For at least five years running, St. Charles Health System is the largest employer in Central Oregon, employing more than 4,500 people.

Bright Wood Corp. was the second-largest employer, with 1,030 employees, and Sunriver Resort came in at No. 3. These three businesses have remained on top for the past three years as Central Oregon’s largest employers, according to the 2022 list provided by Economic Development for Central Oregon, a nonprofit organization that seeks to encourage new businesses that sell a majority of their goods or services outside Central Oregon.

Each of the top employers still have fewer employees than in 2020. The survey is released each spring.

“The top employer list tells more than one story,” said Jon Stark, interim CEO for EDCO. “There’s the story of companies finding it difficult to grow due to labor force availability, and some that may be still recovering from the pandemic. While others are finding way to expand their labor force to met customer demand.”

The top private businesses employ more than 20,300 in Central Oregon, representing about 20% of the region’s non-farm employment. About 80% of Central Oregon’s employers have nine or fewer employees, and the average private business employed 11 people in 2021, according to EDCO.

“We have continued to work with companies that are expanding their facilities, making capital investments in equipment — much of which is in automation — improving market share, offering new products, increasing sales and improving revenue streams,” Stark said. “We are excited to see how this post-pandemic economy takes shape, especially given the resilience and diversification of the Central Oregon mix of industry.”

St. Charles has been plagued in the past year, attempting to fill positions as COVID-19 peaked and ebbed. It’s hired traveling nurses and utilized Oregon National Guard members whenever they were deployed to round out non-medical services.

The hospital currently has 460 vacant positions, 100 of which are nurses and 57 for certified nursing assistants, said Lisa Goodman, St. Charles Health System spokeswoman.

“Nursing continues to be our highest need,” Goodman said.

The list of the top employers is based upon self-reported data, according to EDCO. The list includes for-profit and nonprofit employers.

Laird Superfood was No. 50 on the list, with 142 employees. Pronghorn Resort and 10 Barrel Brewing were tied for the No. 24 slot, with 235 employees, and Deschutes Brewery and BendBroadband were tied for the No. 46 slot, with 150 employees.

2022 Central Oregon largest private employers

Rank                                           employees

2022	1	St. Charles Health System	4,509
	2	Bright Wood Corp. regional	1,030
	3	Sunriver Resort	1,000
	4	Les Schwab Tire Centers and headquarters	916
	5	Mt. Bachelor	894
	6	Safeway regional	714
	7	Fred Meyer regional	640
	8	Summit Medical Group regional	628
	9	McDonald’s regional	605
	10	Lonza, formerly Bend Research	440
		Source: Economic Development for Central Oregon annual survey