Yakima Racks to Move Company Headquarters to Portland, Oregon

Yakima Racks, now in Arcata, Calif., manufactures car racks and truck racks for all types of equipment including bike, ski, snowboard, canoe and kayak racks.

Outdoor car rack maker Yakima Racks announced plans Tuesday to relocate its corporate headquarters and employees from Northern California to the Portland area to join what it called a significant number of outdoor industry businesses in Oregon.

The chief operating officer, said the privately held maker of car racks is "99 percent certain" it will lease office space in either Beaverton or Hillsboro. The move will begin in mid-February and conclude by early July, he said.

Yakima would add to the Portland area's growing cluster of outdoor apparel and equipment makers, which range from giants such as Nike, Adidas America and Columbia Sportswear, to smaller firms such as softball bat maker DeMarini Sports. Bicycle-parts maker King Cycle Group moved to Portland from Shasta Lake, Calif., last year.

The Arcata, Calif., company doesn't expect tax breaks or other concessions because its Portland area work force will encompass white-collar jobs in sales, marketing, product development and finance, rather than in manufacturing.

Yakima Racks' decision to relocate represents a victory for the Portland area, which is showing mixed signs of an economic recovery. The Portland-Vancouver unemployment rate fell from 6.8 percent in August to 6.5 percent in September, the most recent available data showed, but economists had hoped for stronger job gains.

Yakima scouted 10 other sites nationwide but opted for the Portland area because of its educated labor pool, transportation infrastructure and proximity to outdoor recreation, sources said. The company expects to grow quickly and was concerned that Arcata wouldn't be big enough to support the expansion.

The company plans to keep about 65 employees in Arcata and cut about 10 to 15. Yakima plans include recruiting about 20 to 30 workers from the Portland area, the company said, because not all California employees tapped for relocation are expected to accept it.

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