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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2020)
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD BUSINESS & AG LIFE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2020 Networking Dinner encourages Local organizations EOU students to plan for careers receive tourism promotion grants EO Media Group staff LA GRANDE — Valen- tine’s Day provided dozens of students at La Grande’s Eastern Oregon University with opportunities to make connections for their futures. EOU Career Services held its annual Launch Network- ing Dinner, which invites soon-to-be graduates to mingle with a range of busi- ness leaders while discuss- ing their goals and resumes. The professional networking and mentoring event took place Friday evening and al- lowed students and business professionals to engage in career-oriented conversation. “Traditional career fairs can be heavy on handshakes and light on meaningful interactions, so EOU Career Center Director Justin Chin designed a new type of event that gives students and employers more elbow room,” according to Eastern spokesperson Vicky Hart. The university reported last year’s dinner connected 42 students with employ- ers representing an array of industries, agencies and nonprofi ts. And 40% of those students, Hart said, applied for a job or internship with one of the employers they met at the dinner. This year, the event expanded to allow more than EO Media Group staff Photo contributed by Eastern Oregon University Five dozen Eastern Oregon University students attended the annual networking dinner Friday at the campus. The event allows students who will soon graduate to discuss their goals and resumes with a range of business professionals. 60 students from a diverse range of majors, ethnic back- grounds and hometowns to meet employers as they launch their career journeys. “Students and profession- als discussed career aspira- tions and goals while gaining helpful insight on how to get there,” EOU reported in a news release. Attendees included Oregon Health and Sci- ence University, La Grande School District, ThreeMile Canyon Farms and Achiev- ing the Dream. Philanthropist Maurizio Valerio, fi eld coordinator at the Ford Family Foundation, told students at the event his job is to invest in rela- tionships. Each day, Valerio explained, he places a coin in his metaphorical piggy bank. The piggy bank represents the value he gains from having meaningful interactions, such as networking and building professional relationships. For more information regarding events like this, con- tact Chin at jchin@eou.edu. ODA recruiting for commodity commissioner positions EO Media Group staff SALEM — The Oregon Department of Agriculture is seeking applicants to fi ll 70 commissioner seats on two of the state’s agricultural and commercial fi sheries commodity commissions. The deadline to apply is March 16. Commissioners work as public of- fi cials and serve two- to four-year terms. Their duties include funding decisions for promotion, education and research projects. ODA Director Alexis Taylor is looking for applicants who represent the diversity among Oregon’s farmers, ranchers, processors and commercial fi shers. The Fine Fescue Commission has a position specifi cally open to a producer from Union County. A public member must be a U.S. citizen, an Oregon resident and have an active interest in improving eco- nomic conditions for the commodity. A “producer” is a grower or harvester. A “handler” is the fi rst to buy the com- modity from the producer and often is a processor, distributor or marketer. The following agricultural commodity commissions have openings: • Alfalfa Seed Commission — three producers • Beef Council — one beef producer, one dairy producer • Blueberry Commission — two producers, one handler • Clover Seed Commission — three producers • Fine Fescue Commission — three producers (one state at large, one from Union County, one Highland Bentgrass grower), one handler (state at large) • Hazelnut Commission — two pro- ducers, one public member • Hop Commission — three producers • Mint Commission — one producer, one public member • Potato Commission — three producers (one from Blue Mountains, one from southern Oregon, one state at large), one Blue Mountains handler • Processed Vegetable Commission — three producers, two handlers • Raspberry and Blackberry Com- mission — two producers, one handler • Ryegrass Seed Commission — three producers (one Linn County, one Marion or Polk County, one state at large) • Sheep Commission — two produc- ers, one handler • Strawberry Commission — three producers, one handler • Sweet Cherry Commission — two producers (state at large), one brine handler (state at large) • Tall Fescue Commission — two producers (one of Orchardgrass seed), one handler • Wheat Commission — one produc- er (Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam, Sher- man, Jefferson or Wasco counties), one handler, one public member For instructions on how to apply, the application or to learn more about commissions, visit www.oda.direct/ commissions or contact Kris Anderson, ODA commodity oversight program manager, at kanderson@oda.state.or.us or 503-872-6604. WHEAT Continued from Page 1B complete loss and enable growers to continue onto the next year. “I’ve been farming for 40 years and never had a crop fail like this,” he said. McLaughlin said he approached the Wallowa County Board of Commis- sioners last fall, requesting it declare the county a disaster area because of the weather- related harvest conditions. “That never happened,” he said. Commissioner Todd Nash, whom McLaughlin contact- ed, said the commissioners considered McLaughlin’s re- quest, talked to other grow- ers in similar positions and determined “there wasn’t a lot of benefi t” in a disaster declaration, Nash said. He said he made contact with most growers similarly affected by the weather and most had gotten their crops harvested. However, many got low prices for the grain due to high moisture content or having sprouted in the fi eld. Much of it had to be sold for feed. Nash said he didn’t recall Photo by Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Alder Slope farmer Erl McLaughlin holds some of the heads of wheat he was unable to harvest last fall due to high moisture content. He is waiting for spring, at which time he’ll burn the crop prior to planting this year’s grain. the number of farmers or acres involved, but said, “Most of it got harvested.” He also said he repeatedly checked with McLaughlin and other growers to make sure they got adequate insurance settlements. “It was a tough deal,” he said of the farmers’ plight. McLaughlin’s grain usu- ally gets shipped to the Far East after being trucked to Burbank, Washington, where it’s loaded on barges on the Columbia River and shipped to Portland. For this year’s growing season, McLaughlin said that as soon as weather con- ditions permit, he’ll burn last year’s crop where it stands. He would have preferred to turn under the stubble of a harvested crop for its fertil- izer value, which will be lost by burning. “But that’s about my only option,” he said. But he keeps on keeping on. “We don’t dwell on the past,” McLaughlin said. “We just keep moving on.” LA GRANDE — Several local and regional organiza- tions received state grants to help boost tourism. The Eastern Oregon Visi- tors Association announced the fi scal year 2019-20 recipients of the Eastern Oregon Regional Grants Program. The association in a news release reported it launched the program in Oc- tober 2019 to help promote the Eastern Oregon visitor experience and enhance and preserve the region’s quality of life and economy. The grants program stems from House Bill 4146, which required Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism marketing organization, to establish a program to invest 20% of the statewide lodging tax from Oregon’s seven state-designated tourism regions. Eastern Oregon Visitors Associa- tion serves as the regional destination management organization for Eastern Oregon and implements tourism program dollars on behalf of the region. The program received 43 applications seeking more than $322,000 in total. The Eastern Oregon Visitors As- sociation provided $81,850 to a total of 20 projects, including the following: •$4,000 to the Eastern Oregon Film Festival in La Grande for the Regional Connection Project. •$6,000 to the Union County Visitors Bureau for tourism promotion and $2,400 for the Union County Farm Crawl. •$3,000 to Nella Mae’s Farm in Cove for agritour- ism visitor infrastructure. •6,000 toward developing a four season destination at the Wallowa Lake Lodge, Wallowa. Alana Carollo, execu- tive director of the Eastern Oregon Visitors Association, said of the response to the grant program, “We were ecstatic by the interest and excitement with the launch of our Regional Grants Pro- gram. The Grants Program has been a great opportuni- ty to engage with new part- ners and organizations, and to further grow and align our collaborative efforts. We are looking forward to the product development and economic impact the project recipients will have at the local, region, and state level, and are excited to see what next year’s submissions will bring!” Applicants may apply for grants on an annual basis. Each project requires its own application and must dem- onstrate a cash match. The visitors association will an- nounce the next grant cycle in late summer. You can fi nd more information at https:// eova.com/grantprogram/. Wheat Growers League opposes cap and trade EO Media Group staff PENDLETON — The Oregon Wheat Growers League on Friday an- nounced its opposition to Senate Bill 1530, the legislation limited carbon emissions. While this latest version of the cap-and-trade pro- posal delays some elements of the legislation for some areas of Oregon, according to the statement from the league, “the fundamental provisions that are most troubling to Oregon’s wheat growers are essentially unchanged.” The league, the pri- mary representative for Oregon’s wheat growers, contended the bill provides no signifi cant reduction in Oregon’s carbon emissions but would infl ict large cost increases on all sectors of the state’s economy, and wheat growers would not be able to pass those costs onto customers. “The global wheat market is hyper-competitive, and we are already unable to compete on price in many markets,” according to the league. “Further raising our costs will simply drive wheat farmers, especially smaller operations and new and young farmers, out of busi- ness in the years ahead.” Moreover, the league expressed concern any tax revenue from cap and trade would primarily go to social programs that have little to do with carbon reduc- tions or climate adaptation and provide no funding for ag research to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint or to reward growers for in- novations they adopted “Oregon can do much better than SB 1530,” the league stated in the news release. “We hope that this legislation will be defeated so we can develop a carbon plan that actually helps with climate change, strengthens Oregon’s rural economy, Oregon agricul- ture, and Oregon’s other natural resource industries.”