Business AgLife
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Thursday, April 30, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Small-business & Ag
HAPPENINGS
EO Media Group
Wallowa County commissioners
seek COVID-19 savvy business
plans
ENTERPRISE — Wallowa County com-
missioners are asking local businesses to
submit written plans for opening in the world
of COVID-19. Gov. Kate Brown has asked
businesses to have written plans outlining
policies to mitigate the spread of COVID-19
while reopening. These plans should include
how a businesses plans to minimize contact
with employees, patrons and the community
at large.
You can email plans to Commissioner
Susan Roberts at sroberts@co.county.or.us or
for other arrangements call Roberts at 541-
426-4543 ext. 1133.
The Wallowa County commissioners also
asked individuals to take responsibility for
decisions regarding contact with vulnerable
populations, such as our elderly and people
with underlying health conditions.
Photo by Phil Wright/EO Media Group
Carla Sorweide takes an order Tuesday at her establishment, Hought’s 24 Flavors, in La Grande. Customers can come in to order
food and treats to go during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sorweide said, and the takeout business is keeping the ice cream and burger
shop busy.
OTEC holds annual meeting
virtually
BAKER CITY — Oregon Trail Electric
Cooperative announced it will hold its annual
meeting Saturday at 10:30 a.m. virtually. The
OTEC board president will preside at the
meeting and conduct business as necessary.
The move to hold the meeting online is due to
the coronavirus, according to a press release
from the cooperative.
Three positions on the OTEC Board
of Directors are up for election. Election
results for Position 1 (Union County), Posi-
tion 2 (Baker County) and Position 3 (Harney
County) will be announced during the
meeting.
Candidates on the ballot are:
Position 1 – Union County
Candidates: George Galloway (Incumbent)
and Cory Miller
Position 2 – Baker County
Candidates: Aletha Bonebrake (Incum-
bent) and Tamrya Keller
Position 3 – Harney County
Candidates: Robert Cargill (Incumbent)
and Laurie Draper
Terms are for three years. Election bal-
lots arrive in the mail starting in May,
according to the press release. Ballots come
with a secrecy envelope. Place ballots into
the secrecy envelope and place that into the
prepaid colored envelope. If you are unable
to mail your ballot by May 22, drop it off at
the secure drop boxes at your local OTEC
office no later than May 29 or at OTEC head-
quarters in Baker City on May 30 before
10:00 a.m.
Members voting by mail will be entered to
win a $500 energy credit. The winner will be
announced during the annual meeting. OTEC
customers are entitled to vote in the election.
Oregon Trail Electric will provide details
on how to view the annual meeting virtually
in the coming weeks. Visit otec.coop/annu-
al-meetingboard-elections for updates and
more information pertaining to the meeting.
If you have questions on the state of the
Annual Meeting or any, call the cooperative’s
vommunications office at 541-524-2858 or
email communications@otecc.com
Benefits now available for
self-employed and independent
contractors
SALEM — The Oregon Employment
Department starting Tuesday began pro-
viding unemployment benefits through the
federal CARES Act Pandemic Unemploy-
ment Assistance program.
According to a press release from the state
agency, it has recruited and trained staff to
process PUA claims.
Oregonians who are eligible for this pro-
gram include individuals who do not qualify
for or cannot collect benefits on a reg-
ular unemployment insurance claim. This
includes Oregonians who are self-employed
and not subject to unemployment insurance
tax, work as an independent contractor and
perform work not subject to unemployment
insurance tax, such as agricultural workers.
To qualify, you must be unemployed, par-
tially unemployed or unable and unavailable
for work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal law provides the PUA benefits
are retroactive to the first week a worker
was impacted by a qualifying COVID-19
reason, potentially starting the week of Feb.
2 through the week ending Dec. 26. The PUA
process can take as little as one week or sev-
eral weeks, depending on the claim com-
plexity. To apply, access the PUA application
and certification forms at https://govstatus.
egov.com/ui-benefits/CARES. There are
three ways to start a new application for PUA
benefits:
•Email OED_PUA_INFO@oregon.gov to
request a secure email link, then attach your
PUA application and weekly claim reports to
the secure email. Only use the secure e-mail
link to provide personal identifying informa-
tion relevant to your claim.
•Mail your PUA application and weekly
claim reports to Oregon Employment Depart-
ment at P.O. Box 14165, Salem, OR 97311.
•Fax your PUA application and weekly
claim reports to 503-371-2893.
Scooping up success
La Grande ice cream shop remains hot spot by adapting to takeout and curbside orders
By Phil Wright
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — Business
at La Grande’s lone ice cream
shop is heating up.
“It’s been so darn busy,”
owner Carla Sorweide said.
“We’re answering the phone
more except when we’re
really busy. And we’re doing
deliveries.”
All moves Hought’s 24 Fla-
vors has made to stay afloat
during the COVID-19 crisis
and meet the mandates to curb
the spread of the virus.
Hought’s went on hiatus for
a while after Gov. Kate Brown
issues her executive order on
March 23 banning on-site
dining and drinking at restau-
rants and bars. But Sorweide
was not about to just close the
shop. She said she went to her
business Facebook page to
let customers know Hought’s
would reopen and provide
curbside takeout and delivery.
Photo by Phil Wright/EO Media Group
Bruce Weimer prepares burgers Tuesday at Hought’s 24 Fla-
vors, La Grande. The business has adapted to providing curb-
side service and deliveries to meet the rules against dining in
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Finally people started
finding out about us,” she said.
“Word of mouth travels quick
in La Grande.”
Customers came back and
have kept coming.
Before noon Tuesday, two
men waited for their orders
outside the establishment at
602 Adams Ave. Moments
after cook Bruce Weimer fin-
ished with their meals, three
more customers entered,
ordered burgers and fries and
waited in a car outside. Next,
a mom and daughter entered
with an order.
Sorweide said customers
have to keep at least 6 feet
apart per social distancing
guidelines, and when times
get busy, the line stretches
well outside the door. Sor-
weide credited feedback on
social media for tips on what
works well for changing over
to takeout and curbside ser-
vice. Adapting to new ways of
doing business are paying off.
“It’s nice. We needed it,”
Sorweide said. “Right now, it
doesn’t even feel like there’s a
virus.”
Hought’s 24 Flavors cel-
ebrated 15 years in business
on Valentine’s Day. The shop
has been a favorite for nearby
grade school students, Sor-
See, Success/Page 2B
Craft brewers see
demand plunge
amid virus closures
SE Oregon, SW Idaho hop growers plan to
reduce acreage by as much as 5% to 20%
J
By Brad Carlson
EO Media Group
SALEM — Craft-
beer revenues plunged
on COVID-19 concerns,
impacting the industry as
well as the farmers who
supply it with hops and
barley.
The Brewers Association
in an early April survey of
craft brewers found on-site
sales had dropped by 65%
— eased slightly by new
drive-up and delivery sales
— and fell by more than
90% in distributed draft as
bars and other outlets were
closed.
Sales to retailers rose as
much as 20% as consumers
stocked up.
Bart Watson, the asso-
ciation’s chief economist,
said the outlook is uncertain
“since we don’t know what
reopening looks like.”
“I’ve seen some analysts
suggest that on-premise is
going to stay down 50% for
many more months even if it
partially reopens,” he said.
“Beyond that, we’re all just
guessing.”
The uncertainty largely
reflects the many unknowns,
Watson said. Data is lacking
about the progression of the
coronavirus, the govern-
ment response and consumer
behavior.
“As such, there are a wide
variety of possibilities based
on the timing and level at
which state governments lift
restrictions, how consumers
respond to those actions and
the situation more broadly,
and in turn how those
actions then slow or speed
the progression of cases,” he
said.
Idaho Hop Growers
Association President
Michelle Gooding said
growers in Southwestern
Idaho and Southeastern
Oregon plan to cut back
by 5% to 20% from a year
ago, depending on vari-
eties grown and diversity of
clientele.
Jaki Brophy of Hop
Growers of America in
Yakima, Washington, said
the industry had been plan-
ning to increase acreage
again this year.
“But with COVID devel-
opments unfolding, mer-
chants started working with
growers around the end of
March to reduce acreage
despite plans already in
place and contracts already
settled earlier,” she said.
“While it is a tough deci-
sion as investments had
already been made, on the
whole, people understand
the big picture and are
willing to take some losses
now for a more stable
market.”
Idaho barley acreage is
expected to fall 6%, USDA
reported March 31. Some
is yet to be planted. More
See, Brewers/Page 2B
Photo by Ben Margot/Associated Press
Protestors close down a drive-thru April 21 at a McDonald’s
restaurant in Oakland, California, over what they say is a lack of
personal protective equipment for employees. Across the coun-
try, the new, unexpected front-line workers of the pandemic —
from grocery store and fast food workers to Uber drivers — are
taking action to protect themselves.
Pandemic job actions
offer hope for renewed
labor movement
By Nicholas Riccardi
and Dee-Ann Durbin
Associated Press
NEW YORK — Jordan
Flowers never thought he
would become a labor leader.
Then the coronavirus forced
him to risk his life every time
he clocked in.
The robotics operator at
Amazon’s Staten Island ware-
house helped lead one of the
first walkouts at the site — a
protest over the company’s
lack of protective equipment.
A month later, even after
Amazon scrambled to provide
masks and gloves and check
employees’ temperatures,
workers continue conducting
scattered walkouts to protest
what they say are still-risky
conditions in warehouses
where workers have had the
virus.
“You risk your life put-
ting in 10 hours every day,”
said Flowers, 21, who has an
autoimmune disease and is at
heightened risk for infection.
“You’re surrounded, and you
don’t know who has it or who
touched what to pass it on.”
Across the country, the
unexpected front-line workers
of the pandemic — grocery
store workers, Instacart shop-
pers and Uber drivers, among
them — are taking action to
protect themselves.
Rolling job actions have
raced through what’s left of
the economy, including Pitts-
burgh sanitation workers who
walked off their jobs in the
first weeks of lockdown and
dozens of fast-food workers in
California who left restaurants
last week to perform socially
distant protests in their cars.
To labor activists and
historians, the often-spon-
taneous job actions echo
other moments in the labor
See, Labor/Page 2B