From Consumer Reports on their Nice-Naughty Business List: 1 Southwest. Two pieces of checked luggage, no charge. And that includes bulky freight such as golf clubs and skis. 2 L.L.Bean. 100 percent product satisfaction guarantee. Return anything at any time for any reason. 3 Zappos.com. Free shipping and free returns, […]

Half of Employers Monitor Internet and E-mail Use of Employees — Nearly One-Third of Workers Holiday Shop Online at Work, By Career Builders, CHICAGO  – As Thanksgiving weekend officially kicks off the holiday season, one tradition that is returning this year is online shopping at the office. Cyber Monday, a […]

Where Black Friday and holiday prices prices are trending By Oregon Small Business Association, This Black Friday and Holiday season prices have already witnessed huge drops in electronic goods and toys (as the Black Friday chart below shows). At the same time Americans will pay at the holiday dinner table […]

Oregon’s “Employer Gag Law” Revisited –Court Finds NLRA Preempts Similar Wisconsin Law Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson BULLARD eAlert On November 15, 2010, a federal court in Wisconsin struck down a state law that prohibited employers from taking adverse employment action against employees who refused to attend meetings intended to communicate […]

The Election – Regulatory Reprieve? By John Ledger Associated Oregon Industries Oregon’s largest business advocate Although this month’s election may herald a period of a slowing regulatory expansion in the Congress and legislature, it may have shifted the whole thing to the executive branch agencies. The implications for manufacturers, and […]

Black Friday sales expected to jump 3.8% By BDO USA, LLP Chicago, IL,  – According to BDO USA, LLP, one of the nation’s leading accounting and consulting organizations, chief marketing officers (CMOs) at leading U.S. retailers expect Black Friday sales to increase by 3.8 percent and Cyber Monday sales to […]

Trade With Asia Means Jobs For America By U.S. Chamber of Commerce On Election Day, the American people gave their representatives marching orders: Create jobs and grow the economy, and do it on a bipartisan basis. A good place to start is with the Korea-U.S. (KORUS) free trade agreement. President […]

Northwest Rank in GDP growth 1. Nevada – 6.4% 2. Idaho -3.1% 3. Oregon -2.4% 4. California – 2.2% 5. Washington -.07% US Average = -2.1%

By Kenneth Odza Stoel Rives LLP, Oregon law firm Note: The following is authored by guest blogger Jake Storms, from the Alcoholic Beverages Law Blog. Amidst rising incidences of hospitalizations in college and teenage drinkers linked to consumption of alcoholic energy drinks, the Washington State Liquor Control Board banned their […]

The folly of the Portland Leaf Fee By Patrick Emerson Oregon Economics Blog In this recessed economy municipalities are struggling with diminished revenue in the same way states are. It is becoming harder and harder for them to provide the same services in this new economic reality. So many cities […]