Archive for March 2019
Caving at the Lava Beds
Kenneth Ingham What You Need To Know Before You Go Caving 1. Before entering any cave you must be “screened” for white-nose syndrome. If you have boots or other gear used in caves or mines outside of Lava Beds since 2006, or in caves or mines outside of the United States ever, please leave these…
Read MoreThe Library Survives!
The New Director of the Roseburg Public Library, Kris Wiley is from Littleport, Iowa. It’s in the northeast corner of the state and has a population of about 85. After the Volga River flood of May 16, 1999, much of the town was destroyed and most residents moved away. At the 2000 Census, there were…
Read MoreWhich Countries Have the Most Pavement Per Person?
by Daniel Herriges (Photos: Wikimedia Commons) One number can’t begin to capture the complexity of the differences between urban places—what we build, how we build it, what it looks like, and what it’s going to take to maintain it. But sometimes, one number can cut through all the details and illuminate a fundamental truth about…
Read MoreHemp Production Program
The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018 Farm Bill, Section 10113) directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue regulations and guidance to implement a program for the commercial production of industrial hemp in the United States. USDA has begun the process to gather information for rulemaking. Once complete, this information will be used…
Read MoreHB 2020 Oregon Cap and Trade FactSheet
The proposed HB 2020 legislation would have significant and lasting impacts on natural gas rate payers. Customers from all rate classes would experience rapid and increasing costs for simply heating their homes and businesses. The chart below shows the weighted average rate impact for all residential and commercial customers in Oregon, as well as by…
Read MoreEconomic Outlook: No, no, no! Just give me your doctors, engineers, and PhDs!
Commentary by Robert Whelan, ECONorthwest Three months ago, I gave a presentation to a business group. During the question and answer period a gentleman stood up. He asked me, “What do you think about merit-based immigration?” That’s where a country chooses who can become a citizen based on their education and skills. I said, to…
Read MoreLean Manufacturing Isn’t Magic
by Bob Cannon Over much of the last 2 decades, I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about this idea we refer to as “Lean Manufacturing.” When I reflect on all that I have learned, and the manner in which I learned it, I realize one overarching (and maybe very obvious) truth:…
Read MoreBroadband USA
https://www2.ntia.doc.gov/ Department of Commerce Joins Government-Wide Initiative to Facilitate Broadband Deployment Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross joined with other Federal agencies to announce a cohesive, across-government, strategy to promote broadband deployment. A report released by the White House outlines the American Broadband Initiative (ABI), an effort that includes streamlining the Federal permitting process. The ABI,…
Read MoreBlind Spots, Heuristics and Anchors … Oh My!
By Bill Swift, M. Ed., Leadership Facilitator Cascade Employers Associationbswift@cascadeemployers.com Please Allow Me To Explain Resolve this year to improve the quality and effectiveness of your workplace conversations by challenging everything. Well, don’t challenge everything. That would take too long. But it may really pay off to work with your supervisory team to improve critical…
Read MoreFlying Lessons: How stories from Aviation can make us better Managers
In this six part series, we introduce five activities critical to business success and examine each through the lens of lessons learned from the field of aviation. These activities are Observe, Communicate, Organize, Deliver and Improve. Each one plays a vital role in allowing a business to be successful in serving their customers. In just…
Read MoreMet One Instruments Exemplifies Export Strategy Success
Grants Pass air monitoring equipment manufacturer Met One Instruments is poised for a growth spurt in 2012 thanks in part to the export assistance it has received over the last several years from Business Oregon. Since 2010, Business Oregon’s Global Strategies team has partnered with Met One at a series of overseas trade shows and…
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