YOU ARE VIEWING: ABOUT THE NSBA

 

OUR INCORPORATION

North Salem Business Association (NSBA) has served the North Salem Business community for more than 15 years. It was incorporated in 1993 as a nonprofit membership organization by local business owners who held the vision of working collaboratively to make North Salem a better place to live, work and do business.

NSBA's original Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws were prepared as a pro bono service by Stayton attorney Jim Tiger. Lori Davis, then co-owner of Davis Auto Supply, served as the Association's first president. Initial dues were $10 annually, and membership grew to well over 60 businesses and individuals within a short time.

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD

 If we go back further in time to the early and middle years of the 20th Century, Salem's Hollywood District in North Salem served as the primary gateway to Salem for visitors attending the Oregon State Fair or other local attractions. It was also a popular suburban destination due to its theater, popular dining locations and quaint shops. In fact, when the Hollywood Theater was constructed in the 1930s at 2005 Capitol St N, it was the only indoor theater outside of downtown. (Shown is a picture of the Hollywood Theater around 1960. You'll notice a line of people waiting to get in that stretches around the corner.) In fact, the Capital Press, a successful weekly Salem-based agricultural newspaper with circulation in excess of 38,000 today, was founded by A.M.Church in 1928 as the Hollywood Press.
 
The Hollywood Theater was demolished in June 1971 to make way for urban renewal. Some buildings that date back prior to the 1970's urban renewal projects can still be seen along Capitol Street NE, Fairgrounds Road NE and Portland Road NE, but the impacts of those modernization projects in North Salem some 40 years ago remain evident and significantly changed the area?s architecture and traffic flow.

 During the 1980s and 1990s, the former Hollywood District in North Salem gained a reputation for attracting individuals engaged in less than reputable activities. For this and many other reasons, the North Salem business community united in efforts to improve the area for everyone who lived, worked and did business in this vicinity. Since the creation of NSBA in 1993, countless positive changes have been seen in North Salem.

 OUR LOGO

 NSBA's logo highlights the "Welcome to Salem" that is still situated at the northeast corner of Portland Road and Hawthorne Avenue, just west of the I-5 interchange. This, too, is an important part of our history.
 
In the mid-1990s, former Salem Mayor R.G. Anderson-Wyckoff offered $5,000 to the various areas of Salem with entrances to our Capitol City to erect a welcome sign. Then NSBA President, Lori Davis, successfully lobbied for funding for the Portland Road site and it became the only sign erected as a gateway to Salem from that campaign. In addition to City of Salem, other major donors included NSBA, Effing/Deffenbaugh Associates PC, Morton International and Bill Frey. Many smaller donations were also received, as well as many in-kind donations. Jay Greer did the preparatory and landscaping work on the land plot, Stettler Bros. installed an automatic sprinkler system, and Buddy Valera designed the sign itself. In NSBA?s tradition of marking significant events, three dogwood bushes were planted on the site to commemorate the 1995 bombing of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Building. This resulted in a letter of thanks to NSBA from Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating.
 
OUR MEMORIES
 
NSBA has been involved in many events and activities over the past 15 years - certainly too many to mention. Some favorites recalled by long-time members include:
 
Participating with a float in Salem's Festival of Lights Parade for two years, even winning an award! The tram for the float was borrowed from Oregon State Fair and pushed into the warehouse at C.K. Murphy to be decorated. Both a Santa suit and a Frosty the Snowman suit were obtained (the latter borrowed from Ski Bowl), and Salem Sign Co. drove the truck that pulled the float.
 
Helping the Oregon State Police with their Bicycle Safety Campaign, giving away bicycles and bike helmets in front of the Oregon State Police facility on Portland Road N.
 
Sponsoring the first Graffiti Conviction Reward Program in Salem, which helped prompt the City to write an anti-graffiti ordinance.
 
Launching a North Salem "Beautification Award" program. The first recipients were Kelly's Home Furnishings and Superior Tire.
 
Lori Davis successfully lobbying to name the new road between Portland Road and Cherry Avenue "Bill Frey Drive" to recognize a long-time North Salem businessman.
 
THE PRESENT
 
The Fairgrounds Road to Portland Road area's north gateway urban renewal began in 1990 to eliminate blight, redevelop, improve and stabilize property values and create a healthy, visually attractive northern gateway to Salem - Oregon's capitol city. This process displaced and removed many businesses. There was a temporary disruption of NSBA meetings. Lori Davis again reinvigorated the businesses to make north Salem a desirable place to do business. We're gaining members and energy as well as recognition...and we'd love to have you join us.