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Bend Chamber Weekly
September 25, 2009
By Courtney Linville, Communications Coordinator
This Week's Highlights
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Show off your business at Business Showcase
Do you own a small business? Would you like to have your business "showcased" at a Business After Hours? Then you should sign up for the Business Showcase! Once a year, the Bend Chamber offers this opportunity for small and/or home-based businesses to co-host a Business After Hours.
These extremely successful events "showcase" businesses that would often otherwise be unable to "host" a networking event due to the size of their facilities. This event provides great visibility as well as an opportunity to highlight your products and services while networking one-on-one with potential new clients.
This year's Business Showcase is coming up on Tuesday, October 27 at Bend Golf & Country Club, and we have openings for hosts. The cost for members to host a space is $150.
We have a limited number of booths available, so if you are interested in the details of participating, please contact Chris Boyle at chris@bendchamber.org or call 382-3221. |
Town Hall Forum Recap: Legislative Impacts on Labor and Employment Law
Last Friday's Town Hall Forum entitled "Legislative Impacts on Labor and Employment Law" allowed Chamber members the opportunity to speak with Brad Avakian, Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor & Industries (BOLI), about the 2009 Legislative session, employment issues, and more. Members were able to learn more about BOLI, the views of Avakian on different wage issues, and the current crisis with an aging workforce. This interactive forum had questions ranging from prevailing wage to the Oregon Family Leave Act and how to maintain the integrity of administrative judges to apprenticeship training.
Listed below are just a few questions asked at Town Hall with abbreviated answers:
Question: The previous BOLI Commissioner did not follow prevailing wage as closely as hoped, what is your office doing?
Avakian: Prevailing wage is very complicated. The theory behind it is to determine the predominate wage in a geographical area. We have 14 different regions and sent out surveys to all contractors. Two things disturbed me greatly. I was shocked the state would put that much power in one individual, because there is no council, board or commission, and no appeals process. I dictate the cost of all public processes and how much money families of construction workers will earn all by myself. Second, the system has no credibility. Not everyone sends the survey in. I can penalize a contractor $1,000, but I'm not going to go after small employers.
With the information that is sent in, I have nothing to compare to verify accuracy. I have no idea if the information really represents union or non-union or what wages really were.
For the first time ever, a commissioner has suspended the survey. I have no faith that it provides a reliable stream of information, so I didn't send it this year. Instead, I have a prevailing wage advisory committee. I put them to the task of figuring out how to make the system real, come back with 9 different changes made to the survey, have auditing processes, and get rid of peak week. They have been holding public hearings, and after that they will start making decisions on how to reform the wage, and early next year we will send out a better survey.
Question: Several people have claimed it's difficult to get into apprenticeship programs. Are more spaces available?
Avakian: There are not spaces available right now because of the economy. A lot of the trades have 100 to 150 people on wait lists to get into the programs. This state needs jobs, and it needs it desperately and right now. The only way to clear that up isto get people in the programs out working. Most of the apprentice training facilities are run by the unions, and unions are also cognizant that the people they have are working and earning money. When you flood the skilled workforce, you dilute the people who are journey level status. Non-union programs also experience the same dynamic.
Question: How do you make sure Administrative Law Judges maintain their integrity?
Avakian: My office is elected and my role is to the people. The judge is only an advisory to me. It's a perfectly acceptable perception that because the judge works for the agency he or she is more likely to uphold the decision of the agency. However, if you look at the decisions, many judges have overturned the agency's original decision. As an elected official, it's my job to make sure there is impartiality at the investigation stage and the judge's deliberations are intact. The prosecutor's job is to uphold the agency's determination, so that's different. But the final check rests in me. |
Central Oregon sees increase in unemployment
Central Oregon counties saw another increase in unemployment for the month of August. Deschutes County is rate rose 0.6 percentage points from July's revised rates. This puts the county's unemployment at 15.8 percent.
"The county's civilian labor force shrank slightly between July and August. This is the first time this year that this occurred," stated an Oregon Employment Department release. "The county lost 360 jobs in August after gaining 360 jobs in July."
The greatest job losses were seen in retail trade, mining, logging, and construction, financial activities, and professional and business services.
Job gains were seen in two private-sector industries including transportation, warehousing, and utilities and other services.
Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. Oregon's statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 12.2 percent. |
Riverhouse Convention Center receives Silver LEED Certification
The Riverhouse Hotel and Convention Center was recently awarded the LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program for the Convention Center.
The Riverhouse Convention Center is the only Hotel & Convention Center Facility in the state of Oregon to be awarded LEED Silver Certification.
"LEED Silver Certification gives Bend a tremendous competitive advantage to attract new 'green' business to Central Oregon," Owner Wayne Purcell stated in a recent release. "More than ever, Meeting Planners are looking for environmentally friendly places to hold meetings and events and now Bend can go after that 'green' market in a big way. This means more jobs and more money for our local economy during these tough economic times." |
Bend Chamber Councils On the Move
Submitted by Jim Lee and Tony Favia of InvitExcellence
We have had the privilege of providing the initial facilitation for the three existing Chamber Councils during their transition into the creation of a newly formed Council that will rollout officially in January 2010.
This organizational change was announced by Executive Director Tim Casey in the September Business Journal. We initially formulated the following goals:
- Build on the success and strengths of the three existing Councils: Entrepreneurial, Nonprofit and Professional Development Series.
- Create a new strategy and structure that will continue to meet the needs of our membership for both education and ongoing dialogue around best-business practices.
- Increase the collaboration with other existing business support networks such as EDCO, TACS, Opportunity Knocks, etc., to avoid redundancy and to enrich the educational and networking experiences for our membership.
- And be able to provide ongoing assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of the newly formed Council.
At our August meeting, we reviewed the strategy and structures of the three former councils and thoroughly analyzed the data from the past year's attendance of all groups. It did not surprise us at all that the primary focus and efforts of all three existing councils was to increase the economic vitality of Bend through meaningful education and support of our membership. We also laid the plans to obtain critical member feedback in order to develop the new council's strategy and structure going forward (reference E-mail Member Survey sent September 21).
The new council will offer a total of 22 business educational sessions during the Calendar year of 2010. In our evaluation with the combined leadership from the three councils, the group felt it important to offer both presentation and interactive sessions addressing the needs to receive quality professional information from expert speakers, while providing opportunity for meaningful dialogue and open discussions with peers.
This first phase of our transition during August and September addressed the importance of acknowledging the rich experiences of the three former councils as a means of building a new and united strategy that would build on the best of the best while obtaining ongoing feedback from you, the membership. The second phase of the transition period is the implementation phase that will achieve the necessary milestones during October and November in the areas of structure, logistics, content and communications.
Providing the core leadership to this process will be Jason Moyer, Beth Wickham, Dana Barz, Peggy Foutz and Linda Orcelletto along with Tim Casey and Gayle Najera. This group is also interested in others that might want to offer their leadership and input as this important process moves forward to a new beginning in January 2010!
You might ask, "What will be the name of the new council?" Why not suggest your idea to gayle@bendchamber.org or one of the implementation leaders above? Stay tuned for an update on this and other important information in the October Business Journal, Weekly E-News and other Chamber communications. |
In the News
Smith named CEO of National Association of Broadcasters: Former U.S. Senator Gordon Smith was recently named the president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB). Smith will start his new position on November 1. While serving in the U.S. Senate from 1996 to 2008, one of his committee assignments was the Commerce Committee, a panel that oversees all broadcast-related legislation. "We conducted an exhaustive search to identify the very best individual to lead a great trade association," NAB Join Board Chairman Steve Newberry stated in a recent press release. "We're convinced we have found that person in Gordon Smith. His background as a lawyer, a statesman, and as an entrepreneur- coupled with his extensive knowledge of broadcast issues from having served many years on the Commerce Committee- make Gordon eminently qualified to represent the interests of free and local broadcasters in Washington."
Oregon ranks 14th for business-tax climate: According to a study released by The Tax Foundation, Oregon has lost its standing in the top 10 for best business tax climate states. For the 2010 State Business Tax Climate Index, Oregon is ranked 14th. The Index looks at the competitiveness of each state's tax system, and ranks them accordingly based on corporate income, individual income, sales, property, and unemployment insurance taxes. South Dakota had the overall highest tax climate and New Jersey had the lowest.
Employers plan to rehire laid-off workers: A new survey by the OI Partners-Compass Career Management Solutions shows 40 percent of U.S. employers plan to rehire some former laid-off employees as full-time employees or consultants. The survey looked at 318 companies, nonprofits, and government agencies. A few reasons employers are looking to rehire laid-off employees include: their skill levels, they fit into the company culture, a shortage of experts in specialty areas, and it's less risky than new employees. |
Upcoming Events
October 13- Professional Development Series- Why Don't Zebras Get Ulcers? Prolonged stress causes or intensifies a range of physical and mental afflictions, including depression, ulcers, colitis, heart disease and more. When we worry or experience stress, our body turns on the same physiological responses that an animal's body does, but we usually do not turn off the stress-response the same way. Over time, this chronic activation of the stress response can make us literally sick. Join Peggy Huetten of Heart to Heart for this Professional Development Series to learn about stress management. This presentation will combine cutting edge research with a healthy dose of good humor and practical advice on sleep, gender differences, anxiety, weight gain, and more. Huetten has been teaching adults for the past 15 years. As a former vocational counselor for the community college system in the State of Washington, she taught a variety of classes on study skills, self-esteem, workforce retraining, and job development and employment. In addition, Huetten subcontracted with other colleges and community schools to offer trainings in Stress, Habit Control, Pain Management, Change Process, and Overcoming Fears and Anxieties. If you are interested in attending this presentation, please RSVP by October 12 at www.bendchamber.org.
October 16- Town Hall Forum - Focusing on Business- Attorney General John Kroger - How can state offices help small businesses grow? What is the state doing to help businesses thrive in Oregon? Who is leading the charge? Attorney General John Kroger feels state offices need to make it a priority to help small businesses and businesses in general grow in Oregon. In this month's Town Hall, Kroger will discuss how the state needs to be more accessible, how ideas can be generated, and the resources available to business. Kroger also plans to discuss how he, as Attorney General, plans to continue to help business. Attend this Town Hall and get your questions answered by the Attorney General. Please RSVP for this event by October 15 at www.bendchamber.org. |
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