Tami Conklin on April 11, 2024, looks around the space that she and her husband, Nate Conklin, are planning to turn into a commercial kitchen, Markers Market and bar in the former EONI building at the corner of Chestnut Street and Jefferson Avenue.

LA GRANDE — State Farm Insurance in La Grande will soon have a new home.

Nate and Tami Conklin, co-owners of State Farm Insurance, have purchased the former EONI building at 216 Chestnut St. and will occupy the front of the building as of May 1.

“Once we move into our new building, we’ll be looking for someone to lease the 1112 Adams Ave. building because we own that too,” Nate Conklin said.

The Conklins and their six employees had outgrown the Adams Avenue building and had been looking for a new space for quite some time.

“We tried to buy the old Baxter Auto Parts building next to Goss Motors, but between the renovation costs, the purchase price and the condition of the building, it didn’t work out,” Conklin said.

Their offer had been accepted, and they were under contract, but after three months the Conklins withdrew their offer because of the costs associated with making it into what they needed.

“We saw the 216 Chestnut St. building for sale literally one week after we terminated our purchase agreement for the other one,” Conklin said. “It was good timing.”

So, on Jan. 2, the Conklins signed papers and closed on the purchase of the building at the corner of Chestnut Street and Jefferson Avenue, formerly owned by EONI partners, Jeff Crews and Kelly Mutch. Extensive remodeling is now underway to accommodate a larger staff of 10 employees.

For this job, the Conklins hired Chris Loman Construction and work began on Feb. 12. Loman will transform the front 5,000 square feet space into the business office.

The move-in date of May 1 is tentative because it depends in large part on whether the remodeling work satisfies the City Planning Department and passes inspections, Conklin said.

Property development planThe 14,800-square-foot building the Conklins purchased was historically the home of the Hand Ford Dealership, and behind it is a 12,000-square-foot parking lot that is also part of the property. The parking lot flanks the rear parking lot of La Grande Family Medicine clinic.

It’s a large building and more than the Conklins will use to rehome their insurance agency.

However, “we have other plans for the property that we’re working on with the city right now,” Conklin said.

According to the Conklins’ proposed plan with the city, they are looking into creating a city culinary pod with food trucks in the 12,000-square-foot parking lot and a new bar in the rear of their new building.

“We’d like to get 10 to 13 permanent food trucks that don’t have to move,” he said. “We’re going to put a cover over the parking lot, and it will be like a circle of food trucks on the (perimeter) and in the center will be dining tables and permanent firepits.”

Each of the food trucks or carts will offer a different cuisine. People can come, get their beverages at the bar and enjoy foods at the pod in the open-air dining scene. This type of culinary venue is common in cities like Redmond, Bend, Prineville, Portland, Las Vegas and other communities. A food pod can be open year-round, and people have the option of dining inside the bar, too.

The rear bar and the middle space of the Conklins’ building will encompass about 9,000 square feet. The middle space of the building will include a commercial kitchen and spaces for a Makers Market.

“We’re working with city planning on some of these ideas now,” Conklin said.

If things transpire as the Conklins hope, the development of the property will happen in four stages. The first priority is the remodel of the front office area for State Farm Insurance, followed by the remodel of the rear of the building for a bar. Then they want to give the exterior a facelift, and last, a remodel of the middle space of the building.

“I’ve been working with the city and there seems to be a very large demand for a Makers Market,” Conklin said. “At least 22 businesses have expressed a need for this.”

The official name for the Makers Market hasn’t been chosen yet, but the Conklins are researching a couple of possible names that have no copyright attachments.

“We’re working with the city to tie the food pod to Max Square,” Conklin said. “We’re working at getting the alley cleaned up, all the graffiti and garbage removed, all the unwanted behaviors and the vagrants and the crime that happens in the alley.”

Conklin mentioned improving the lighting and taking down the big wall on the back side of the parking lot and opening it all up to make a nice footpath that connects Jefferson Avenue to Adams Avenue and from Max Square to the Conklins’ building and to the up and coming businesses on Jefferson Avenue.

Agency’s historyAs a contractor for State Farm Insurance, the Conklins’ agency offers all the products of State Farm including auto, life, home, renters, farm, business, disability, investment and retirement planning, investment advising and mutual funds.

“I started in the insurance business 24 years ago,” Nate Conklin said.

Conklin started his career in insurance with Country Companies Insurance in 2000 and worked his way to regional manager with the company. He was with them for just under nine years, until 2009 when he went to State Farm in Hermiston where he conducted business from 2010-2018.

In 2017, Conklin was asked to migrate his agency from Hermiston to La Grande when Bob Mason retired. So, for a short time, Conklin operated two agencies, but by 2018, he was focusing solely on his La Grande practice.

Each year the business has enjoyed steady growth in its sales, and it was necessary to hire six employees. Seven years later, and the business has outgrown its office space, but in the Chestnut Street building, they will have ample space for future growth.

Conklin is a homegrown talent who loves this community and is “Here to Help Life Go Right” — as the company jingle goes.

“I was born and raised in La Grande, attended Union High School and graduated from Eastern Oregon University,” he said. “I’m a sixth- or seventh-generation Conklin from this valley.”

He and Tami have been married for 16 years, and she has been the office manager for the entire time Conklin has been a State Farm Insurance agent. Tami is no stranger to the insurance business either. She was in insurance prior to their marriage, and together they have a long history in the business. Her father was a State Farm Insurance agent in Hood River, and they are credited with convincing Conklin to become a State Farm Agent too.

The Conklins have two daughters, ages 12 and 13, both attending La Grande Middle School.