By Oregon Prosperity Project As Oregon legislators gathered for Legislative Days, a key preparatory step toward the 2017 Legislative Session, one word worked its way into virtually every hearing: revenue. Talking about money in advance of a Legislative Session is far from unusual, but the urgency to have a serious […]

by Brad Houle, CFA Executive Vice President Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Market Summary The stock market was slightly positive on last week up around .20 percent taking a break from the strong move upwards following the election in November. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are […]

Barran Liebman Oregon Law Firm OSHA Now Enforcing Rule Tracking Workplace Injuries and Illnesses By Amy L. Angel and Nicole C. Elgin The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has authority to enforce its final rule to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses as of December 1 this year. […]

National Retail Federation News Release, How far will ‘cashless’ go in retail? What’s universal, convenient, anonymous, transferable and fast — and possibly becoming obsolete? Cash, of course. As other payment methods have proliferated, starting with credit cards and then debit cards, gift cards, prepaid cards and now mobile payment and […]

By Dr. Eric Fruits, Oregon Economist On Demand Newsletter In the past week, I’ve been getting emails and texts from folks all over asking: “What’s up with Portland?” Thanks, Neil Cavuto. Here’s what’s up. Last week, Portland passed a first-in-the-nation income tax surcharge on companies whose CEOs earn more than […]

Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business advocate Governor Kate Brown released her proposed 2017-19 budget last week. The governor’s original proposal is a starting point for discussions and leaves many questions unanswered, but it does set parameters. Here are the most important: Total Proposed Budget: $20.8 billion. The proposal includes […]

University of Oregon Economic Indexes By Tim Duy Oregon Economic Forum University of  Oregon Oregon Statewide Economic Indicators: Oregon continues to enjoy solid economic growth. Highlights of this month’s report include: The Oregon measure of economic activity rose to 1.08 from an upwardly revised September figure of 0.25. The three-month […]

Ferguson Wellman, A leading Oregon financial firm Santa Claus Arrives Early In a relatively quiet week on the company news front, investors welcomed a series of new highs on the S&P 500 that have pushed the benchmark index to price gains now exceeding 10 percent on the year. Consumer and […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce In response to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ decision supported by the Obama administration to deny the final easement needed for the Dakota Access pipeline, Karen Harbert, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, issued the following statement: “The Obama […]

Columbia Sportswear Release, Columbia Sportswear today unveiled three limited-edition, high-performance jackets inspired by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The collection represents the first movie merchandise collaboration for Columbia and will be available in very limited quantities on www.columbia.com and Columbia’s retail locations beginning December 9. The high-performance jackets, featuring […]