Archives

November 8, 2018 - Compare: Beer, Pot & Hi-tech industries

Josh Lehner Oregon Economic Analysis A friend of the office recently noted that we haven’t been discussing beer nearly enough lately. And it turns out she was right. After our office’s first, real recreational marijuana forecast last year and the Oregon Vice research and presentation I did, our office has […]


November 7, 2018 - Election Scorecard Results on Business Taxes

By Oregon Small Business Association, Measure 103 Groceries – Measure 103 which would have banned taxes on groceries was defeated. 57% opposed the tax ban. The measure was in response to growing pressure for sales taxes like 2016’s Measure 97 and 2018’s local sales tax measure proposal in Hood River […]


November 6, 2018 - Mixing Justice Dept. with private business?

By Justus Armstrong, Cascade Policy Institute Last June, former Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick was hired by the Oregon Department of Justice as a Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG). What many Oregonians may not know is that his entire salary is being paid by an out-of-state private source.


November 5, 2018 - Stocks lowest price in three years

By Brad Houle, CFA Ferguson Wellman, Oregon Capital Management firm As we expected at the beginning of the year, S&P 500 valuations have contracted year-to-date. Typically during an economic expansion, we see stocks move higher with earnings. Investors are willing to pay more for those earnings with the assumption that […]


November 3, 2018 - Chambers supporting Measure 104

Oregon State Chamber of Commerce, Press Release, The Oregon State Chamber of Commerce (OSCC), representing Oregon’s small businesses, nonprofits, community organizations and citizens strongly urges a “YES” vote on Measure 104. OSCC members believe that a healthy business climate and the jobs that such a business climate creates, is the […]


November 2, 2018 - Oregonian, Willamette Week oppose business tax 26-201

By Oregon Small Business Association, One of the biggest business measures on the ballot is a business tax measure in Portland and it is almost overlooked and overshadowed by the other ballot measures and Governor’s race. Both the State’s largest newspaper Editorial Board and the City’s big weekly newspaper the […]


November 1, 2018 - 90% Oregon businesses have less than 20 employers

By Oregon Employment Department, Nine out of 10 private-sector firms in Oregon had fewer than 20 employees in March 2018. Six out of 10 employed fewer than five. Despite their quantity, smaller firms collectively account for a much smaller share of overall employment than their larger counterparts. For example, the […]


October 31, 2018 - Oregon has a secret gas tax

By Oregon Small Business Association, The Bend Bulletin recently discovered that people buying gas and diesel at the pumps in Oregon have paid more than $17 million extra since 2016 to subsidize companies that produce low-carbon fuels. But the state Department of Environmental Quality has refused to release the names […]


October 30, 2018 - CA passes nation’s first ‘Internet of Things’ law

By David Rice Miller, Nash, Graham and Dunn, NW Law firm, California has enacted the nation’s first law regulating Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 28, 2018. IoT refers to the rapidly-expanding world of internet-connected objects such as home security systems, video […]


October 29, 2018 - Wyden: Canada cannabis law should inspire federal change

US Senator Ron Wyden Press Release, “Canada has recognized what Oregonians already understand: cannabis prohibition is a failed policy that wastes resources and destroys lives. Here in the United States, more and more states are following the lead of Oregonians and legalizing cannabis. Americans across the country, and across party […]