REDMOND — Business owner? Looking to relocate? Redmond probably has a deal for you.

It’s no secret the city is looking to bring in jobs. In fact, the city is pushing to carve out an “open for business” niche in Central Oregon. As Redmond Mayor George Endicott puts it, “We don’t have the mountain on the edge of our town, and we don’t have the Western theme, so what is our shtick? It’s probably business.”

Last year Endicott set a goal of creating 10,000 new jobs in the city by 2030. He says he didn’t pull that number “out of thin air.” The mayor says it’s based on projected city growth and the community’s high population of young families. It’s based on facts and data. But is the number lofty?

“I think it is,” Endicott said. “But you have to have something to aim for.”

One beneficiary of this commitment is Central Oregon Truck Co., which has received both state and local money and stands to receive even more help by locating within a pair of special zones.

Earlier this month, Central Oregon Truck Co. CEO Rick Williams told the City Council his company will move its Prineville headquarters to a new Redmond facility. Construction is expected to begin this year.

The company, which ships freight across the lower 48 states and Canada, serves most industries looking for flatbed shipping. It employs about 170 drivers and 45 office staff members. Over the next five years, Williams expects his business could grow by as much as 40 percent.

But the trucks with the light green cabs almost moved to Reno, Nev., last year. Reno is closer to major trucking routes than Central Oregon, and the city was offering benefits for the company to make the move.

Redmond offered incentives as well. Combine that with Williams’ desire to stay in the area where he’s lived and worked for 20 years and you get a company in town looking to create jobs.

“The city of Redmond did a great job,” Williams said. “In my opinion, good government should create good infrastructure that correlates or complements good business for the community. I think that is what Redmond was able to achieve.”

One thing the company needs to make Redmond a viable location is an “acceleration lane” along U.S. Highway 97 allowing trucks to gain speed as they enter the roadway. Also, a nearby intersection requires work. Those projects come with a $495,000 price tag.

Last year the Oregon Department of Transportation offered up to $370,000 through an Immediate Opportunity Fund that looks to spur job growth in the state. And the city of Redmond closed the gap on the project with a $125,000 commitment earlier this month.

Central Oregon Truck Co. also will benefit from locating within two critical zones.

The Greater Redmond Enterprise Zone offers up discounts on fees, service charges and utilities. It also allows for a three-year waiver on property taxes and city fees if businesses create a certain number of jobs.

The new headquarters also falls into the Downtown Urban Renewal District, a region that offers up funding programs based on business type. The trucking company falls into a classification that gives it access to the city’s Industrial Development Fund. That’s a “forgivable loan” program that waives repayment for businesses that meet certain workforce and wage requirements.

Williams said his company and the city are currently meeting on the available programs and deciding what works best for them.

Still, Williams says the city can do more. Not necessarily for his business, but for future developments.

“I think Redmond is trying very hard,” Williams said. “But I would like to see the city put a lot more resources into … economic development. Think of it as a city being a business. And they have one salesman? We can’t sit here and say we want economic development unless we put something on the line for economic development.

“Ultimately I want to see our city, our county and our state successful financially, and the way to do that is to structure incentives … in a manner that makes us a better option when people look at where they live and work.”

The salesman Williams refers to is Jon Stark, manager of Redmond Economic Development Inc., or REDI. The group is Redmond’s arm of the nonprofit group Economic Development for Central Oregon, or EDCO.

As the leader of REDI, Stark is tasked with bringing new jobs into the city and making sure businesses that are currently here, stay here.

Stark says structuring incentives — or “packaging” them — will continue to be a push on his behalf.

“It is about building a package around a project,” Stark said. “It’s not about one piece. It’s about the sum of the parts that make a project pencil out for a company.”

Other projects the city has introduced in the past year include assistance for restaurant startups in the downtown zone and the planned development of a medical-oriented business park around the hospital.

Stark and Endicott both said there are additional companies inquiring about Redmond’s incentives. Endicott said the city’s ability to scramble staff and meet with businesses is an additional incentive in bringing jobs to town.

“I told (a potential employer I met with) we kind of have an ‘Open for business’ moniker, and he said ‘I believe it,’ ” Endicott said. “We’re talking the talk, but we’re also walking the walk. We will bend over backwards to try to help these companies if it’s something we can provide.”

Trucking company found a sweet spot

Central Oregon Truck Co. is consolidating its Terrebonne location (pictured) and Prineville headquarters into one site in Redmond, taking advantage of overlapping business zones that provide the following perks: