Madras is a community of diversity and opportunity. Diversity can be found in a mix of agricultural and manufacturing enterprises, as well as in the cultural mix of residents. Business opportunity abounds with projected population and employment growth that is expected to be among the fastest in Oregon for much of the next decade.

Incorporated in 1911, Madras and nearby towns of Culver and Metolius were all communities built as service centers for a growing agricultural sector and for the booming railroad industry. Later in the century, Madras experienced another economic boom with the establishment of the US Army Air Base during World War II that was and still is capable of accommodating the B-17 Flying Fortress.