A recent conference of economic development professionals in the Northwest met with those who help companies find places to locate, and learned there is a bit of trend toward giving greater consideration to rural areas.  Port of The Dalles Executive Director Andrea Klaas says the companies are finding rural areas have a lower cost of labor while skill sets are still there, and they now have the amenities urban locations have.  The companies also finding a number of smaller locations can be more cost-effective than one large location.  Klaas says she thinks of this as a potential niche for downtown The Dalles, where small offices can be set up that fit this kind of profile.