IBA is pleased to announce that it recently opened a second office in Oregon and its fourth physical office location in the Pacific Northwest in Bend, Oregon. The office featuring the opportunity to meet confidentially in person with IBA business brokers and for our intermediaries to facilitate meetings between buyers, sellers, and their advisors in a professional environment will be located at 2900 NW Clearwater Drive Suite 200 in Bend, Oregon. The direct telephone number for the office is (541) 930-4200. Telephone inquiries will be answered with live reception during business hours Monday through Friday.
IBA is also honored to share that Brecht Palombo has joined our executive team and will be based in Bend, Oregon where he has lived with his family for numerous years. Prior to joining IBA, Mr. Palombo was a technology industry entrepreneur and the owner of a commercial real estate firm. He has personally been involved in the sale of a family owned company and plans on representing his clients with the same diligence and care he would provide family members at IBA. Brecht can be contacted at (541) 930-4200 or brecht@ibainc.com. Supporting Mr. Palombo as the office grows in size, but not residing in Bend, will be senior IBA business brokers Stephen Cohen, Joseph Hollcraft, Jeffrey Bryan, and Seth Rudin. Gregory Kovsky, IBA’s President & CEO, will also be actively engaged in support of the office, as he has a special interest in serving the community with cousins living in Bend & Sisters combined with fond childhood memories of family vacations at Black Butte.
Why was Bend selected by IBA to join its existing Washington offices in Bellevue & Spokane, original office location in Portland, Oregon, and virtual office platform in Anchorage, Alaska? The answer is Central Oregon lacks quality professional business brokerage, locally based representation that offers its clients IBA caliber knowledge, experience, and skill.
The growth of the Central Oregon population and economy has been remarkable during the last fifteen years. In 2010, the Bend metropolitan area population was approximately 150,000 people, in 2023 the people living in the area is about 50% larger, with the number exceeding 210,000 as of the last count in 2022. Bend, the Deschutes County government seat, is presently the 6th largest city in Oregon with a population exceeding 105,000.
It should be noted that Bend was a natural extension for IBA based on it being a smaller growth forest area in Oregon’s robust Silicon Forest economy (https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/silicon_forest/#.ZCEcd8rMI2w). IBA with its corporate headquarter location on the fifty yard line of Seattle’s technology industry that is home to Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and a spectrum of smaller, growing IT businesses has been a market leading M&A firm in the space since the first software companies, Internet Service Providers, and E-Commerce were being sold by first generation entrepreneurs. We look forward to strategically planning and whiteboarding with entrepreneurs considering a business sale without having to commute to and from Portland or meet in public settings where small community eyes can listen in or spy a deal in progress.
IBA also recognizes that recent waves of technology industry layoffs are creating a group of former technology executives (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/04/bend-oregon-is-becoming-one-of-silicon-valleys-top-commuter-towns.html) who have settled into the Central Oregon community who have excellent management ability, a good capital base, and do not wish to relocate, but take the helm of a business through the acquisition of a privately held company, family business, or franchise. IBA, uniquely in the Pacific Northwest, has both business and franchise brokerage divisions, offering the ability to present a spectrum of opportunities to people wishing to transition from corporate employment to a business ownership career path.
IBA also identified that population growth creates a strong construction industry element in the Deschutes County economy, another area where IBA is recognized as a market leading business brokerage firm. We welcome the opportunity to facilitate the sale of roofing, heating & air conditioning, flooring, landscaping and other construction and home service companies in an environment of strict confidence employing best practices in the area.
Finally, retail & hospitality businesses, another area served by IBA as business brokers with knowledge, experience, and skill, generally follow public sector and commercial construction. It is anticipated that as the community continues to grow (https://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/bend-highway-project-opens-door-for-costco-fred-meyer-plans/article_ad5c1ef2-5778-11eb-a520-bbb7e175aa78.html) significant opportunities will exist across the spectrum for entrepreneurs to buy, sell, and place new franchises in the Bend metropolitan area. As always in entrepreneurship, the most significant rewards are achieved by those who are risk acceptant, have vision, and execute.
IBA is thankful for the opportunities provided to it since 1975 in Oregon to serve the state’s small business community. We welcome the opportunity to raise our game to a higher level in Bend following the mantra of Phil Knight of Nike to “Just Do It”. We promise to not show up at meetings with big city egos and ties or require Zoom meetings when a discussion over a cup of coffee in person is more effective.
IBA, the Pacific Northwest’s premier business brokerage firm since 1975, is available as an information resource to the media, business brokerage, mergers & acquisitions, real estate, legal, and accounting communities on subjects relevant to the purchase & sale of privately held companies and family-owned businesses. IBA is recognized as one of the best business brokerage firms in the nation based on its long track record of successfully negotiating “win-win” business sale transactions in environments of full disclosure employing “best practices”.