In fact, consumers in Bend, Prineville, John Day, and other Central and Eastern Oregon cities who want local fresh fruit are probably going to end up buying from Thomas. But we are a substantial part of the local area's diet. If we weren't here, there would not be a lot of fresh fruits on the local scene. Most of the fruit is trucked out to packers and brokers, eventually reaching other parts of the U.S. and some international markets. Thomas is modest about the business's impact on the county economy.
Operating costs are more than a half million dollars each year.
That has a ripple effect on local suppliers of related goods and services. Orin Kimberly was the first to plant fruit-bearing trees in the area earlier this century. By the late 1930s, he sold about a thousand dollars worth of fruit each year. That was a lot of money at the time. By then W.B. Thomas, John's father, was growing berry plants near John Day while looking for other agricultural opportunities.