Both cities are rural agricultural and logging communities with little centralized business. Long Creek has a gas station, post office, motel, two cafes, and two small groceries stores. Monument has two small grocery stores, a tavern, a caf , and a mechanic shop. Both areas also lack employment opportunities. Aside from independent logging and agriculture activities, jobs are limited to the local schools, forest service, and electric company.
Some local residents run part-time businesses from their homes.
Due to the lack of local services and employment opportunities, residents of Long Creek and Monument depend heavily on other communities to meet their basic needs. Mt. Vernon, located some eight miles west of John Day, is the nearest city to Monument and Long Creek. It has a motel, gas station, and a laundromat. Due to the limited services available in Monument, Long Creek, and Mt. Vernon, the residents of all three exchanges almost exclusively rely on John Day and Canyon City for professional and commercial services. These two cities, located within the John Day telephone exchange, offer a significant variety of commercial goods and services, as well as employment opportunities.