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Occupations that Pay More in Southwestern Oregon
by Sarah Cunningham When looking for a job in your field, determining which region pays the most could be a sound strategy. In 2018, there were 27 occupations where workers in Southwestern Oregon earned higher median wages than in any other region in the state. In 2017, 6 percent of…
Read MoreHow to Update Your Employee Handbook
By Jenna Reed, Vice President General Counsel and Compliance Services Cascade Employers Association jreed@cascadeemployers.com If it’s been more than a year since you’ve given your employee handbook a thorough read, chances are it’s already out of date. I don’t know too many people that jump up and down about the…
Read MoreDoes Your City Have Shiny New Toy Syndrome?
by Daniel Herriges Everybody, at some point, has known (or maybe even been) that kid who just has too many toys. The one who gets showered with new stuff on every special occasion from birthday to Christmas to 100-on-the-spelling-test. And everybody knows the sad, lonely fate of all the older-but-still-fairly-new…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Read MoreCLAIM YOUR SHARE OF 705 MILLION IN FLORENCE
Last year, nationally, more than half of American workers left 705 million vacation days unused—up from 662 in 2017. Nearly 10,000 of those days were left on the table by Oregonians. That’s why the Florence Area Chamber of Commerce is participating in National Plan Your Vacation Day on January 29.…
Read MoreStrategy Map Path to Prosperity
Strategy is a tool whose purpose is the realization of leadership’s intentions. Having a Strategy is good. However, a strategy created and placed on the shelf until the next planning cycle is simply a waste of time. To have value, strategy must be operationalized throughout the enterprise. There is an…
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