Interview With McConnell Labs CEO, Jim McConnell

First, your girlfriend (now your wife) comes up with an idea for your business that ends up turning into your life’s work. Then your business grows and you become more and more successful. What’s the next step? You decide to relocate your business to the community where your in-laws have moved. After all, in a very direct way, they are responsible for so many good things in your life.

However, moving a successful manufacturing business from Eugene to Bend is not a simple process. There’s finding a site, seeking tax credits, moving and recruiting employees. “The people in Redmond made it as easy as possible to relocate,” says Jim McConnell, CEO. “From the realtor who dropped everything to send me pictures of the building we ended up buying that very day he sent the pictures, to the REDI people who helped me fill out enterprise paperwork, to the fire marshal who volunteered to stop by on her way home from work to just to give some quick feedback on how we were setting up the manufacturing lines.”

Three years later, Jim and his wife, Lezlie, along with their children and her parents are an integral part of Central Oregon’s family. The benefits to Jim are clear – an integration of his work and family life. The benefit are also clear in the community – an entrepreneur dedicated to growing his business that exports throughout the country and the world plus a local business owner invested in his community.

Visit the McConnell Labs website for more information!

- This Move business story brought to you by Lisa Dobey, EDCO Volunteer