When the coronavirus first began to spread two years ago, and businesses were shuttered and travelers told to stay home, Blair and Kathryn Nicol realized they needed a business that was pandemic-proof.

The Nicols, who operate a consulting business that helps people find the right franchise to buy into, conceived a vision of an essential business, one that could weather pandemics and economic hits, and was unique to Central Oregon. After months of research, they did their due diligence and settled on StretchLab, a national chain with 160 locations that focuses on stretching.

They were among the 3,226 new businesses that registered with the Oregon Secretary of State in 2020, according to data provided by EagerLaw PC, a Bend-based law firm that culls the data for Central Oregon cities.

“A lot of businesses had trouble reopening after the initial closings, but StretchLab was able to open right away because we were deemed an essential service,” said Blair Nicol. “We wanted to bring something healthy and different and that is pandemic-proof.”

Central Oregon is known by outdoor enthusiasts for its mountain biking and hiking trails, but it’s also known in entrepreneurial circles as a good place to start a business. It’s the result of decades of creating a supportive environment, said Jon Stark, Economic Development for Central Oregon interim CEO.

That support has put Bend and Central Oregon on the map. In 2020, Bend was ranked No. 1 as the best small city for economic performance by the Milken Institute, which annually tracks economic performance of about 400 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. The city dropped slightly in 2021 to No. 13. Experts still consider it a good placement. Also in 2020, WalletHub ranked Bend No. 2 of the fastest-growing cities out of 515 cities in the United States for 17 key metrics.

“We realized at EDCO, as an economic development grower, we needed to provide resources to work on pitching and investing,” Stark said. “Economic development is a team sport. Through wrap-around services, we built an ecosystem. That’s why we’re a hotbed of entrepreneurship.

“The secret sauce is that everyone wants to help one another.”

StretchLab

The Nicols, who have lived in Bend for a decade, opened StretchLab on Friday in NorthWest Crossing. As the owner of FranNet, a franchise finder firm, Blair Nicol said he owns several businesses already, but wanted to add one in Bend to his portfolio.

They settled on StretchLab in 2020, but had to find a location that met the benchmarks in their research.

The concept works for people who are 80 and want to get on the floor to play with grandchildren or 8-year-olds who want to be better at soccer, Nicol said.

“When I first saw the concept, I thought it was a dumb idea,” Nicol said. “You can stretch on your own, can’t you? But it turns out that it’s for everyone and anyone. We offer professionally assisted stretching.”

On average the fee is about $250 a month for four, 50-minute sessions one-on-one with a trained and certified flexologist, he said. Sessions are booked for either 25 minutes or 50 minutes.

“Our goal is to get about 250 members. Right now we’re at 232,” he said. “The city is filled with people who enjoy being active.”

Passion projects

Bend long has been known for turning passion projects into business projects. In the past, many a Central Oregon startup has been acquired by larger businesses, a reflection that Central Oregon has the chops to develop and grow solid businesses.

“In chaos, there’s opportunity,” said Gary Bracelin, co-founder of Bend Outdoor, a group designed to help Oregon outdoor-product companies grow. “I thought the financial crisis of 2007 would wipe out an entire generation of entrepreneurs, but they came back stronger than ever. The pandemic gave people time to reflect and time to take themselves in a new direction.”

In outdoor ventures, many businesses get their start because a founder comes up with a better way of solving a problem, Bracelin said.

“They’re cobblers,” he said. “Most people see opportunity and see risks, but entrepreneurs don’t see risk. All they see is opportunity.”

The pandemic, which forced massive layoffs as businesses were shuttered, gave people time to create their own jobs, said Adam Krynicki, Oregon State University-Cascades Innovation Co-Lab executive director. Those newcomers join a large number of remote workers and entrepreneurs who now work from home or in co-working spaces, Krynicki said.

“Some entrepreneurs start businesses out of necessity, some do it for flexibility and others do it to chase a dream,” Krynicki said. “New business filings increased because the pandemic changed employees’ lives and motivated them to become entrepreneurs.’’

While the number of new business registrations in Bend dipped slightly in 2020 from the year before when businesses were ordered shut for about eight weeks in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, the filings didn’t stop. There were 3,116 new business registrations filed in 2020, compared to 3,497 in 2019.

Jeff Eager, whose law firm keeps track of these filings, said there aren’t many large corporate employment opportunities in Central Oregon.

“If you live in Bend, and you want to make money while living here, you have only so many options,” Eager said. “Bend has no dominant industry from an employment standpoint, so if you’re going to make it here, many people have to have their own business to make it.

“It’s partially out of necessity.”