HERMISTON â The pandemic threw a lot at the Eastern Oregon Trade and Event Center, but General Manager Al Davis feels confident in its future.
âCOVID still kicked us in the gut, but we did a lot better than a lot of other venues,â he said.
Part of that was thanks to EOTECâs outdoor areas, which were able to hold some events even as indoor conventions and dinners were canceled. The rodeo arena hosted a variety of rodeo-related events, Davis said.
To help draw more of those kind of events, EOTEC recently installed a second arena area using fencing, some movable bleachers and irrigation. The space is on the same footprint that EOTECâs master plan calls for an indoor arena someday, so that the infrastructure can be reused after basically placing a building on top of it.