Oregon Public Broadcasting

Today, we continue with our "Getting Back to Work" series, with a look at entrepreneurism as a way to create your own job.

Starting your own business comes with risks, of course, but also with rewards. Those rewards may look particularly appealing if you lose a job later in life.  In that instance, looking for work can seem like a step backwards -- and there's always the problem of ageism.  

A veteran of Oregon's footwear industry recently found himself in just such a situation. As  Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, he decided it was time to start his own business.

'The Boot Outlet' can be found tucked behind a pizza joint along Portland's Southeast 82nd Avenue.

It's on a flag lot and it's not easy to find. But the first customer this morning, Jay Main, persisted because of a friend's recommendation. 

Jay Main: "Yeah, I'm looking for something to put on the end of my legs."

Main is a retired concrete worker. He's looking for a quality boot, but he doesn't want to spend too much.

Jay Main: "Having worked construction all my life I used to cut the corner and not pay attention to any quality. Buy the cheapest boot. Wrong. You're on your feet all day long so you need something that's comfortable."

Kristian: "How often do you go through a pair of boots? How often are you buying?"

Jay Main: "Well I usually have about four or five pair going. So I'm buying probably every four or five months."

Kristian: "And how much do you expect to pay for a pair of boots?"

Jay Main: "Well, I'd say somewhere around the $125 to the $150."

That's a fair sum two or three times a year. And that makes work boots a niche market in which Victor Bieker thinks he can compete.

Victor Bieker: "My goal was, in a bad economy, was to generate a bit of excitement by bringing in a new brand and offering what I call that wholesale price. in some cases we're almost $100 less than competing brands."

Bieker is a short, stocky guy with glasses, graying hair and jeans. Standing at his new cash register, the 48-year-old recalls starting his career -- making $2-an-hour on the production line at Danner Boots in Portland.

Victor Bieker: "That was a bad economy then too. My father was in construction, Most of his kids were destined for the construction industry and the economy went bad and we all took jobs."

He started measuring the feet of construction workers, welders and loggers. Then he moved on to making patterns for their boots and eventually he ran quality control at the Danner factory.

A few years ago Danner was taken-over and Bieker moved to another Oregon company, Columbia Sportswear.

Victor Bieker: "It was exciting. It was a great experience. I've been to Asia a total of 70 some times at this point. And I've probably set up upwards of 140 separate factories for quality control standards, USA manufacturing methods, things like that."

When times were good, Bieker was lured to Ohio by another company. So he uprooted his  family and settled in for what he thought would be an easy path to retirement as a vice president.

Victor Bieker: "But unfortunately, the economy took a turn for the worse and a lot of the new guys that they'd brought on within the last three or four years were let go. That's my first lay off in my 30 year career.  It's difficult when you're a long ways away from home, you built a new house and now you're unemployed in a distressed state.  So you take a look at what you've got available, you take a look at what your options are and then you create an action plan."

That was about a year-and-a-half ago and the "action plan" took the form of a new brand 'Bieker Boots.'

They look much like every other work boot, but they're cheaper -- because they're made in China -- and perhaps the materials aren't quite as fancy.

Bieker also opened a new store near Clackamas Town Center called 'The Boot Outlet.'

And he went from the six-figure salary of a vice president, to the low five-figure salary of a store clerk.

He says it's exciting to be his own boss and to try something new.

Victor Bieker: "But I got to tell you. It's a lot of sleepless nights. It's a lot of work. I'm committed to it. My family's committed to it. My associates are committed to it. And we're going to make this work."

There are three employees at Bieker Boots so far. There's Bieker, his long-time friend and footwear veteran Dan Bennette and Bieker's wife Lisa -- she does the accounting.

She says starting a business has been a big change for the family -- especially their two children.

Lisa Bieker: "Because they're used to getting pretty much everything they want, but we don't have that to provide. So they're seeing a different side too, which is good. they'll be a little bit more rounded and kind of appreciate some of the things they will get. And we've had to say no to some things too because it's just not the right time for that."

Across town in Gresham, Bieker's second store is staffed by  long-time  colleague  Dan Bennette. He's also spent his life working in Oregon's cluster of footwear businesses. And like Bieker, he was lured out of state to a company that promptly laid him off. So he came back, but it's been tough.

Dan Bennette: "In our industry it's largely been dead. There's no footwear management positions anywhere. I look regularly but there's just nothing there."

So at the moment he's working for Bieker -- for free.

Dan Bennette: "Victor and I have worked together. This now is the third time. And I believe in what Victor is doing. He's bringing a really good quality product to the consumer at wholesale prices, literally, in hopes that will drive volume, and it has done so far. It just is going to take a little time getting the business up and running so I'm helping Victor do that."

Kristian: "How long can you afford to do that? You're looking for work? Are you getting some money from the state to help you do that?"

Dan Bennette: "Let's just say it's starting to get a little skinny. Hopefully things will start picking up here and we'll start getting a paycheck."

Ultimately, Bieker hopes to win the support of customers like Jay Main, the retired concrete worker.  Although he didn’t buy any boots today, Main says he'll be back because he believes in buying local.

Jay Main: "No matter what I'm doing I try to do that. Because I want that business there. It's convenient right, it's there, so I try to support my little local businesses."

The hope is that Bieker Boots will gradually develop a local following and the two footwear veterans can open a few more stores around the Pacific Northwest.

And economists will tell you that that's exactly the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that'll create jobs and drag Oregon and the nation out of recession.

Tomorrow, we a look at students and what they should be learning with an eye to future employment. What’s the right mix of class work and on-the-job training?