Hobby Lobby, Shoe Firm & Apparel Co. Invade Oregon By Oregon Small Business Association Hobby Lobby In late 2014, Hobby Lobby will open a 61,000 square-foot store in Albany’s Heritage Mall. The Christian-based crafts store currently has 531 stores in 44 states. In April, Hobby Lobby set its minimum wage […]

By Oregon Tax News With 52% of foreclosed homes in the state vacant, Oregon has the fourth highest rate of “zombie foreclosures” in the country. A “zombie foreclosure” is an unoccupied home in foreclosure, but not yet foreclosed. Half of the approximately 2300 Oregon homes in foreclosure, but not yet […]

By Oregon Attorney General Settlement also calls for $400,000 payment to state, agreement to cease doing business in Oregon A Phoenix, Ariz.-based telemarketer that sold a home-based business scheme to more than a hundred Oregonians has agreed to pay full refunds to all of its Oregon customers who file a […]

By Daniel P. Kessler Stanford University Professor of Business California and Oregon have recently announced the premiums for the health plans that will be offered through their ObamaCare insurance exchanges in 2014. Supporters of the law are jubilant. KQED, northern California’s largest public radio station, reported that “experts had warned […]

  Federal Expenditure by Region By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog. A common refrain one hears goes along the lines that the U.S. subsidizes rural areas and living, while the metro areas generate more in tax revenue than they receive in benefits, or something along those lines. […]

Ex-Microsoft manager forms coalition for national marijuana rebranding Business News Note, A group of big Washignton State businessmen including former Microsoft manager, Jamen Shively, are working to design the first ever national brand of marijuana. A coalition of dispensaries from Washington, California and Colorado has been formed. For more watch […]

By Oregon Better Business Bureau Better Business Bureau is alerting consumers to the recent upswing in cybercrime dollar losses. The Internet Crime Complaint Center has released its annual report this week and statistics show that cybercrimes bilked consumers for more than $525 million in 2012—an 8.3 percent increase from 2011. […]

Greater Portland Inc. has released a new tablet app to attract businesses to the Portland Metro area. The app compares Portland with other business cities criteria around the nation. Last week Adobe Digital Publishing honored the app with their App of the Week helping make it national news. Watch the […]

By  J.L. Wilson Associated Oregon Industries At the outset of the 2013 Legislative Session, AOI introduced a number of bills aimed at helping modernize Oregon employment law and fixing problems. At this point, it appears that two of AOI’s concepts will pass this session. SB 678 ensures that LLC owners […]

Record number of Oregonians are investing record amount for higher education through state ‘529’ plan By Oregon State Treasurer Oregon 529 College Savings Network reaches $1.8 billion in combined assets as of March 31 More families than ever are saving for higher education and job training through Oregon’s tax-saving college […]