By Oregon Small Business Association, Fred Meyer and QFC grocery stores violated federal labor laws when they banned Seattle area workers from wearing Black Lives Matter buttons, according to the Seattle Times. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 21 distributed BLM buttons to employees after a Minneapolis police […]

By Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, Air travel was always one of the last things expected to rebound. After all, why would one willingly enclose themselves in a tight space with hundreds of strangers for hours on end during a pandemic? The main reasons are traditionally because we have to […]

By Cascade Policy Institute, Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Western Resource Advocates have sent PacifiCorp a clear message after the release of the utility’s newest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP): It doesn’t matter how much you do, we will always want more. An IRP is like a utility roadmap; […]

By Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association, Guest writer from UnitedHealthcare The current labor shortage in the Hospitality industry is real. According to Job List’s Q2 2021 United States Job Market Report: 60% of job seekers indicated they would not consider working in a restaurant, bar, or hotel for their next […]

U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today launched a six-figure paid advertising campaign in opposition to the $3.5 trillion plus reconciliation bill that poses a significant threat to the American economy. “This reconciliation bill is effectively 100 bills in one representing every big government idea that’s never been able to pass in Congress. The bill is an existential threat to America’s fragile […]

By Oregon Employment Department, In August 2021, all but two of Oregon’s 36 counties experienced over-the-month decreases in their unemployment rates. The unemployment rates in Harney and Wallowa counties remained unchanged. Clatsop County saw the largest decrease over the month with a decline of 0.5 percentage point. Lincoln County had […]

By Oregon Small Business Association, The profit earned by people purchasing, fixing up, and flipping homes has dropped to the lowest level in a decade, but they still receive a good profit, according to Attom Data Solutions LLC, a national property database company. The numbers show the difference between the […]

By Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association The ORLA professional team led by Steve Scardina and Terry Hopkins in their regions of the state and supported by Greg Astley, Tom Perrick, and Glenda Hamstreet in our Government Affairs Department are working hard to defeat meals taxes appearing on the November ballot […]

By Paula Barran & Bruce Garrett Barran Liebman, Oregon Law Firm The Oregon Employment Department announced that a new temporary unemployment benefit availability rule will take effect next week. It is intended to clarify eligible requirements for workers who must work around child care responsibilities, and will likely result in […]

By National Federation of Independent Business, The NFIB Research Center released its latest COVID-19 survey on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected small businesses. This is the 19th survey in the series and includes updates on supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages, sales levels, and more. The survey was conducted from […]