Lincoln
How 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If it’s been more than a year since you’ve given your employee handbook a thorough read, chances are it’s already out of date.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…
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Does 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…
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Which 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…
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Hemp 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,…
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HB 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…
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Economic 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…
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Lean 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…
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Broadband 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…
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Blind 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 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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OPPORTUNITY ZONES: WALK, DON’T RUN
by Timothy D. Carkin, CAIA, CMT Senior Vice President Opportunity Zones: Walk, Don’t Run Opportunity zones have become a trending topic in financial circles of late and we are taking a “walk, don’t run” approach when reviewing the space. What Is an Opportunity Zone? For years, legislators have tried different…
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Survey: Most Businesses Don’t Expect 2019 Recession 76 Percent Don’t Expect Recession Over Coming Year Job Market, Wage Growth Are Positive Signs Stoller: Economy Begins 2019 “On Strong Footing”
OKLAHOMA CITY, Dec. 27, 2018 – At year end, businesses have confidence in the economy, with most predicting no recession in 2019. In the December survey of 445 businesses, only 1 percent of respondents expect a recession in the next three months, while 8 percent expect one in three to…
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