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Windance – Building community is good for business
American society emphatically asserts the unlimited benefits of capitalism, and Brian Carlstrom was held in its sway from a young age. While being raised in the Seattle area, he might have been the kid you’d find with a lemonade stand at the beach on a hot August day. He says he’s always sold things. As his interests changed in adulthood, he moved to Hawaii and then arrived in the Gorge more than 20 years ago with a plan to build a windsurfing empire in the sport’s new hot spot, Hood River, Oregon. Over that time, he’s seen a lot of change. Recalling his first years in the area, he says the city was not at all
thriving. Diamond Fruit closed their canning plant and Champion International
had also shut down its hardboard factory. Jantzen Swimsuits shuttered
its manufacturing plant as well around that time. Carlstrom’s
wife, Lorraine, adds that many of the houses were dilapidated
and the west side of town hardly existed. Tourism and extreme sports
were just starting to build in popularity, “Corporations leave,” Brian explains, “Maintaining a community is not necessarily in their best interests.” The sail and wet suit companies were able to put a lot of former Jantzen employees back to work, but many of those companies have also left in recent years. It’s much less costly to manufacture in China or Thailand. He’s even regrettably had to discontinue their own manufacturing operations because of the bottom line. Time progressed however, Windance grew, and the Carlstroms found that building community was good for business too. “There was insane growth in the windsurfing industry during the 80s,” remembers Brian. “This was before pagers and online weather sites and if there was no wind, everyone would just hang out and wait. Sometimes there were 60 or 70 cars in the parking lot. That’s when we decided to add the coffee stand.” Brian’s business philosophy started out fairly simply: bring in more money than you spend, and increase that amount with each passing year. It’s the standard measure of success in the United States, and the Carlstroms were successful by almost any standard. With a thriving business and a big house with a two-car garage across town, they made continuous growth almost look easy, entertaining ideas to expand operations to new cities and pursuing other business proposals. Changing attitudes Then, Brian had a sort of epiphany during Earth Day in 1990. He didn’t attend any activities that year, but just started thinking more about the big picture and how he and his business fit into it. After their first child, Logan, was born in 1993, Lorraine suggests the changes children make to one’s life had a lot to do with becoming very serious about it for both of them. She says they decided to reevaluate, and take a look at what their priorities would be. While Brian remarks how he now hates the word sustainable due to its misuse, he and Lorraine chose to focus on sustaining the business and decreasing their environmental footprint instead of striving for continuous growth. This allows them to travel more, raise their family and work for things they see of importance to our local community. In addition to the environmental programs such as getting off junk mail lists, recycling windsurfing gear, and installing solar panels outside the Windance building, as Brian and Lorraine thought more about the big picture, they were able to see that supporting the local merchants was extremely important to the general economic health of the area. When Brian first heard about local currency a short time later, even though he wasn’t sure why a different currency was needed, he saw its potential to encourage local commerce. After a little education from a couple of future GLCC steering committee members, Brian was more than ready to jump in with both feet. “Let it run,” he says, “instead of creating problems that don’t exist.” Attitudes about change Lorraine admits she’s not good with change and wasn’t as enthusiastic about local currency at first. It’s a common thing for people to be uncomfortable with something so new and different. Fortunately, it was several years later when the GLCC finally formed, and the Carlstroms’ re-education had evolved such that local currency made a lot more sense when RiverHOURS were finally ready to enter circulation. One of Brian’s realizations after watching the business community change during that first decade was that encouraging local commerce is a better route for long-term stability than wooing outside corporations. Corporations are often allowed big tax breaks, which take away from infrastructure monies available to a community, even though these businesses often use large amounts of power and water, and build on prime real estate. Sure they provide some jobs for a while, but when they pack up and move a few years later for lower costs someplace else, where does that leave the community who sacrificed important funds to bring the business here? As the economic picture changed even more after 2000, it became clear to the Carlstroms that different things will be important, so it’s good to encourage new ideas now however we can. RiverHOURS are a meaningful way to show that you are actively participating in keeping our friends and neighbors working without having to rely so much on outside influences. And, none of the RiverHOURS you spend will ever end up in a corporate bank account thousands of miles away. This year alone, we’ve seen gasoline prices spike considerably, and the resulting increases in transportation costs will undoubtedly force some economies to look at things with a more local focus in order to remain solvent. Spending money in locally-owned stores is a great start, but consciously buying more goods that are locally-produced can possibly make an even bigger difference. Here in the Gorge, where just about anything grows without much help, we’re especially fortunate that we could probably produce most of the food we need right here in our own communities. Learning the difference between wants and needs is a lesson most any American could stand to master, and most of our real needs can be found right here among our friends and neighbors. Getting Involved Brian sums it all up, saying, "It is critical that we nurture small, local circles of commerce within communities. We need to plan ahead to enhance the connectivity between people and local businesses. RiverHOURS are an important part of this community web." The Carlstroms have always tried to present a relaxed atmosphere at Windance. They stress to their employees that “stoked” customers is their goal. It seems to have paid off. Windance has stood the test of time in an industry that some say has largely come and gone. The community that Brian and Lorraine have created in their little corner of Hood River continues to thrive. The Windance web site features a fairly active users' forum and is loaded with helpful information about windsurfing and visiting the area in addition to containing the entire contents of their physical store. Beyond the windsurfing community, the Carlstroms have actively pursued strengthening the larger, local community too, seeming to strike an impressive balance between the bottom line and social responsibility. When it comes to volunteering, Brian and Lorraine say they like to put their energy where their interests lie at the time. In addition to being a driving force in getting the Columbia Gorge Earth Center off the ground, putting together four Earth Day celebrations in downtown Hood River, and helping start the Rebuild-it center, the Carlstroms find the time to help build community in other ways too. Lorraine volunteers to shelve books at the Hood River Library. She and the kids, Logan, 11, and Mackenzie, 8, baked cakes for a recent fundraiser there. They also donate time to the Hawk’s Ridge Assisted Living Community and Lorraine sometimes gives presentations on behalf of TV-Free America. Both Brian and Lorraine mention how they like to do different things and emphasize again that their volunteer work often corresponds to their interests at the time. Right now, they’re both amazed that neither of them are currently sitting on any committees, but feel like they accomplish more being involved in small ways instead of getting bogged down in the inevitable bureaucracy of organizations. This is a great appeal of the RiverHOURS program for them ~ one can do a great deal to support all the people and businesses who provide goods and services right here in our own community just by choosing to trade in the currency that remains here to circulate again and again. It’s something that anyone in the Gorge can do, and helps keep our local economy be better able to withstand any hardships that may lie ahead. published May 02005, RiverHOURS Trade Directory, Vol. 1 Number 1 © 02004-02008 dbdesign |
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