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April 24, 2020 - 80% of PPP applicants in limbo

By NFIB, The NFIB Research Center released a survey on the small business loan programs. Small business owners were asked about the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan on April 17, the day after the programs ran out of money. About 20% of submitted applications have been […]


April 23, 2020 - Local Impact on the service industry, Portland Spirit

This month, the Oregon Transformation Newsletter, published a series of interviews with Oregon CEOs about their efforts in the coming months to keep their workforces whole and their companies intact. We plan to publish a series of articles highlighting excerpts from those interviews: Dan Yates, CEO, The Portland Spirit If […]


April 22, 2020 - Bare economic facts behind Oregon’s business survival

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Recessions always change the economy. Even as jobs, income, and profits return and surpass the previous peak, the underlying structure of the economy is different than it was prior to the recession. In technical terms, something like GDP fails the unit root […]


April 21, 2020 - Top 10 Oregon consumer complaints

By Oregon Attorney General, As part of National Consumer Protection week (March 1—7, 2020), Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum  released the Oregon Department of Justice’s annual list of Top Ten Consumer Complaints. In 2019, the Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Section recovered more than $1.29 million for consumers and […]


April 20, 2020 - Oregon Can Support Workers by Reducing Regulations

By Rachel Dawson  Businesses across Oregon are laying off employees and shuttering their doors, triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak and Kate Brown’s executive order requiring social distancing and closing specified businesses. Unemployment claims jumped by around 3,200% in Oregon last week and unemployment could reach 20% in the coming months. […]


April 17, 2020 - NFIB: 70% Small biz applied for stimulus loan

By National Federation of Independent Business, The NFIB Research Center released the following data today on the small business loan programs: The severity of economic disruptions in the small business sector is quickly increasing the immediate demand for financial assistance among small business owners. NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends survey […]


April 16, 2020 - Early signs of the very bad economic news

By Josh Lehner Office of Economic Analysis The bad economic data is just now starting to roll in, helping to quantify some of the initial impacts of the coronavirus. Yesterday we got another round of initial claims for unemployment insurance from last week at both the U.S. and state level. […]


April 15, 2020 - Small business responds to Gov. Re-opening plan

By NFIB, Comment from Anthony Smith, Oregon state director for NFIB, the nation’s leading small-business advocacy association, on today’s announced framework for reopening Oregon’s economy. “Small businesses welcome the start of a conversation surrounding the reopening of Oregon’s economy. In order to make informed decisions, small businesses need reliable information […]


April 14, 2020 - Has Your Temporary Layoff Been Extended?

By Andrew Schpak & Daniel Walker Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm, Beginning in early March, strict social distancing measures forced numerous businesses to either curtail operations or temporarily close. Many employers chose to temporarily lay off employees with the expectation that employees would be brought back within a few weeks. […]


April 13, 2020 - Oregon AG warns Amazon, Ebay, Facebook on price gouging

Oregon Attorney General, Attorney General Rosenblum joined 32 Attorneys General in a letter urging online giants Amazon, Facebook, Ebay, Walmart, and Craigslist to rigorously monitor price gouging practices by third-party online sellers. On March 16, 2020 at Rosenblum’s request, Governor Kate Brown declared an “abnormal disruption to the Oregon marketplace” […]