WSCAT Food Cart Pod Set for July 2nd Soft Opening

The long-awaited Warm Springs Commissary Building project is taking a major step forward. The Warm Springs Community Action Team (WSCAT) has announced that the grand soft opening for the site’s new Food Cart Pod is scheduled for July 2nd.

The food cart pavilion has been a highly anticipated feature of the development, designed to give local entrepreneurs a physical space to launch their businesses while creating a vibrant gathering spot for the community right along the busy Highway 26 corridor.

“Progress for the long-awaited project has been steady, and the food cart area is one of the many drawing points of the whole idea,” said Food Cart Manager Thomas Media.

Transforming History into Opportunity

The food cart pod is just one phase of a much larger effort to breathe new life into the oldest structure on the reservation. Built by the federal government in 1896, the 5,000-square-foot Commissary building originally served as a Bureau of Indian Affairs storage depot and distribution point for commodity rations.

For decades, the building stood as a painful symbol of government dependence and the erasure of traditional tribal economies.

“The project pays respect and homage to the history of the tribes, the building, and the property,” explained Starla Green, the Commissary Project Manager. According to Green, the goal is to flip that history on its head, turning a symbol of dependence into a modern, independent economic engine for tribal members.

To make the site accessible to the thousands of travelers passing through the reservation daily, the historic building was physically lifted and moved 200 yards closer to Highway 26. Once fully renovated, the main building will serve as a small business incubator featuring:

• Shared co-working spaces and desks
• Retail storefronts for local artists and makers
• A beauty salon and barbershop
• A separate commercial kitchen for food-based entrepreneurs

“We have a lot of tribal members who have training and actually operate out of their home or a mobile unit,” Green said. “We are building that spot for them to start their business in a physical brick-and-mortar situation… We want to share and let the world know that we’re here as an Indian people. We’re proud of who we are, and we’re willing to share that.”

Rooted in the Community

The organization driving this transformation is WSCAT, a non-profit community development group based out of the Warm Springs Agency—the reservation’s largest community. WSCAT was first established in 2001 as an incubated program under the Central Oregon Partnership before becoming an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in August 2008.

By providing classrooms, mentorship, and physical retail spaces, WSCAT is working to break down the structural and financial barriers that local Indigenous business owners have faced for generations.

The community is invited to come out on July 2nd to grab a bite, support local vendors, and celebrate a major milestone in reclaiming Warm Springs’ economic future.