The Oregon Biz Report - Business News from Oregon

by Bruce Josten
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

We have been telling you for weeks and months that defaulting on our debt is not an option – it has real, immediate, and potentially catastrophic consequences.  As Tom Donohue and Rob Nichols outlined in their joint USA Today op-ed just last week, failure to raise the debt ceiling would have calamitous results. It would halt government operations, make our debt and deficit situation worse, debase the value of the dollar and threaten its status as the world’s reserve currency, and hamper U.S. growth and job creation.

And we are going to remind you again. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling, there will be real impacts, for every American. Interest rates will rise for everyone – which means higher rates for American consumers and the small businesses who drive our economy. Car loans, mortgages, and business and student loans will all be more expensive.

Business News Video of the week
As the budget deadline looms closer, everyone is asking questions on what could happen and what to do. Rueters did a breakdown of the seven biggest questions asked about if America actually does default (article here). Those questions deal with interest rates (car loans, student loans, etc.), social security benefits and the value of the dollar. CNN News did a short segment on where to put one’s investment funds if we do default. See below.

Business News Note:

There are more than 40 Oregon post offices that are on the short list for possible closures. The U.S Postal Office may be closing 105 of its retail offices. Some offices may be transferred into existing businesses such as libraries or local stores. All of the Oregon post offices on the suggested closure study list are rural offices with small mail volume. The U.S. Post Office closure study list is part of a plan to help reduce the $8 billion deficit by the Postal Service.   Another proposal is to eliminate Saturday delivery service.  Here is the list of Oregon Post Office closures with zip codes they represent.

ADEL, 97620
ANTELOPE,97001
AROCK,97902
BROTHERS,97712
CRANE,97732
DREWSEY,97904
DURKEE,97905
FORT KLAMATH,97626
FORT ROCK,97735
GRASS VALLEY,97029
HARPER,97906

Dan Hamilton,
CLU Center for Economic Research & Forecasting
Oregon Economic Forecast Highlights, July 2011

We expect Oregon’s economy to grow only very slowly throughout the remainder of 2011, only achieving solid 3 percent growth in 2012. Job growth will likely be even more anemic, implying that the economic growth we expect to see will be driven mostly by continued productivity growth.

The modest forecast reflects continued weakness among small business and in the Real Estate sector.

As discussed in the Real Estate Essay, virtually all of Real Estate’s subsectors are likely to be extremely weak throughout the forecast horizon. This is a problem because real estate transactions drive a large amount of economic activity. Every transaction required the services of several professionals. These include appraisers, lenders, real estate brokers, title people, and with commercial transactions especially, attorneys.

Lessons from America’s worst cities
By Oregon Tax News

Oregon Tax News recently analyzed the information behind three different worst city ratings which included;”America’s Shrinking Cities List” (by MSNBC), “America’s Most Miserable City List” (Forbes) and “Worst Job Seeker City List” (US & World Report). The four most common factors of being among America’s worst cities were unemployment, high crime, low education levels and a city’s exposure to the housing crisis fall-out. A more narrower data point not highlighted in this article were worst cities that were impacted by disasters like Hurricane Katrina.

By Jennifer Reinhardt
Stoel Rives World of Employment
Oregon Law Firm

On June 29, 2011, the Idaho Supreme Court unanimously upheld a district court ruling that a state worker could not maintain an action against her employer for wrongful discharge based on allegations that her supervisor’s intra-office romance and consequent favoritism toward his paramour created a hostile work environment. See Patterson v. State of Idaho Dep’t of Health & Welfare. In the first Idaho case of its kind, the Court found that paramour favoritism did not violate Title VII and therefore opposition to such activity is not “protected activity” under the Idaho Human Rights Act (“IHRA”).

Wi-Fi Warning: Small Businesses Take Note
New copyright deal could nail firms providing free Internet access
Oregon NFIB

SALEM, Ore., July 18, 2011— America’s leading small-business association issued a warning to Main Street entrepreneurs who offer Internet access to their customers: Take steps now to avoid allegations of online piracy.

Record labels, movie studios and other industry groups recently struck a deal where participating Internet providers will issue warnings to customers whose accounts are allegedly used to steal content. (The National Federation of Independent Business, which issued today’s warning, is not a party to the agreement.)

Documentary Exposes Exploited Legal System
By U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The U.S. Chamber is applauding a film that documents how the greatest system of justice in the world is being compromised by greed and corruption.

InJustice reveals the history behind America’s “lawsuit industry” and how it had transformed the practice of law from a calling into a multi-billion dollar a year business. The film by award-winning producer Brian Kelly highlights the abuses of opportunistic trial lawyers and reveals how their actions affect the court system, the legal profession, and lawsuit victims.

Gold investments are on the rise, with this commodity being seen as one of the most stable on the market. Part of the appeal of buying gold is that it is one of the most straightforward methods of being able to see a return on your initial investment.

Those who have very little experience with investing are often more likely to invest in gold. The value of gold is far less volatile than that of stocks or shares, and tends to increase or decrease at a slow or steady pace. Therefore, for anyone who is unable to keep a constant watch on the value of their investments, buying gold is ideal.

How your Smartphone can be hacked

Many professionals do not understand that their Smartphone or iPhone can be hacked just like a desktop computer can. The hacking can occur just by visiting a website on the web using your Smartphone. That website can then use the information your phone is providing as a tool against the phone in order to use the phone to make unauthorized calls. The ease of this hacking by the man in the video is frightening.

Other recommendations below:

By Portland Business Alliance,

A significant step forward was made for Oregon’s economic future. Governor Kitzhaber, joined by Senators Mark Hass and Representatives Tobias Read, Mike Dembrow and Mark Johnson, signed into law Senate Bill 242, the higher education restructuring bill. This legislation shifts the governance structure of the Oregon University System from a state agency into a public university system. Oregon’s universities will now have greater control over their own costs. Additionally, students and parents will be assured that dollars spent on tuition will be reinvested back into the universities, not spent to balance the budgets of other state programs.

By Patrick Emerson
Oregon Economics Blog
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The Oregon employment picture looks a lot like the national one which is essentially stuck in neutral (oh, how many metaphors am I going to have to use?). The unemployment rate is basically the same at 9.4% but the real information is in the jobs number which is at plus 800 for June. As the employment department report notes, the Oregon economy has essentially added no net jobs since February. Ouch.

The nice gains in private sector job growth in professional and business services (+1,200 jobs), educational and health services (+2,200), and leisure and hospitality (+4,400), were counter weighted by losses in government (‐2,900 jobs), manufacturing (‐2,000), and trade, transportation and utilities (‐1,800). The government number shows the anti-stimulus effects of state government cutting sharply right when the economy is trying to get a little momentum.

Wal-Mart scooping up properties all over Portland area
By Oregon Small Business Association

Walmart has been prolifically purchasing properties in the Portland Metro area. Walmart plans to open as many as 17 of its smaller stores called Neighborhood Markets in the metro area where it has lacked a presence. While the retailer hasn’t officially announced its plans, Urban Works recently broke the news on its blog on teh Walmart buys, saying that the first store will open along Highway 26 in the former Ashley Furniture store site at NW Cornell and 173rd in Beaverton.

Importantly, Walmart intends to fill the empty aisles left by other grocery stores that have vacated neighborhoods and store buildings perfect for one of its Neighborhood Markets. Using vacated store buildings rather than building new ones will allow Walmart to bypass the permitting and neighborhood approval processes that often slow or prevent willing stores from reaching resident consumers. Earlier this spring, The Oregonian reported that Walmart applied with the Portland Development Commission as part of the agency’s efforts to better serve tri-county communities whose residents don’t have access to nearby grocery stores.

By John Killin
Associated Builders and Contractors,
Pacific Northwest Chapter

The North Clackamas School District deserves a big round of applause. A few months ago it looked like they might make a big mistake that could have costly consequences for local taxpayers. School board member Sam Gillispie, an official with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555, was asking his fellow school board members to provide union officials access to district construction sites to interview workers (both union and non-union). The proposal is flawed for a variety of reasons which are outlined here 

While news accounts in May suggested the district would adopt the policy in June, a broad coalition of construction contractors pulled together to let the district know that this was a bad idea. Opposition was so strong and universal that Gillispie noted how, “these guys came out of the woodwork.”

By Bill Conerly,
Conerly Consulting, Businomics

Small business is down in the dumps. Just compare the attitudes shown in NFIB’s survey of small business owners with the Business Roundtable’s survey of corporate CEOs:

It’s always a little dangerous to compare one survey with another, but it sure seems that the corporate honchos are feeling better than they did before the recession, whereas small biz owners are up from the depths of the downturn, but not yet back to where they had been.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched an ad campaign in support of expanding America’s Free Trade Agreements. The ad states that the world has roughly 300 such free trade agreements (known as FTAs) yet the United States has an FTA with just 17 countries. The ad notes that there are still over 100 FTA’s pending for approval. The ad also quotesPresident Obama, “If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals, we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores.”

SEE FULL PAGE AD HERE

With everything going mobile from computer applications, music and video, it was an only a matter of time before the final frontier was breached which is having a portable printer. A printer that fits in your pocket. It is thermal printing that does not require drying. The cost is $170. The size prints out only 4×3 sizes — mainly for photos. See Wall Street Journal on this new portable printer below.

Ad Watch: Full page American Family Insurance ad challenges American Dream
By Oregon Small Business Association,

The below ad was part of a series of full-page Oregonian ads by American Family Insurance.  The idea is to feature provocative question ads to lead people to their website where they answer further questions which then leads them to their insurance services.   The second week ad featured the question “Is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just a silly idea?”.

Chamber’s focus on private-sector job creation continues with release of online scorecard
By Portland Business Alliance

Portland, Ore. – On Wednesday, the Portland Business Alliance released its first ever JOBS Scorecard that evaluates regional elected officials on how their votes support or stymie private-sector job creation. The online scorecard reviews the votes of elected officials with the City of Portland, Multnomah County, Metro Council as well as those votes of Portland-region state legislators and Governor Kitzhaber.

By Tony DeCristoforo
Stoel Rives World of Employment
Stoel Rives, Oregon Law Firm

The California Supreme Court has ruled that California’s daily overtime requirements apply to work performed in California by non-residents. In Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., three employees of Oracle who were not residents of California worked as “instructors” and trained Oracle’s customers in the use of the company’s products. Required by Oracle to travel, the plaintiffs worked primarily in their home states but also in California and several other states. California is one of the few states that requires payment of daily overtime for hours worked in excess of eight in a day. At issue in the case was whether these non-residents of California were entitled to daily overtime for days they worked in California.