Along the Street: New Goodwill store will include retail, job training

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##Workers and heavy equipment continue to clear land for the new Goodwill store that will be built in McMinnville this year. The site is on Highway 99W at the north end of town, across from the steel mill. Goodwill will move from its current location once the 10,000-square-foot building is finished.

Major earth moving is in process at the site of the new McMinnville Goodwill location, Highway 99W and Doran Drive at the north edge of town.

Workers also removed some trees to clear space for the development, which will include the new 10,000-square-foot anchor building.

It will include retail space, an office for the Job Connections program that helps people find employment, and a career center classroom for community training, said Hayley Platt, public relations manager for Goodwill of the Columbia-Willamette.

In addition, the new store will have a covered area for people to drive up and donate household goods, clothing and other items.

Goodwill sells used goods to support its career and employment-training programs, along with jobs in its stores.

Platt said the new McMinnville store will replace the one in the Town Center shopping center. The new building will be built to sustainability standards, with energy-efficient lighting and other modern upgrades.

Goodwill is hoping to open the new store in late fall, Platt said, although an exact date has not been set. A grand opening event will be announced closer to that time.

Commercial real estate company Urban Works is advertising ground leases for two built-to-suit additions to the development, of 4,675 square feet and 3,366 square feet.

Stratus Village grand opening

The Housing Authority of Yamhill County will host a grand opening ceremony for Stratus Village, the new 175-unit affordable housing complex in southeast McMinnville, at 3 p.m. Tuesday, March 31.

Speakers will include members of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Tribal Council. The tribe, which contributed $7 million to the project, has an office on site and several apartments are reserved for tribal members. The complex’s central courtyard includes a metal sculpture by Grand Ronde artist Bobby Mercier.

Also speaking at the grand opening will be Yamhill County Commissioner Mary Starrett, Oregon Housing and Community Services Executive Director Andrea Bell and U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Oregon.

Stratus Village, located just off Highway 18 near the Willamette Valley Medical Center, is the Housing Authority of Yamhill County’s largest affordable living project.

The first half opened in December, including the office and community center and two of five three-story apartment buildings. The rest of the development was recently completed.

The project was sorely needed, according to Vickie Ybarguen, HAYC director. Her agency had a lengthy waiting list of people who needed places to live.

Potential residents may pay rent in the range of 30%, 40% or 50% of the area’s median household income, depending on what other programs they qualify for under Fair Housing regulations, according to the housing authority.

Hayward earns national honor

Hayward Restaurant, 209 N. Kutch St., Carlton, was named one of 40 recipients of the inaugural Independent Restaurant Coalition and Chase Innovator Awards, a $1 million grant program celebrating sustainability and environmental innovation.

Hayward was one of two Oregon restaurants awarded $25,000, along with Güero, a Mexican restaurant in Portland.

Owned by executive chef Kari Shaghnessy, Hayward was recognized “for its zero‑waste, farm‑driven model that sources nearly all ingredients from Oregon producers and transforms farm surplus into profitable value‑added products, challenging assumptions about the cost of sustainability and offering a replicable regional framework for waste‑to‑revenue systems,” according to an IRC press release.

The restaurant opened inside Mac Market in 2020 and quickly earned acclaim as a finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best New Restaurant award.

The operation relocated last summer to the former fire building in downtown Carlton.

CCC honored for promotions

The National Council for Marketing & Public Relations presented its 2025 Paragon Award to Chemeketa Community College at its recent national conference in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes a long-form promotional video made by the regional community college’s marketing team in collaboration with 365 Creative Co.

The video promotes CCC’s early childhood education courses, which are offered on the Salem campus and at other sites such as the Yamhill Valley campus in McMinnville.

“Behind every enrollment milestone, retention gain and student success story is a team of marketing and communications professionals working strategically and creatively to connect students with opportunity,” said Patrick Stone, NCMPR president.

Stone also is director of strategic communications and marketing for Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts.

NCMPR’s Paragon Awards recognize outstanding achievement in design, strategy and communication at community and technical colleges. It’s the only national competition of its kind that honors excellence exclusively among marketing communications and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges.

This year’s awards drew 1,585 entries from 216 colleges across the country and was judged by 67 professionals in the field.

Edible Landscapes hosts festival

Edible Landscapes of Yamhill County will host its annual spring garden festival on Saturday, May 9. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mac Market on Alpine Avenue at 11th Street.

Thousands of seedlings will be given away. There also will be food, gifts, music, family activities, a petting zoo and “compostpalooza.”

Admission to the festival is free. For more information, go to the website, edibleyamhill.org.

What’s going up

• Les Schwab filed a building permit application with the city of McMinnville with plans to build a new 11,879-square-foot structure at 1800 S.W. East St., McMinnville, the former location of Walnut City Bowl. According to the permit, the project is valued at $4.3 million. The contractor is Cushing Terrell, which is based in Billings, Montana, with offices throughout the country, including one in Portland.

Thomas Calla, the architect, also applied for plumbing and mechanical permits. The latter carries a value of $200,000.

A Les Schwab representative said the company hopes to begin construction on the new store this summer, with an estimated completion in late spring 2027.

• Work is nearing completion on Haworth, Inc.’s new headquarters on Miller Street in the McMinnville Industrial Park. The general contractor company is building a 17,000-square-foot structure.

• Walls are rising for the new Piquette boutique hotel on Alpine Avenue near 10th Street. The hotel is expected to open in 2027.

• The Yamhill County History Museum, 11275 S.W. Durham Lane, McMinnville, has added 2,700 square feet in the form of a loft to its 54,000-square-foot building. The project is valued at $50,000.

• S&S Electrical Contractors will complete a $5,000 alteration at 1430 N.E. Alpha Drive in the McMinnville Industrial Park.

• Mac Laundry, 2245 N.E. McDaniel Lane, McMinnville, will create more storage by adding a wall with a door near the entry and relocating the sales counter. The job is valued at $4,000.

• Villalobos Company will complete a project to add a new taqueria food truck and outdoor dining area at 1480 S.W. Baker St., next to Smooth Roots near Taft Street. The site will include a 200-square-foot building. Cost is $160,000, according to a city building permit.

• McMinnville Water & Light, 855 N.E. Marsh Lane, will add a new 30,418-square-foot building alongside its 29,586-square-foot existing structure. P&C Construction of Portland will do the work on the project, estimated to cost $25 million.

• Eyrie Vineyards, 935 N.E.10th St., McMinnville, will spend $50,000 to remodel an interior bathroom. Dominguez Construction of McMinnville will do the work.

• The interior walls and ceilings at 610 N.E. Fourth St., McMinnville, will be demolished in a remodeling project, estimated to cost $16,110. Marcia Mikesh is the architect.

• The Momtazi Family will spend $5,000 to add a 1,040-square-foot structure at its winery at 15765 S.W. Muddy Valley Road, southwest of McMinnville. The structure will be used for tractor and forklift parking and storage.

• A 3,600-square-foot pole barn-type building will be added at McMinnville High School, 615 N.E. 15th St., McMinnville. Sportech Construction will build the structure for the JV softball program on Baker Field, across from Mac High’s main building. Cost is $223,000.

• JJSS Property LLC will add a customer service counter to its 9,807-square-foot building at 340 N.E. Kirby St., McMinnville. Cost is $25,000.

• Macktastic LLC will add a new roof to the former Yamhill Hotel/Mack Theater building at 222 N.E. Evans St., McMinnville. Part of planned exterior improvements, the project will cost $47,550.

Gems hidden in eggs

Timmreck & Nicol Jewelers, 428 N.E. Third St., is having a “Gemstone Egg Hunt” promotion Thursday through Saturday, April 2 to 4. Stones such as amethysts, garnets and a diamond are hidden in prize eggs within the store.

Store hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information, call 503-472-6812.

Egg hunt leads to spin for prizes

McMinnville Antiques Mall, 334 N.E. Third St., will host an egg hunt in its store through Thursday, April 2. Finders get to spin a wheel for a prize; the spin must be redeemed by Monday, April 6.

Greeters scheduled Friday

Juliette’s House, 1075 S.W. Cedarwood, will host the Friday, April 3, Greeters program for the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce. Juliette’s House representatives will talk about activities for April, which is child abuse prevention month. Greeters runs from 8 to 9 a.m.

In Newberg, Archer Vineyard and Winery, 32230 N.E. Old Parrett Mountain Road, will host the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce Greeters program from 8 to 9 a.m. Friday, April 3.

To submit items for consideration in Along the Street, email Starla Pointer at spointer@newsregister.com.