“Estimates for what the government is willing to spend on bailouts and stimulus efforts for this year reach as much as $7.7 trillion according to Bloomberg.com — a full half of the United States’ yearly economic output…That trillion-dollar figure is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to checks […]

Andy Davidson, president & CEO Oregon Assoc. of Hospitals and Health Systems Oregon’s hospitals have a shared objective with the governor, the Oregon Health Fund Board and members of the Oregon Legislature when it comes to increasing health care access for all Oregonians, especially children.  Access to appropriate care, as […]

Global visitors per minute comparisons: 2008 =  6.7 million 2007 = 4.6 million ZDNet reports that web traffic (although not sales) was significantly up on Cyber Monday — the heavily watched day for internet shopping after Black Friday.

By Nike Kern, Biz Reporter With today’s economy in a tailspin one of our state’s leading industries is being hit harder than most.  The Oregon restaurant industry employs an estimated 110,000 and creates a whopping economic impact of 9.7 billion dollars annually into our economy.  With more than 9,000 restaurants […]

FAST FACTS: 2008  — Shoppers: 172 million,  Average spent: $372.57 2007 — Shoppers: 147 million, Average spent: $347.55 National Retailers Foundation shows shoppers spent 7% more. and 30 million more shoppers durign Black Friday weekend.

By Bill Conerly, Businomics, Conerly Consulting LLC The government’s latest plan (as of today, November 26, 2008) has the Fed buying mortgage-backed securities from Fannie, Freddie and the gang.  I’m OK with the program in general, but here’s a bit of hubris I cannot tolerate: the claim that it will […]

By Biz Reporter, ShopLocal reports a 21% increase in Black Friday deals compared to 2007.  Stores are scrambling to get the most out of a drop in consumer spending and a diminishing economy. Deals may be up, but freebies offered by stores appeared to be in decline in Oregon.  The […]

Best wishes and thankfulness from Oregon Report

BY AAA Oregon, “Oregon?s gas prices are at their lowest level since March 2006. The statewide average for regular unleaded drops another 16 cents this week to $2.22. The national average falls another 15 cents to $2.07 and is at its lowest level since March 18, 2005.”AAA Oregon Public Affairs […]

By Alyssa Williams, Biz Reporter With the recent announcement of Starbucks’ new evolution of card rewards that “takes the next step in putting money back in loyal customers’ wallets,” one may think Starbucks needs the money in its own back pocket after a 97 percent profit drop. However, Starbucks is […]