U.S. Chamber of Commerce Eli Lehrer runs the R Street Institute. It’s a Washington, DC think tank and also a small employer. He writes about a little-known requirement in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that defies common sense, and that other small firms will deal with: Among […]

By Oregon Small Business Association Microsoft Opened a new store in Portland this summer with a big splash and broader agenda. Microsoft is planning to roll-out 500 stores across the county — many specifically targeted near Best Buy stores according to Reuters News Service. The grand opening of the Microsoft […]

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog. Two important events occurred in recent weeks. There was the great new research on economic mobility that examined different cities and regions across the country (official website here, good NYT summary here) and there was also the Detroit bankruptcy. Given the […]

Treasurer Wheeler helps to mark centennial of Wheeler, the coastal town founded by his great-grandfather By Oregon State Treasurer A century ago, lumberman Coleman H. Wheeler founded a town alongside the Nehalem Bay on the northern Oregon Coast. The city of Wheeler was then home to the Wheeler Lumber Company […]

By Fred Thompson: Oregon Economics Blog Oregon’s State Highway Trust Fund is broke. Options addressed by the Oregon Transportation Commission, the Governor’s Office, and the Legislature aimed at fixing this state of affairs include raising DMV fees to recover the full cost of the products/services it delivers to Oregonians. By state […]

LONGTIME “HERITAGE PARTNERS” TIP-OFF RENEWALS OF TRAIL BLAZERS SPONSORSHIP AGREEMENTS FOR 2013-14 SEASON Airefco, Spirit Mountain Casino, Standard TV & Appliance Sign Multi-Year Deals By Portland Trail Blazers Communications Dept., Longevity and loyalty have special meaning for Portland Trail Blazers fans and that same spirit carries over with corporate sponsors. […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Obamacare’s medical device tax, in effect for over seven months, has raked in $1 billion according to the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association (MDMA): “The $1 billion threshold is frightening as every dollar […]

McMinville is home to a rising small business star in Betty Lou. Her processing plant helps to produce over 60 different labels. Watch the KGW-TV News profile of this great Oregon success story.

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis Blog. Just as last quarter (also HERE) we saw that job growth had returned to more regions of the state, the latest QCEW for 2013q1 finds that this is continuing and even strengthening. While the Portland MSA returned first to job growth, […]

By Oregon Prosperity Project Source:Pew 2012and BEA;*All three states deliver pensions to state and local public employees primarily through state ‐ sponsored plans (that is,98% of membership in OR and 95% in WA and CO).In each state, a number of separate,local government plans exist and are not reported here.