Portland Business Alliance, Portland’s ongoing struggles with community safety are well documented. Personal and property crimes have steadily increased, gun violence is spiking, and the homicide rate is near a 30-year high. The regional 9-1-1 system is overwhelmed, with even emergency calls often being put on hold. And the Portland […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Catching a plane during the holidays may be tougher than anticipated as Portland International Airport and its counterparts throughout the nation curb the number of flights offered, the Portland Business Journal reported. In early August, PDX scheduled16,849 flights, but that number had dropped by 12 […]

OSHA Releases Vaccine Mandate Emergency Temporary Standard with Few Surprises November 5, 2021 By Christine M. Zinter On November 4, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) pulled back the curtain on its Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) about two months after President Biden announced that a […]

By National Federation of Independent Business Small business owners continued to struggle to find workers to fill open positions in October with 49% (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reporting job openings they could not fill in the current period, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report. A net 44% (seasonally adjusted) […]

By Christine M. Zinter Bullard Law Oregon law firm Washington’s new “LTC payroll tax law,” more appropriately referred to as the Long Term Care (LTC) Services and Supports Act, takes effect January 1, 2022. This new payroll tax of 0.58 percent on the W-2 payroll of Washington employees has generated […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, Although schools brought back fewer employees and construction slowed in September, resulting in a net loss of 200 jobs, Oregon’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent. Despite flat job growth, the Oregon Employment Department reported more Oregonians worked during the month than in August, when […]

By Oregon Employment Department, September 2021 Employment and Unemployment in Oregon’s Counties In September 2021, all but three of Oregon’s 36 counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rates in Deschutes, Lake, and Wallowa counties remained unchanged. Lincoln County saw the largest decrease over the month with […]

Continued Statewide Burden on Businesses Jeopardize Economic Health for These and Other Employers By Karen Vineyard, chair, Oregon Business and Industry As we wind down summer and continue down a somewhat uncertain path of recovery from the global pandemic, our team at OBI continues to find opportunities to not only […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, A pandemic… A supply chain crisis… Inflation spikes… and now an outright product ban which will force dozens of businesses to close and lay off employees. Washington County is hosting a hearing thus Tuesday on an ordinance to outlaw the sales of flavored vaping within […]

By National Federation of Independent Business, The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index decreased one point to 99.1. Three of the 10 Index components improved, five declined, and two were unchanged. “Small business owners are doing their best to meet the needs of customers, but are unable to hire workers or […]