Skip to main content

Portland Monthly

Slideshow

Slide Show: Ben Jacobsen's Netarts Bay

April 12, 2013

Image: Allison Jones

Work/life balance comes easy for Jacobsen with energetic Portuguese water dogs Lykke and Majo and a private swimming hole (that just happens to also source the water for the fledgling sea salt company).

Photography by Allison Jones

Image: Allison Jones

Lykke (named for the Norweigian word for lucky) leads the way from the water to Jacobsen's still-under-renovation salt facility, located on the site of a former oyster farm. "While it makes sense for many other businesses to be located in the big city,"

Image: Allison Jones

The grounds of the facility are still littered with white oyster shells, which Jacobsen plans to re-purpose in the future landscape design of the property.

Image: Allison Jones

Inside the facility, an old weathered window frame serves as the branded banner above the salt-making stations.

Image: Allison Jones

As he checks his salt pots, Jacobsen explains: “Salt is a forgotten industry on the coast. While I’m excited that we are creating a great product, I’m even more excited about increasing economic opportunities for coastal communities. We’re creating a new

Image: Allison Jones

The hub of Netarts is 60-year-old The Schooner restaurant and bar (owned by Barry Boring, Tom Flood, Sr. and Tom Flood, Jr.), where Jacobsen fuels up with meals and pints a few times a week. "It's THE place to be in the Tillamook area," according to Jaco

Image: Allison Jones

Yes, Jacobsen carries tins of his own salt with him to restaurants, adding a touch of the sea to The Schooner's loaded corned beef Reuben.

Image: Allison Jones

"Here on the coast, jobs are really needed," says Jacobsen. "Aside from the Tillamook Cheese Factory (and the dairy farms that support it), fishing, and logging, there’s not a whole lot. It’s exciting to make a tiny dent in that need for local economic o

Image: Allison Jones

"When we first moved here, locals thought the project was pretty strange. But I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in town, and ultimately, I want my company to be something that people from the coast, and from the rest of Oregon, can be proud of. I’d be

Image: Allison Jones

Jacobsen shows us around another thriving business on Netarts Bay, Mark Wiegardt's Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, which raises oyster larvae for shellfish growers up and down the west coast. The stuff that looks like mud at right? That's thousands of

Image: Allison Jones

"I love coming to work out here," says Jacobsen, looking out from his favorite viewpoint above the bay. "I feel tremendously lucky to commute to a waterfront office.”

 of
What Netarts Bay lacks in variety it makes up for in heart: Ben Jacobsen shows us around the small coastal town that's home to his new salt making facility, a tour complete with muddy dogs, oyster farms, and a great corned beef Rueben.

Related Article:

Ocean Alchemy
Great artisan salts are made across the world—but not much in the United States. From the mucky shores of Netarts Bay, Ben Jacobsen wants to change that.

Filed under
Ben Jacobsen
Share
Show Comments

Related Content

Slideshow

Slide Show: Sea Beans

07/11/2013

921 SW Washington Street, Suite 750 Portland, OR 97205
Phone: 503-222-5144 • Fax: 503-227-8777
© 2023 SagaCity Media