Archive for April 2020
The Gordian Knot of Leadership
Qualified and Timely Leadership By Greg HendersonFounder and Co-PublisherSouthern Oregon Business Journal Dictators and Tyrants dot the timeline of human history in their self-serving unwillingness to listen to their constituents’ needs and opinions. Misery and physical harm, including the threat of death, were the tools these rulers used to build their empires and have their…
Read MoreIn Cod (And Crab!) We Trust – Oregon’s Seafood Processing Industry
By Erik KnoderState of Oregon Employment Department In 2018, Oregon had 34 employers and 1,245 employees turning slimy fish and armored crustaceans into succulent seafood ready for cooking and eating. The addition of more businesses is partially reversing a trend of consolidation in the industry. Commercial fishers landed about 313 million pounds of fish and…
Read MoreRising Unemployment Insurance Claims Portent to Economy-Wide Job Losses
by Guy Tauer April 13, 2020 Oregon workers who have lost their jobs, been temporarily laid off, or had hours drastically reduced filed 269,900 initial unemployment insurance claims in the three-week period ending on April 4, 2020. This is a truly staggering and unprecedented increase in demand for unemployment insurance benefits and a taxing toll on…
Read MoreA letter from Springfield’s New City Manager, Nancy Newton
Hello, I’m your new City Manager and I’m proud to serve Springfield. It is wonderful to be back in Oregon. I spent my childhood on a farm in Corbett, Oregon and each summer I would go to the Oregon State Fair with my family to show cattle. Our farm also had cows, chickens, horses, and…
Read MoreA Dozen Asks for Your Governor
By Michael H. Shuman Everyone knows that the three, multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bills passed by Congress fall way short. For most local businesses—the lifeblood of our economy—these bills offer too little relief, too late. I’m hopeful though that the states (and maybe, in some places, counties and cities) can rise to the challenge of saving these businesses.…
Read MoreDefusing an Economy “Rigged to Blow”
By Tony Dutzik The emergence of the novel coronavirus has been a shock to our health care system, our economic system, our communities, our relationships and our psyches. What makes some of those systems more able to absorb, respond and rebuild from shocks than others? Two incidents last week got me thinking about that question.…
Read MoreOLCC Liquor Stores Generate Record Level of Revenue for State
Increase in March Sales Reflect Transition from Restaurant & Bars to Home Consumption PORTLAND, OR. – Oregon Liquor Control Commission liquor stores sold close to $66 million in distilled spirits in March, an almost 20 percent increase in sales compared to March 2019, and a new March sales record. December 2019 is the all-time monthly…
Read MoreYes, We Brought this on Ourselves
By Charles Marohn I’m a numbers guy, so my inclination months ago when the so-called smart people were telling us we had more to fear from traffic deaths than coronavirus was to run the numbers. The potential for catastrophe from pandemic was very real; too high for my sensibilities. Now that the so-called smart people…
Read MoreHow sustainability in corporate behavior will evolve during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
By Peter Jones, CFAVice President, Equity Research and AnalysisFerguson Wellman Capital Management Wednesday, April 22, is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In 1970, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist Denis Hayes launched a nationwide environmental “teach-in” that later became Earth Day. Although the pandemic may have disrupted plans for this milestone anniversary, if Senator…
Read MoreFactors for Success in Cooperative Operations*
By Jo B. Bitonio Presenter ARD, CDA Dagupan Extension Office The history of cooperatives in the Philippines is replete with tragic stories for the downfall of many co-ops. It is vital that part of the training deals with the causes of co-op failures, “as an eye opener” for all sectors involved in strengthening cooperatives countryside…
Read MoreBeginner Entrepreneurship: Tips and Advice to Help You Get Started
By Derek GoodmanInbizability.com According to a report published by PRNewswire, approximately 14 percent of U.S. adults are starting or running a new business of their own—accounting for around 27 million Americans nationally. However, fear of failure and a lack of qualifications keep many first-time entrepreneurs from pursuing their dreams of starting a business—especially younger individuals…
Read MoreA Few Words from Jim
I feel like I spent every hour of every day last month, online in Zoom meetings.No travel. No in-person face-to-face meetings. No boundaries.Working from home now means working 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.I’m in one-on-one meetings with prospective clients and full staff meetings and I attended the Medford Chamber’s first-ever monthly forum…
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