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4 CapitalPress.com November 9, 2018 Pear packer starts using H-2B By DAN WHEAT Capital Press CASHMERE, Wash. — It’s crunch time for pear pack- ing at Blue Star Growers Inc., a grower-owned cooperative, in the heart of Washington’s Wenatchee Valley and the heart of the state’s pear pro- duction. From September through December, 300 to 350 work- ers pack more than 2 million, 44-pound boxes of pears, some for immediate sales, but mostly for storage and sales through the year. What’s new this year is the co-op’s first use of H-2B-visa foreign guestworkers to help get the job done. “We’ve had trouble filling crews. We even tried a train- ing school for two years, but we still weren’t getting what we needed,” says Dan Kenoy- er, Blue Star general manager. This season, working through WAFLA, formerly the Washington Farm Labor Association, Blue Star gained U.S. Department of Labor authorization to hire up to 40 H-2A-visa workers from its member growers at the end of the picking season and em- ploy them as H-2B workers in the packing house. H-2A is the federal foreign guestworker program for sea- sonal agricultural jobs. H-2B is for non-agricultural jobs. Blue Star hired its H-2B workers for Oct. 1 through Dec. 21, enabling them to return home to Mexico for Christmas. “They’re already here and know our growers. We’re counting on a large portion of them coming back next year as needed,” Kenoyer said. Rather than H-2B, packers can use H-2A if more than 50 percent of the product packed is from the company’s own operation. Unlike H-2A, there is no Adverse Effect Wage Rate to ensure wages don’t adversely affect employment opportu- nities of domestic workers. However, the U.S. Depart- ment of Labor sets minimum wages by type of work and geographic location. It’s about $13 per hour versus the $14.12 AEWR in Washington, said Dan Fazio, WAFLA director. Also unlike H-2A, em- ployers do not have to provide housing for H-2B workers but most employers help workers find affordable housing, Fazio said. As with H-2A, employ- ers do provide transportation from and back to the work- er’s country of origin. Blue Star hired its H-2B workers through a contract with WAFLA separate from the workers’ prior H-2A contracts. Housing is tak- ing a variety of paths. Some workers are staying with family or friends and Blue Star is working with growers who have housing, said Brett Holman, Blue Star produc- tion manager. While others have in- quired about it, no other tree fruit packing sheds in Cen- tral Washington are using H-2B and two use about 150 H-2A workers, Fazio said. As with H-2A, employers using H-2B have to show they have tried to hire do- mestic workers and can’t get enough and they have to hire domestic workers who apply within a certain time frame of hiring the foreign work- ers. Hiring 10 H-2B work- ers directly from Mexi- co through WAFLA costs $1,781 to $2,000 per worker but that can be reduced by up to $700 by hiring workers already in the state as H-2A workers, a WAFLA informa- tion sheet says. Blue Star packs 16,000 to 20,000 boxes of pears daily on two packing lines that run six, 10-hour days. Pears go straight into controlled atmosphere storage in bins from orchards. They are taken out and packed into 44-pound cardboard boxes for better storability. They go back into CA storage and are brought out and repacked into different packaging as needed for sales through the year. Pear bureau hires new events coordinator PORTLAND — Angela Daniels, experienced in com- munications, marketing and event planning and a frequent guest on Portland’s live tele- vision morning show, AM Northwest, has been hired as event coordinator by Pear Bureau Northwest. “We are confident An- gela’s creative perspective, Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Dan Wheat/Capital Press Blue Star Growers, Cashmere, Wash., employees more than 300 workers this time of year to pack pears. For the first time it is hiring H-2B-visa foreign guestworkers because of being short on labor. drive and ex- perience will be an asset. In-store sam- pling as well as events are essential to our market- Angela ing strate- Daniels gies. They encourage consumer trial, impact sales and drive repeat purchases. With Angela on board, we can be stronger in all of these areas,” said Kev- in Moffitt, bureau president. Daniels said she’s been buying pears for years and looks forward to sharing her passion for connecting consumers to products they love. “I can’t think of a better product than fresh, nutritious pears,” she said. Daniels most recently spent four years working with Rit Dye to refresh its brand image. She was re- sponsible for social media, creative development and project management. She was a corporate trainer early in her career, continues to be sought for her public speaking and has been a pan- elist at the National Restau- rant Association and BlogHer. Established in 1931, Pear Bureau Northwest is the non- profit promotional arm of the fresh pear industry of Ore- gon and Washington, repre- senting close to 900 grower families. — Dan Wheat Chris and Kandi Bartels, who own defunct beef processor Bartels Packing, have closed the business but expect to have enough assets to repay debts, including $4.6 million owed to cattle suppliers. An auction of the company’s assets is sched- uled for Dec. 11 in Eugene, Ore. Bartels Packing auction set for Dec. 11 No prospective buyers remain for defunct Oregon beef packer By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press With no prospective buyers for its defunct beef slaughter and processing fa- cilities, Bartels Packing of Eugene, Ore., will proceed with an auction of its assets on Dec. 11. The company shut down earlier this year but a court-appointed receiver, Richard Hooper of Pivotal Solutions, met with several potential buyers who were interested in taking it over as an ongoing enterprise. Bartels Packing was a common bidder on organic and grass-fed cattle in the region, so its exit from the market was seen as detri- mental for local livestock producers. Over the summer, one prospective buyer submitted a letter of intent to purchase the facilities but a final sale never materialized. Last month, Hooper obtained permission from a judge to auction off Bartels Pack- ing’s assets, with the pro- vision that the event could be called off if a buyer was found. In his most recent ac- count of activities submitted to the court, Hooper said there were no longer any prospective buyers and the auction would carried out as planned on Dec. 11 by the James G. Murphy Co. When reached by phone, Hooper said he couldn’t speculate as to why no buyer ultimately decided to pursue the deal. A preview of the equip- ment will be held at three Eugene locations on Dec. 10, and the actual auction will be conducted as a pho- to slide show the following day. More information is available on murphyauction. com. At the time of its closure in March, Bartels Pack- ing laid off more than 140 employees and owed $4.6 million to cattle suppliers and feedlots. 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