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Wednesday, December 18, 2019
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Small-business & Ag
HAPPENINGS
Dual county businesses partner
for holiday event this evening
LA GRANDE — Terminal Gravity Brew-
ery and Pub of Enterprise is partnering
with La Grande’s Benchwarmers Pub &
Grill for a “TG Tap Takeover” Wednesday at
Benchwarmers, 210 Depot St., La Grande.
The takeover will run from 6-8:30 p.m.
and feature seven beers on tap, including
brand-new releases plus swag giveaways,
beer samples and conversation with TG
representatives.
Rosewood Cottage plans
Customer Appreciation Day
LA GRANDE — Rosewood Cottage,
which changed locations late this year,
is hosting a Customer Appreciation Day
Thursday in its new space in Pat’s Alley,
1414 Adams Ave., La Grande. From 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m., the community can stop by for
samples, holiday discounts and drawings.
Oregon Wheat Growers League
and Oregon Wheat Commission
announce new CEO
PENDLETON — The Oregon Wheat
Commission and Oregon Wheat Growers
League announce Amanda Hoey, of The
Dalles, will serve as the next
chief executive offi cer of the
organizations.
Hoey has more than a
decade of executive leadership
experience and a close con-
Hoey
nection to the Oregon wheat
industry, growing up on a
dryland wheat farm in Wasco County. Her
experience includes serving as the execu-
tive director for Mid-Columbia Economic
Development District since 2008; managing
the bi-state regional organization, serving
fi ve counties in both Oregon and Washing-
ton; and serving on the National Associa-
tion of Development Organizations Board
of Directors where advocacy for federal
resource support and policy changes within
USDA was a high priority.
“The OWC and OWGL representatives
were equally impressed with Amanda’s
qualifi cations and interview. She was very
well spoken and has a great deal of experi-
ence to take on the role. I have complete
confi dence she will serve the organizations
well,” current CEO Blake Rowe stated.
Hoey takes pride in returning to her
roots and investing in rural economies.
Amanda recognizes an opportunity to
further expand the investment into the
area most important to her: “From enhanc-
ing resources for ag research to addressing
policy challenges that would otherwise
hinder farm profi tability/viability, the work
of Oregon Wheat is critical to ensuring
vibrant rural communities.”
‘Kicker’ details confi rmed
SALEM — According to a press release
from the Oregon Department of Revenue,
more than $1.5 billion tax surplus was
confirmed by the Office of Economic Analysis
earlier this month, triggering a tax surplus
credit, or “kicker,” for the 2018 tax year. Instead
of kicker checks, the surplus will be returned to
taxpayers through a credit on their 2019 state
personal income tax returns filed in 2020.
To calculate the amount of your credit,
multiply your 2018 tax liability before any
credits (line 22 on the 2018 Form OR-40)
by 16%. This percentage is determined and
certifi ed by OEA. Taxpayers are eligible
to claim the kicker if they fi led a 2018 tax
return and had tax due before credits. To
claim the kicker credit, taxpayers must fi le
a 2019 tax return even if they don’t have
a fi ling obligation. The state may use all
or part of the kicker to pay any state debt
owed, such as tax due for other years, child
support, court fi nes or school loans.
A What’s My Kicker? calculator will be
active at www.oregon.gov/dor for personal
income tax fi lers when the fi ling season
opens in January. To calculate your kicker,
enter your name, Social Security number
and fi ling status for 2018 and 2019.
Edward Jones named one of
the 2019 Best Workplaces for
Parents
ST. LOUIS, Missouri — Edward Jones,
a fi nancial services fi rm with branches in
Pendleton, La Grande and Ontario, has
been named one of the 2019 Best Workplac-
es for Parents by Great Place to Work and
FORTUNE magazine. The fi rm ranked No.
5 on the list of 50 companies, up two spots
from last year. Edward Jones’ generous 16-
week paid parental leave policy continues
to highlight its suite of associate benefi ts.
Photo by Matthew Weaver/Capital Press
Washington Grain Commission CEO Glen Squires says the new Phase One trade agreement with China could offer a big
opportunity for the U.S. wheat industry.
Encouraged by ‘Phase One’
By Matthew Weaver
Capital Press
The U.S. and China last week
agreed to a “Phase One” trade
deal that American wheat grow-
ers hope will create “tremen-
dous” potential to boost exports.
The agreement would roll
back tariffs and re-open China’s
market to U.S. agricultural
exports.
The National Association
of Wheat Growers and U.S.
Wheat Associates, the overseas
marketing arm for the industry,
welcomed the news that the two
countries have “agreed on the
text” of an agreement.
“It sounds like this is a great
step forward,” Glen Squires, CEO
of the Washington Grain Com-
mission, told the Capital Press.
According to the Offi ce of the
U.S. Trade Representative, the
trade deal “requires structural
reforms and other changes to
China’s economic and trade re-
gime in the areas of intellectual
property, technology transfer, ag-
riculture, fi nancial services, and
currency and foreign exchange.”
It also includes a commit-
ment by China that it will make
substantial additional purchases
of U.S. goods and services in the
coming years.
“President Trump has
focused on concluding a Phase
One agreement that achieves
meaningful, fully enforceable
structural changes and begins
rebalancing the U.S.-China
trade relationship,” U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Light-
hizer said in a press release.
Before the trade war began,
China’s imports of soft white
wheat — the type primarily
grown in the Pacifi c Northwest
— had increased to about
300,000 tons, Squires said.
There are 36.74 bushels in a
metric ton.
China was the fi fth largest
market for U.S. white wheat
in the 2017-2018 marketing
year, and could easily go “much
higher,” he said.
China does not produce a low-
protein, weak-gluten wheat, so
it has “tremendous potential” for
soft white wheat, Squires said.
“More demand creates
upward pressure on prices, and
upward pressure on prices cre-
ates more plantings,” Squires
said. “Our production, instead
of hovering around 300 million
bushels in the PNW, it could go
higher. We’re really kind of talk-
ing down the road.”
Phase One opens the door for
trade to resume, Squires said.
“We just hope it continues
and actually materializes into
demand,” he said.
U.S. Wheat has continued to
work with millers in China. It
held a crop quality seminar in
November, Squires said.
“Despite all of this challenge
over the last couple years, them
not buying wheat, we (in) the
U.S. wheat industry have contin-
ued to provide trade servicing,
to interact, to bring Chinese
teams ... to the states,” Squires
said. “We’ve been fully engaged
with them, looking forward to
the time we could return to the
market.”
In the meantime, China had
switched to purchasing high-
protein hard red spring wheat
from Canada, he said.
“I think China would very
much like to have another
source to buy from, rather than
just Canada,” Squires said.
“It’s huge for hard red spring;
it’s good for hard red winter,
soft white, soft red winter. I
think this is a tremendous step
forward.”
‘Solid’ year ahead for U.S. beef industry
By Carol Ryan Dumas
Capital Press
A strong U.S. economy is keeping domes-
tic beef demand steady, but a growing global
appetite for beef is reshaping U.S. markets.
The U.S. beef industry has moved from a
supply-driven market to a demand-driven
market, Joel Packham, University of Idaho
Extension educator, told producers during
the University’s Ag Outlook conferences last
week.
“That’s somewhere we haven’t been in
a while. We have lots of supply, just now
demand is driving markets,” he said.
African swine fever in China and growing
economies among some U.S. trading part-
ners has USDA projecting U.S. beef exports
will be up 5% in 2020 and imports will be
down 2%, he said.
See Beef / Page 2B
Associated Press fi le photo
A sales person at Jusco Supermarket arranges U.S. beef products in Tokyo. Exports
to Japan and China will contribute to a “solid” year ahead for the U.S. beef industry.
A decade of perseverance for small biz
By Jeremy Field
This year brings an exuber-
ant end to the decade. There has
never been a better time to start
or grow a small
business in the
current booming
economy.
The unemploy-
ment rate is at a
Field
50-year low with
110 months of
consecutive positive job growth.
Wages have increased 3.1%
during the past 12 months. And
30.7 million small businesses
are creating two out of every
three net new jobs.
However, the 2010s had a hum-
ble beginning. Still reeling from
the Great Recession, many small
businesses were struggling. Job
growth was fl at, the unemploy-
ment rate was a staggering 9.6%,
and there were only 26.8 million
small businesses in the U.S.
Hiring was stagnant, and
lending and spending were
tight. Survival was the goal as
small business owners felt the
weight of keeping their doors
open, keeping their staff em-
ployed and fi nding their way in
a post-recession economy. It was
a diffi cult and stressful time to
be a small business owner.
However, true to the entre-
preneurial spirit and American
dream, small businesses
persevered.
During the past couple years
in my role as regional adminis-
trator for the U.S. Small Business
Administration, I’ve traveled
around Alaska, Idaho, Oregon
and Washington to meet small
businesses and listen to their
journeys. I’ve met businesses
that reshaped what they do in
order to move forward. I’ve met
businesses who innovated with
new cost-saving strategies for
their customers. I’ve even met
entrepreneurs who started their
businesses during a time most
would say they were crazy.
The common thread is they
all adapted, they all took risks,
and they all had a vision they
focused on seeing through.
One local story that comes to
mind when I think of the per-
severance of small businesses
See Field / Page 2B