a chain of three shops. Marca Jr. sold the shops 2009 after he discovered Bend.

“We actually came to Bend because we like the outdoors, and we wanted to slow down and raise our children in a smaller town,” said Marca.

He purchased the former Pizazz salon and gutted the building, installing three new barber’s chairs, sinks and counter tops and a new wood-laminate floor.

There’s also a red sports roadster that makes noises and plays music for customers younger than 4.

In addition to cutting hair himself, Marca said he is creating jobs for two other barbers, including Dean Blasquez, who also moved to Bend after owning a barbershop in California, and Joe Bernal, a recent graduate of the Phagans Central Oregon Beauty College in Bend.

Another former California family started Best Friends Pet Supply, which is owned and operated by Bob and Nina Kehrer and their daughter, Amber Thorne, and nephew, Tyler Silverstein.

Thorne, who manages the store, said she did housecleaning and other odd jobs when she first moved to Bend in 2009.

“My parents area actually the ones who came up with the idea of me opening a pet (supply) store,” Thorne said. “They noticed how much I enjoyed working with the animals.”

The Kehrers sold a heavy equipment business in California, moved to Bend and invested part of the proceeds in the pet supply store.

Although there are other pet supply stores in Bend, Thorne said there are none in the south end of town, and just about every customer has commented on how nice it is to have a pet supply closer to their homes on the south end.

Besides shelves stocked with everything for dogs and cats from food to grooming supplies, pet beds and pet toys and carrying bags, there’s also a do it yourself pet wash area. Lori Maxwell, owner of Velvet Touch grooming, relocated her business, moving inside Best Friends Pet Supply where she offers professional bathing and pet grooming services.

“I’m known around town as the ‘Poodle Lady’ because I specialize in grooming poodles, but I do all breeds,” Maxwell said.

After more than three down years for the local economy, 2011 started out slow, but the number of new businesses joining the chamber has been increasing since February, Casey said.

“In February and March we saw a real uptick in new chamber members, averaging 16 to 17 a month,” said Casey. And the wave of new businesses has continued into the double digits through June.

The chamber records show 13 businesses became members in April, followed by 21 in May and 14 in June.

Casey said he sees lots of people who come into the chamber who have been out of work for a long time and express an interest in starting a business, but he said he advises them to sign up for business planning classes offered through Central Oregon Community College, and to do some research at the Bend Public Library about the type of business they are thinking of starting and others, before they take the entrepreneurial leap and apply to join the chamber.

New business ribbon cuttings featured by the chamber in June included Encore Furniture Consignment owned by Phyllis Nelson Bates; AgeWise MD owned by Patricia Grady; KneadMassage owned by Paul Grady; Slick’s Que Co, Inc. owned by Roy Slicker; Let It Ride Electric Bikes owned by Kevin Rea; Hummingbird Auto Glass owned by Ryan Bledsoe; SocialEatia.com owned by Lara Wettig; and The Social Business owned by James Gentes.