Archives

June 13, 2018 - Who is defying the beer sales slump?

Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis In honor of our value-added manufacturing, declining start-up trend bucking, homegrown Oregon breweries out there, I thought I should update our numbers of Oregon beer production. These figures come from the OLCC beer reports which only cover beer made in Oregon and sold […]


June 12, 2018 - Worker choice: Lower taxes or higher minimum wage?

By Kathryn Hickok Cascade Policy Institute What’s better for welfare recipients and low-skilled workers: a higher minimum wage, or a larger Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)? David Neumark, director of the Economic Self-Sufficiency Policy Research Institute at the University of California, Irvine, explains in a recent op-ed in the Wall […]


June 11, 2018 - Portland scores high on two start-up rankings

By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation, This year, Portland ranks as the ninth best city in the United States for entrepreneurs and start-ups, and the eleventh best city for women to start a business. Business.org released its rankings  after evaluating more than 300 North American cities, large and small, and […]


June 11, 2018 - Marijuana boom forces license halt

By Oregon Small Business Association An overwhelming response from people seeking to grow and sell recreational marijuana has prompted the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to temporarily halt processing of new applications for licenses. As of June 15, the OLCC will focus on processing applications already submitted rather than moving new […]


June 8, 2018 - Imports rise despite tariff talk

National Retail Federation Imports at the nation’s major retail container ports are expected to set record numbers this summer and fall even as the debate over trade and tariffs continues in Washington, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.


June 7, 2018 - DeFazio: Air, bus, taxi rules on sexual abuse

Congressman Peter DeFazio Press Release, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) introduced H.R. 5857, the “Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act,” legislation that requires passenger airlines, commuter and intercity passenger railroads, transit agencies, operators of passenger vessels, and certain types of bus companies […]


June 6, 2018 - SB 1566: The Employer Incentive Fund

By Jason W. Douthit Bullard Law, Portland based law firm The Oregon Legislature and Governor Kate Brown are banking on increased state income tax revenues (due to recent changes in the Internal Revenue Code) to incentivize PERS participating public employers to contribute to PERS. Under SB 1566, signed by Governor […]


June 5, 2018 - Are the low-income leaving Portland?

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Over the past decade the number of lower-income households in the Portland region has fallen by nearly 60,000, or by 15%. Here, we’re defining lower-income to not just be those in poverty, but generally speaking in the bottom 40% or so of […]


June 4, 2018 - Wyden on unlawful tracking of consumers

US Senator Ron Wyden, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., praised the FCC’s reported decision to open an investigation into reports that a simple flaw on the website of location aggregator LocationSmart allowed nearly any hacker to track the phones of millions of Americans in real time. LocationSmart reportedly obtains location data […]


June 1, 2018 - Report: Portland’s three biggest challenges

By Jim Mark, Melvin Mark Co. Portland Business Alliance Traffic, homelessness and affordability are the top of mind challenges as the region’s prosperity inches upwards. Portland may have just turned 167 years old, but the Rose City is still growing up. While population has steadily increased since 2004 and employment […]