The experts call it a slow economy, yet Nana’s Irish Pub in the historic Nye Beach district of Newport has continued to grow at double digit rates. It’s not a matter of luck, one visit and you’ll soon understand the pub’s tremendous popularity.

Owned and operated by Philomena O’Brien and her daughter Tara Coughlan, Nana’s is as Irish as a pub can be. Philomena spent the first seven years of her life in Ireland and later returned for 10 years as an adult. After operating a successful restaurant in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley for more than 10 years, Philomena moved to Portland to follow her three children, all who had relocated to Oregon and were working in the restaurant business. While visiting the Oregon coast for the first time, she examined an available restaurant space in Nye Beach and quickly fell in love with it. In September 2007 Philomena and Tara began remodeling, and by January 2008 they had opened the doors to their 960 square foot authentic Irish pub. An immediate hit with locals and visitors alike, Nana’s soon purchased the business next door and expanded into their current 2,300 square foot space.

Philomena and Tara are quick to deflect the praise to their 14-person staff, but the overwhelming popularity of Nana’s Irish Pub can also be attributed to the food. Nana’s traditional Irish breakfast featuring imported sausages, rashers (lean slices of bacon), black & white pudding, eggs, steak cut fries, baked beans, grilled mushrooms and tomato is available all day. Four traditional Irish pies are customer favorites, including Bridget’s Chicken Pot Pie, which was named for Bridget Clancy (Philomena’s mother/Tara’s grandmother). In fact the pub’s name, Nana, an Irish expression for grandmother, also honors Bridget Clancy.

The pub cooks hundreds of pounds of tender corned beef each week, much of which is used for the Bunratty Reuben, Nana’s most popular sandwich. Kilkee Fish ‘n Chips, named for the Irish seaside town where Philomena’s parents met, often features fish fresh from Newport’s bayfront, deep fried in the restaurant’s homemade beer batter. The Smoked Ahi Spread appetizer uses line caught tuna from Island Wild Seafood.

Of course, any discussion of Nana’s Irish Pub eventually leads to the beers, which are all served in generous 20-ounce Imperial pints. Guinness Stout on tap remains the best seller, and locals proudly recommend the Rogue Brutal Bitter. Available by the bottle are an extensive selection of European imports as well as Northwest craft beers.

These days it’s hard to walk around Newport without seeing someone in Nana’s ubiquitous sweatshirts, tee shirts and hats, all featuring the Celtic tree of life and the pub’s motto, “Cead mile failte”, which in Gaelic means one hundred thousand welcomes.

Philomena calls Newport “the best place I’ve ever lived, even better than Ireland”. She also talks enthusiastically about her bank. “Local fishermen, neighboring businesses and many of my customers kept telling me I should be banking with Oregon Coast Bank, so I decided to give them a try. They’ve been great to work with and if we ever need to expand or remodel, I know the bank will stand behind us.”

It’s unique family businesses like Nana’s Irish Pub that make Newport so popular with visitors and such a great place to call home. Philomena and Tara have been a tremendous addition to our community and we’re honored to be their bankers.

Back in December of 2000 when he sold the assets of Depoe Bay Fish Company, Jerry Bates thought he’d retire. But at age 52 he “couldn’t sit still”. Six months later he was back fishing. Today, at age 63, he’s still at it.
Jerry is the owner of the Suki, a 52-foot steel commercial boat that plies the waters of Oregon, Washington and California for crab, tuna, halibut and salmon. Employing up to four Newport-based fishermen, the Suki will bring in 65,000 to 100,000 pounds of crab and 30 to 50 tons of tuna in an average year.

Along with his partner Dave Smith, Jerry also owns the Lisa Melinda, an 86-foot crabber/trawler. Also employing up to four Newport-based fishermen, the Lisa Melinda operates in Oregon, Washington and Alaska waters and in an average year harvests a couple million pounds of pollock, up to a million pounds of cod, several million pounds of hake and 100,000 to 150,000 pounds of dungeness crab.

The Bates family and local fishing go back a long way. Jerry’s dad started as a dock worker in 1933 and opened Depoe Bay Fish Company in 1950. Jerry has worked on the docks since the age of five and went into business with his dad in 1968. His son Mike is also in the industry, working at Pacific Seafood.

Jerry has meant a lot to our local fishing industry. While operating Depoe Bay Fish Company for 20 years, he employed up to 200 people. When he’s not fishing himself, he still brokers fish and crab. These days, Jerry and his wife Brooke live in Logsden with three mules, five horses, two dogs and three cats. When not on the water, Jerry uses his mules and horses for hunting trips.

To stay ahead in the fishing business, Jerry is continually upgrading his boats with the latest technology. To do so he maintains a strong relationship with his bank, Oregon Coast Bank. “The fishing industry has its ups and downs and you need a banker who understands those cycles,” explains Jerry. “You just can’t get that with the chain banks.” Besides his boat loans, Jerry depends on Oregon Coast Bank for a line of credit as well as his business and personal accounts. He also appreciates the camaraderie he has with his local bankers. Sometimes when he’s buying equipment to upgrade his boats he’ll simply call and say, “Make sure there’s money in your bank, I just spent it”.

It’s customers like Jerry who make it such a pleasure to be a community banker. We not only appreciate his sense of humor, but all the good he’s done for our communities.

He was just nine years old when he first started helping out on his father’s commercial fishing boat. At 18 he was already a captain. By the time he was 22, Kurt Cochran (with the help of his dad, Craig) purchased The Marathon, a 90-foot trawler. Today, Kurt and his wife Kimberlee also own and operate a second vessel, the 80-foot New Life.

The Marathon fishes primarily in Alaskan waters for cod, pollock, sole and rockfish. Periodically it travels to fisheries near Newport, Astoria and Westport. The New Life fishes exclusively in Alaskan waters, although Newport is its home base.

For the Cochrans, fishing is definitely a family business. Their son Keith, now a senior at George Fox University, also started fishing at age nine and has continued working on the boats every summer. Their daughters Daisy, a sophomore at Western Oregon University, and Kristin, a freshman at Newport High School, have also fished on the family vessels.

But it’s not just the Cochran family that is supported by The Marathon and The New Life. Kurt and Kimberlee believe that giving crew members ample and regular off time makes for healthier family relationships. For 10 months of the year, each of their boats operates continuously with a three man crew. Each fisherman typically will work 30 straight days on one of the boats and then spend 30 straight days with his family. The unique arrangement means that 11 families, almost all who live in Lincoln County, are able to make a healthy living from The Marathon and The New Life. Of course as the owners, much of Kurt and Kimberlee’s off time is spent managing the business, but they also find time to be active in their church, community and their children’s lives.

Expenses in a commercial fishing operation are extensive. In order to maintain and upgrade vessels, a good source of financing is essential. Ask them to recommend a bank, and Kurt and Kimberlee will talk enthusiastically about their relationship with Oregon Coast Bank. In Kimberlee’s words: “Everyone at the bank is so helpful and they’re great with fishing loans… They’ve even customized repayment schedules for us to correspond with fishing seasons.” One of the things that has impressed Kurt is the fact that their bankers at Oregon Coast Bank seem to take a genuine interest in their business. “They’ve come out and visited us on our boats; you just don’t expect that of bankers.”

Unquestionably commercial fishing still remains one of our most important local industries. At Oregon Coast Bank we have a tremendous amount of respect for fishing families like the Cochrans and we’re honored that they’ve chosen to bank with us.

The worn sign above the door puts it all in perspective – you’ll need a sense of humor to fit in at The Barge Inn, especially if longtime proprietor Pat Witham is holding court, which seems to occur on an almost daily basis. Despite his dry wit and penchant for finding anyone’s level of gullibility, Pat will tell you what he enjoys most about operating the business is the “great people who like to spend time here”.

During the 80’s, Pat started coming to Newport to fish on the weekends. In 1992 he left Eugene, where he had operated a trucking business, to move to Newport full time. Driving his log truck locally, he began to look for a business that would “pay me even less than I was making as a trucker”. In October of 1997, Pat and Phyllis Hoover started leasing the historic Barge Inn, a landmark on Newport’s bayfront since 1936. Within a year he became the sole proprietor.

The Barge Inn is famous for its cheeseburger, which gets its distinct flavor from an old well-seasoned cast steel grill. Your other choices are hot dogs, beer and wine – “we don’t even serve French fries”, points out Pat. As limited as the menu is, the clientele is surprisingly diverse. Fishermen come in as early as 7 am for their morning coffee. Business people stop by for cheeseburgers at lunch. Regulars often laugh away an entire afternoon and tourists return year after year to feel like locals for a few hours.

For many years it was usually Pat behind the bar, but these days those duties are covered by his staff of three. Even in his semi-retirement, Pat still spends most of his days at The Barge Inn, thoroughly enjoying himself with longtime customers. His goals remain simple – “I just want to be able to pay for my grandson’s college education,” explains Pat.

Ask him about Oregon Coast Bank, where he has been banking since we first opened more than eight years ago, and Pat will tell you that he likes the fact that when he calls he’s recognized simply by the tone of his voice. “It can be the grayest day, but I’m always smiling when I walk out of that bank,” he says. Pat keeps all of his personal and business accounts at Oregon Coast Bank and has had several loans, including a recent one to remodel his kitchen.

Despite the fact that he tends to dispose of any Beaver memorabilia he finds on our desks, all of us at Oregon Coast Bank enjoy having Pat as a customer. We’re also honored to be considered among the “winos, dingbats and riff raff” to regularly enjoy a beer and a burger at The Barge Inn.

Back in 1972, Alan and June Brown were raising four children on Alan’s salary from the highway division, an amount he laughing refers to as “minimal for even back then”. At the time, a businessman from Prineville, Les Schwab, was selling franchises of the tire store that bears his name. After meeting with Schwab, the Browns agreed to become the company’s 25th franchisees. It was Schwab who suggested that they call the business Alan Brown Tire Center, saying “Put your name on the building, you might get mad at me someday and want to take down my sign.” Thirty-nine years later, the Brown’s relationship with Les Schwab Tires remains as solid as their own marriage, but it took many years of hard work to get to where they are today.

Selling their home and borrowing on their life insurance to finance their new business, the Browns soon learned the price of entrepreneurship. “For many years we lived and breathed the business,” remembers June. With just themselves and one other employee, Alan and June ran the entire operation. Opening at 7 am, Alan would install and repair tires long into the evening. Often he’d return at 2 or 3 in the morning to make emergency repairs for customers.

All four of the couple’s children worked part time in the shop. Today, their son Ken manages their Newport store while their son Tad has managed their Toledo store since it first opened more than 10 years ago. Mark, their eldest son, became a pilot for Delta Airlines and resides in Wilsonville. The Brown’s daughter LeAnn is a occupational therapist in Eugene. One of Alan and June’s five grandchildren now also works in the family business.

Over the years the Browns have owned their stores, much has changed in the tire business. During the 70’s a typical tire would last about 20,000 miles, but these days it’s not uncommon for customers to get up to 100,000 miles of use. Increased tire life has put a premium on maintenance and service, something Les Schwab Tires has long been known for. The image of enthusiastic employees running to customers’ cars isn’t just an advertising gimmick; it’s a common occurrence at Les Schwab Tires. Of course today, Les Schwab means a lot more than tires. A significant percentage of the company’s revenues now come from other automotive services such as brakes, shocks and alignments.

The Brown’s hard work has paid off. These days their two stores employ 24 and do about 20 times the volume of when they first opened. Each full time employee and their families receive full medical insurance. All employees are eligible for year-end bonuses. Alan and June make contributions to each employee’s trust, equal to 15 percent of the employee’s salaries.

The Browns believe that owning a local business also means a commitment to community service. Alan is a past president of the Newport Rotary and served on the Newport Planning Commission for two years, the Newport City Council for four years and the Port Commission for eight years. In addition, he served six years in the state legislature and currently sits on the state transportation commission.

Although he visits his stores frequently, Alan claims to have retired in 2000. June however still comes into the office two or three days a week to supervise the company’s business operations. Alan has been a board member of two community banks and believes they are essential to the economic vitality of small towns. The Browns are Oregon Coast Bank stockholders as well as enthusiastic customers with personal accounts, trust accounts, business accounts and a lending relationship. “If we ever need anything or have a question about one of our accounts, we can just pick up the phone and it’s taken care of,” explains June. “Oregon Coast Bank has been super to work with.”

It’s entrepreneurs who have fueled the growth of our local economy, and all of us at Oregon Coast Bank have a great deal of respect for the sacrifices it takes to run a family business. The success of Alan Brown Tire Center is no accident, and Alan and June’s hard work is an inspiration for us all.

Ask Levi Kittel what he does for a living and he’ll give you the same answer his dad, Chuck, is known for: “I’m a janitor.”  And while neither Levi or Chuck is above washing a window or cleaning a toilet, they have far more responsibilities these days.  Chuck is the founder and Levi the current president of Associated Cleaning Services, a locally-owned and operated Newport-based company that now serves more than 200 businesses from Astoria to Coos Bay and as far east as Sweet Home.

After serving in the Air Force, Chuck Kittel attended Oregon State University.  Thirty-nine years ago he opened Associated Cleaning as a one-man operation.  All five of his children worked for the company while attending high school.

Levi spent four years as a Marine Corps sergeant and then followed his dad to Oregon State University, where he majored in business administration.  While he was in college, Levi worked as a supervisor for Associated Cleaning in the Willamette Valley.  After graduation he moved back to Newport to help Chuck manage the rapidly expanding company.

Chuck and Levi make an excellent pair.  Chuck is adamant about customer relations, inspections and keeping prices affordable for their clients.  Levi practices all that his dad has taught him and has also streamlined operations through his knowledge of computer systems.  With children of his own, Levi has hopes that Associated Cleaning Services will remain family-owned for a third generation.

Besides general janitorial services for commercial customers, Associated Cleaning Services offers window cleaning, carpet cleaning and floor work including stripping, waxing and polish.  Commercial cleaning equipment is far from inexpensive – a decent buffer can cost up to $7,000, even commercial vacuums (of which the company has hundreds) cost as much as $700.

Keeping the equipment well-maintained is extremely important.  “I was the little kid who took the vacuum apart,” laughs Levi.  “In fact, I fixed my first one at the age of eight.”  Even though he’s now president of the company, Levi still services all its equipment.  He also makes it a point that all of his customers and employees have his cell phone number and can call it 24/7.  “It’s not unusual for me to take three or four calls during dinner,” he explains.  “In our business you really have to enjoy solving problems.”

Associated Cleaning Services has grown by at least 12% per year for close to four decades.  But the number Levi and Chuck are most proud of is that the company now provides 47 jobs.  Some of the company’s employees have been with the firm more than 10 years.

The Kittels and Associated Cleaning Services have been banking with Oregon Coast Bank since we first opened in Newport more than 10 years ago.  The bank has provided loans for equipment, computer systems and vehicles, as well as a commercial line of credit.  The Kittels also use Oregon Coast Bank for mortgages.

Besides being a customer, Associated Cleaning Services is also highly appreciated by all of us at Oregon Coast Bank because they have always provided outstanding janitorial services at all of our offices.  Although they’ve grown their company from a one man shop into a major regional employer, the Kittels remain thoroughly grounded.  Customer relations and keeping prices affordable for their clients continue to be their focus.  It’s been a recipe for success and the Kittels deserve a great deal of credit for having such a positive effect on the central coast economy.

At the tender age of five, Robin Comstock started selling sweet peas to tourists in Nye Beach.  After graduating from Newport High School, he served six and a half years in the Army and then attended Oregon State University, where he studied engineering and computer science.  He’s worked in electronics, built log homes and served as a general contractor.  In fact, you could call Robin a born entrepreneur.

About 10 years ago, Robin purchased Coast Hearth & Home in Newport.  At that time the business had been around for about 25 years and was located on Lee Street in Newport.  After operating the company successfully for several years, Robin decided to expand.  Using financing from Oregon Coast Bank, he purchased a larger building on East Olive Street and opened an impressive showroom.

Visit Coast Hearth & Home on a dreary day and it’s the warm glow of the fires that first catch your eye.  The showroom displays a wide array of stoves and fireplaces including wood, pellet, gas, propane and electric models.  Robin refuses to carry anything but the highest quality products, such as stoves by Travis and Jotul.  The showroom also displays Sabre barbecues and the popular charcoal burning Big Green Egg.

Many customers come to Coast Hearth & Home to try to reduce their energy costs.  By using a high efficiency stove or insert, a family can heat just their living space, instead of their whole house.  Robin’s staff will visit your home free of charge to measure the area you want heated and to recommend the proper unit.  Installation by factory-trained technicians is provided with every sale.  Additional savings are available for cutting energy consumption in the form of rebates from Energy Trust of Oregon.

Serving a wide area from Tillamook to Florence, Coast Hearth & Home often works with customers who live in rural areas beyond utility lines.  In addition, each year the business serves more and more customers who may reside within utility districts, but want to be able to live off the grid.
Although originally just a stove store, Coast Hearth & Home is now also an exclusive dealer for Marquis Spas.  The showroom displays a wide variety of working spas and even has a private dressing room, so customers can bring their bathing suits and actually experience the therapeutic comforts of hot water jets.

As the business has expanded, so has its staff.  The company now employs seven, including Robin’s daughter and a grandson who works as an installer.  As an entrepreneur, Robin continues to work long hours, but always with a sense of humor: “I don’t have to worry about what to do on vacations and days off.”

Robin believes in the importance of community banks.  “It took less than a day for us to arrange the financing with Oregon Coast Bank to purchase our new showroom,” he recalls.  “Oregon Coast Bank knew us, we had a good working relationship, and that continues to give us a big advantage.”
It’s been more than a few years since he first sold sweet peas to tourists in Nye Beach, but Robin’s entrepreneurial spirit is still readily apparent.  Through hard work and perseverance, he’s built a successful business in his hometown, providing jobs for his family and others.  In fact it’s family businesses like Robin’s, that continue to fuel our local economy.

At Oregon Coast Bank we appreciate them, welcome the opportunity to serve them, and will continue to provide financing to help local family businesses grow.

It’s a heartwarming story and we’re proud to have played a small part in it, but let’s start from the beginning.  At the age of 13, when her mother became ill, Diana Ruddiman became the cook for her family.  That was the start of her dream to someday own a family restaurant.

In 1980, Diana moved her family from San Jose, California to Newport, principally “to have a better life for my children.”  She continued to work as a cook and in 1996 she was hired as the first employee of a new Newport restaurant – Coca-Mocha Joe’s.  She’s been cooking there ever since.

After more than 15 years of success, Coca-Mocha Joe’s original owner, Joe Frechette, offered to sell the business to Diana.  Initially she was frustrated, because the credit union that she had banked with for many years didn’t seem interested in lending her the funds to purchase the business.  Then she talked to Becky Lytwyn at our Oregon Coast Bank Newport office and had a more positive experience. “Becky did everything for us and soon was calling to say ‘you’ve got your loan’,” remembers Diana.

Today, Coca-Mocha Joe’s is very much a family business.  Among the company’s eight employees are Diana’s children: Alecs, who serves as a cook; Rachel, a barista; and Michelle, who’s responsible for the mouth watering rolls, buns, bread and pastries baked fresh every morning.  Michelle’s cousin Ken is also employed by Coca-Mocha Joe’s as a prep cook.  “Owning a restaurant has brought us all closer,” points out Diana.  “I feel blessed to have my family working with me.”

Coca-Mocha Joe’s has a large and loyal local clientele.  The restaurant’s bento is outstanding and is especially popular among health-conscious patrons.  In fact, Diana’s teriyaki and peanut sauces, both of which are gluten free, have such a following that they are bottled and sold at the counter.  Soups are made from scratch daily.  A variety of grilled sandwiches and fresh wraps are so popular that the restaurant also does a large delivery business.  Coca-Mocha Joe’s is also known for their coffee drinks – lattes and chocolate mint mochas are among the favorites.

None of Coca-Mocha Joe’s food ever goes to waste.  Leftover soup, salads and baked goods are delivered to Newport-area residents, primarily seniors, who are less fortunate.  “There are a lot of people in the area who struggle,” explains Diana.  “We’ve always tried to help out.”

What’s changed since she bought the business?  “I’m still the cook, but now I pay the bills and work 10 hours a day,” laughs Diana.  “But I absolutely love being my own boss.”  She also points out with pride that “Oregon Coast Bank is my bank”.  We’re proud ourselves to have in a small way helped turn Diana’s dream of owning her own family restaurant into a reality.

Born, raised in, and still a resident of Toledo, Colin Park always wanted to be a photographer.  After graduating from Toledo High School he attended Spokane Falls Community College to study photography in an accredited program.  In 1986, he and a partner opened Cohen and Park Portrait Studio in Newport.  Competitors have come and gone, but 27 years later Cohen and Park’s business still continues to grow.

Part of the company’s success is its diversification.  As a full service studio Cohen and Park performs portrait, commercial, school, sports, entertainment, and wedding photography.  The variety keeps things interesting, but it’s Colin’s artistic eye and knack for capturing his subjects at their natural best that sets the photography apart.  Years of experience have given him such expertise in composition and lighting that he is the photographer of choice among the area’s extensive art community.  His photos of local artworks are in galleries nationwide and are widely published.

Colin’s prolific output of photography would not be possible without his business partner and wife, portrait publicist Megan Schain-Park.  Megan, whose occupational background is in high end retail with Nordstrom, moved from Seattle to Newport to work for Cohen and Park.  Three years later Colin and Megan were married.  “After 16 years we’re still together,” laughs Megan.  “Our strengths are in complementary areas, so I guess we work pretty well as a team.”  Megan lists her responsibilities as “PR, creative, marketing and customer service,” but in reality they include all logistics and management tasks required to keep the business thriving.

The studio is well known for beach portraits of extended families as large as 20 people.  Their expertise as wedding photographers has led to jobs in locales as far away as Hawaii and Florida.  When it’s a last minute elopement, local resorts often contact Cohen and Park to photograph the wedding.  “Sometimes we’re even asked to be the witnesses,” says Megan.

Cohen and Park is also well known for Colin’s live photographs of nationally known entertainers, many of which can be seen on the studio’s website, cohenandpark.com.

However, it is school and sports photography that has made Cohen and Park so well known with local families.  “In just the last six weeks we’ve had the pleasure of photographing more than 5,000 children,” explains Megan.  “When you consider their school, sport and activities pictures, we’ll often photograph a child four to five times a year.  It’s just great to be able to watch the kids grow up,” says Megan.  When asked what they like best about their business, Colin and Megan are in total agreement – “we create memories for so many people.”

Besides the quality of the photographs, one of the reasons why Cohen and Park is in such demand for school and sports pictures is that Megan has mastered the logistics of completing large photo sessions within the agreed upon time period.  Working with so many people often requires crews of up to seven photography assistants, most of whom are high school and college age students that Colin has photographed in the past.  “We’ve even had one become a professional photographer herself,” points out Megan.

Another factor that enables Cohen and Park to successfully manage large numbers of people quickly, is their early adoption and continued use of a mobile payment processor from Oregon Coast Bank.  The small device attaches to Megan’s iPhone and allows the company to swipe credit and debit cards, capture signatures and instantly email receipts to their customers at any location 24/7.  Secure, easy to use, and available with any Oregon Coast Bank merchant Visa account, the mobile payment processor has dramatically increased Cohen and Park’s efficiency by reducing paperwork, bounced checks and incorrect credit card numbers from their system.  “If a card is declined, we can ask them if they’d like to use a different one right that moment,” explains Megan.  “Our customers have really appreciated the convenience and it’s nice to know that as a paperless transaction we’re doing our part for the environment.”

These days, as digital cameras have become popular, families often take more snapshots but then look back and realize that they are missing the high quality, professional photographs by which we often record our families and note the passing years.  Photographic technology may have changed, but nothing has replaced the skilled photographer behind the camera.  As parents ourselves, we’d like to thank Cohen and Park for taking such outstanding portrait, school and sports photographs of our own children.

Born and raised in Newport, Clint Funderburg first began working on fishing charters at the age of 14.  By the time he was 18, Clint and his best friend Clay Archambault had purchased their first vessel, the Judy II.

As his fishing career evolved, Clint a friend built the 110 foot Rachel and purchased the 100 foot Golden Sable.  About a year and a half ago, Clint and his life/business partner Karen Edwards decided to downsize to a high capacity vessel that would be more fuel efficient and purchased the 65 foot Kraken.

The Kraken fishes predominantly by long line under limited entry permits in Hawaii and the islands of American Samoa.  Each fish caught is immediately cleaned and bled, then taken into a processing area to be filleted and vacuum packed.

Fish caught and processed by the Kraken include ahi tuna, ono, hebi, opah, monchong, swordfish, mahi mahi and escolar.  Fresh fish caught in Hawaiian waters are generally sold immediately at auction.  The catch is quickly unloaded, weighed, given core samples to determine freshness, and displayed on ice where distributors, restaurateurs and even individuals may bid thousands of dollars on a single fish.  Prices vary widely depending on the number of buyers and how many boats are bringing fish to the auction.

Several years ago, in an effort to bring more stability to the pricing they receive for their fish, Karen and Clint formed an independent company, Island Wild Seafoods.  The company distributes vacuum packed fillets, smoked seafood, and canned fish to restaurants, grocery stores, farmers markets and through internet sales.  “Sadly, about 80% of the fish eaten in America is foreign-caught,” explains Karen.  “We’re giving consumers a chance to buy local – they know who caught their fish as well as how it was processed and cared for.”

Originally a pastry chef by trade, Karen’s intimate knowledge of the restaurant industry has helped Island Wild Seafoods become highly in demand.  About every other month she travels to Hawaii to take care of paperwork and help with the logistics of the company’s Hawaiian operation.

Clint’s passion for his job is obvious – “fishing is in his blood,” explains Karen.  In fact, when he has time off, he’ll generally fish local rivers for steelhead or trout and call it fun.  In their spare time, the couple is building a new home on 13 acres on the Yaquina River.

Longlining on the Kraken is a five-man operation.  Depending on the demand, the vessel also fishes locally for albacore, hiring a Newport-based crew.  Processing Island Wild Seafoods products sometimes requires additional local labor.

Clint and Karen have been banking locally with Oregon Coast Bank for more than eight years.  “We liked that they were so involved with the fishing community,” explains Karen.  “They loaned us the money to start Island Wild Seafoods, they finance our vehicles and they help us with our foreign transactions.”  Karen also appreciates Oregon Coast Bank’s online banking.  “I can manage our accounts and pay bills using my phone or laptop.  That means we can run our businesses from virtually anywhere.”

Through continual innovation, Clint and Karen have created highly successful, environmentally responsible companies.  The fishing industry remains one of the backbones of our coastal economy and hard working family businesses like the Kraken and Island Wild Seafoods are essential to its success.