William Barnes Regional General Manager, West Uber Dear Commissioner Avakian, I write in response to your unprompted decision to issue an advisory opinion regarding drivers using the Uber platform. This decision and subsequent push to media is surprising, since the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did so apparently without […]

Bureau of Labor and Industries Public Press Release, The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI)  issued an Advisory Opinion that finds that Uber drivers are employees under Oregon labor law. The Advisory Opinion is intended to be instructive on what conclusions can be drawn from current, available information. To date, […]

Oregon’s Employment Declines in September By Oregon Employment Department, Oregon’s nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 5,300 jobs in September, the first monthly job decline in 36 months. Despite the job loss in September, Oregon has still added 49,500 jobs over the past year. That’s still a strong growth rate (2.9%) […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog There have been at least three primary drivers of the massive shift toward renting in the past decade: finances, demographics, and taste and preferences. Much of the discussion surrounding this overall shift has focuses on the finance issues — foreclosures, credit […]

By Business News Note: Through Oct. 28, every time you ride the INSPIRE vehicle option, Uber will donate $1 to Special Olympics Oregon. The partnership was launched at a press conference today at Providence Park which will host the Fall State Games on Nov. 21-22. Uber was joined by SOOR […]

By Congressman Greg Walden, At a congressional hearing on state health insurance exchanges, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) questioned Patrick Allen, the Director of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, about the failure of Cover Oregon and where the state goes from here with the federal Centers […]

By NIKE, Nike and the University of Oregon Ducks introduce the new Oregon Pioneers football uniform, which emphasizes Oregon state history. Oregon is a state that has bred innovators, freethinkers and risk-takers since its founding. Nike co-founder Phil Knight is the quintessential example, starting a company by selling shoes out […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, The Oregon Employment Department has released a survey showing that nearly 70% of Oregon employers have had a difficult time filling vacancies. This is the highest level when compared over the last few years. The vacancy problems appears to be trending upwards over the past […]

By Bullard Law, Portland law firm By Michael G. McClory Gun violence is too common in the modern American workplace. The recent Umpqua Community College shootings bring the issue to the fore once again. There have been numerous other incidents in recent years and there is no reason to believe […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog I was on OPB “Think Out Loud” on Tuesday, talking about housing, migration and the Timber Belt. One aspect we discussed was the fact Oregon had two really big wave of migrants, in the 1970s and 1990s. Below I plot annual […]