Archives

September 30, 2009 - Washington Courts: Medical Marijuana Workplace Rights

Barran Liebman LLP A new decision from the Washington Court of Appeals, Roe v. Telletech Customer Care Management LLC, provides a victory for employers who resist employees’ requests to accommodate their medical marijuana use. The case involved an employee who, after only two weeks of work, was terminated once she […]


September 29, 2009 - Portland gives up streets for streetcars

By Dr. Eric Fruits Econinternational Portland politicians love their streetcars. Earlier this month, the city council unanimously approved a streetcar concept plan (PDF) that calls for a massive expansion of the streetcar system throughout Portland. Streetcar systems have substantial construction costs. On top of that, Portland’s system has huge operating […]


September 29, 2009 - Health Care Reform Support Hits New Low at 41%

Rasmussen reports that, “Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% are opposed to […]


September 28, 2009 - Luxury Markets Will Come Back in the Recovery

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC For years I heard sellers of luxury goods say, “The rich will always have money.”  Then the recession came and we learned that the rich will not always spend their money.  As an example, I wrote a blog post using the mega-yacht business […]


September 27, 2009 - Oregon Entrepreneur winners announced

Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Names Winners at the 16th Annual OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards By Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Ray King of AboutUs wins the award for individual achievement. Jama Software, Monsoon, and Motorcycle Superstore are Selected as this year’s award winners in company categories Sept. 24, 2009, Portland, Ore. — […]


September 26, 2009 - State Treasurer announces Buy Oregon Bonds

New ‘Buy Oregon Bonds’ sales will create jobs and finance vital energy, courtroom and state hospital projects By Oregon State Treasurer, SALEM – State Treasurer Ben Westlund today announced two upcoming “Buy Oregon Bonds” sales that will create jobs and finance important projects, while also allowing the public to earn […]


September 25, 2009 - Oregon Employment Forecast

By Amy Vander Vliet Published Sep-21-2009 The latest report from the state Office of Economic Analysis (OEA) contains more good news than it has in a while. The freefall is over, the worst is behind us, and recovery is in sight. However, once here, the recovery both in Oregon and […]


September 25, 2009 - Court of Federal Claims Upholds Deductibility of LLC Losses

By Doug Batey LCC Law Monitor Stoel Rives LLP, Attorneys at Law Portland, Most business people who are familiar with the tax treatment of LLCs understand that LLCs are tax-efficient. LLCs are taxed as partnerships (except in the rare event that they elect to be taxed as corporations). Since they […]


September 24, 2009 - Business costs drop 20% with real-time energy data

Eco-nomics: Full Information and Efficiency By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog One of the requirements necessary for a free market to reliably achieve an efficient outcome is full and symmetric information. So this article on a smart electricity grid pilot project is pretty interesting. What this project did, in essence, […]


September 23, 2009 - Trade Tremors: China, Japan, Oregon

Q&A with Mark Burles, Senior Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs , Seattle Should US business be concerned over the recent Obama tire tariff? Burles: Absolutely. The last thing the global economy needs is for a trade war to erupt between the US and China. That said, it is a complicated […]