Health Care Reform on the Floor of the House and Senate Barran Liebman LLP Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine became the first Republican in the United States Senate to support Health Care Reform, although she did it tepidly quoting Longfellow, “Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is […]

José Pinomesa, President Oregon Independent Auto Dealers Association Cash for Clunkers ended a little over a month ago with about 9000 vehicles exchanged for $37 Million worth of rebates.  Thanks to CARS many Oregonians took advantage of the program and bought a new vehicle.  This program basically took buyers that […]

By Bill Conerly, Conerly Consulting, Businomics, More interesting information from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook: Before getting to the outlook, note some of the dynamics.  The mildest cycle was for agricultural raw materials, followed by beverages (coffee, tea) and food.  These are generally materials with rapid supply response to rising […]

More Than A Quarter of Employers Think More Employees are Calling in Sick with Fake Excuses Due to Stress Tied to the Recession. Employers Share Most Unusual Reasons Employees Used to Explain an Absence From CareerBuilder.com October 8, 2009 – While the cold and flu season serves as a primary […]

Avakian Awards $127, 713 in Sex Harassment Case By Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries In mid-September, Commissioner Avakian issued a final order in the sexual harassment case against From the Wilderness, Inc. (FTWI) and Michael Ruppert of Ashland.  In addition to awarding lost wages, Commissioner Avakian ordered $125,000 in […]

Most retail cfos say too much inventory still biggest risk to holiday sales results,  while layoffs take a back seat as retailers focus on inventory management for the remainder of 2009 By BDO Seidman LLP, According to a recent study by BDO Seidman, LLP, one of the nation’s leading accounting […]

By Tim Duy, Oregon Economic Forum The UO Index rose 0.5 percent in July, and the overall behavior of the Index in recent months continues to indicate that Oregon will exit recession in the second half of 2009.  Highlights include: •    Initial jobs claims continue to trend downward, but the […]

Oregon Mood Improving; Obama’s Health Care Plan Finds Mixed Reviews By Moore Information, October 6, 2009 The mood of Oregon voters is pessimistic but has improved significantly in the past eight months. In February of this year, we reported pessimism at its highest point in six years, but today we […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Little-known Flir Systems (FLIR), the world leading provider of infrared technology used by militaries across the globe, hopes to bring its technology to motor vehicles.  FLIR’s success booms despite the recession because of the need for infrared technology, especially during a time of war, but […]

The Wall Street Journal reports, “The U.S. vacancy rate reached 7.8%, a 23-year high, according to Reis Inc., a New York real-estate research firm that tracks vacancies and rents in the top 79 U.S. markets. The rate is expected to climb further in the fall and winter, when rental demand […]