COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
Familiar W-4 forms
getting a major update
WASHINGTON, D.C. —
A major revision of the famil-
iar W-4 income tax withhold-
ing form is taking effect and is
likely to generate questions from
employees, according to the
American Payroll Association.
“The APA recommends that
businesses should review the new
form and proactively communi-
cate with employees about the
new Form W-4, using resources
created by the IRS and APA,” the
association said.
The IRS’s Q&A on the sub-
ject is available at https://tinyurl.
com/New-2020-W-4 and APA’s
resources at https://tinyurl.com/
APA-W-4-Guide.
“The IRS is not requiring all
employees to complete a new
form. However, the new form is
required for all new hires in 2020
and for employees who have
completed a Form W-4 before
2020 and want to make changes
to their withholding in 2020.
Also, while employers may not
require employees to complete a
new form, they may ask them to
do so,” APA said.
Pacific County ranks high
in net worth
LONG BEACH — Pacific
County ranks seventh among
Washington’s 39 counties in net
worth per person, financial tech-
nology firm Smart Asset found in
a new analysis.
Other Western Washington
counties in the top 10 were Jef-
DECEMBER 2019 • 5
BUSINESS BRIEFS
ferson (1), San Juan (2), Clal-
lam (4), Island (5), Lewis (8) and
Kitsap (10). In Eastern Washing-
ton Douglas County ranked third,
Astotin sixth and Stevens ninth.
The analysis found that Pacific
County’s comparatively low
per-person income was made up
for by relatively high assets and
low debt.
Clatsop County was not ranked
among the top 10 in Oregon.
Clatsop houses selling
for less, listed for more
ASTORIA — Clatsop County
houses sold for an average of
$423,863 in October, a decline of
2.6% from a year earlier. For the
year to date through Oct. 31 the
average was $395,700, a decline
of 5.6%, according to Multiple
Listing Service data.
Fewer relatively inexpensive
houses are available. Four Clat-
sop County houses sold for less
than $180,000 in October and 42
sold for between $180,000 and
$499,000. Compared to October
2018, 43% fewer homes sold for
under $180,000, and 25% fewer
sold for between $180,000 and
$499,000.
At the top end of the scale,
23 Clatsop houses sold for more
than $500,000 in October, 28%
more than a year earlier.
Looking at new listings this
October, only five were less than
$200,000 compared to eight in
October 2018. There were 25
news listings above $500,000, a
56% increase from the previous
October.
Local HR group wins
national honors
ASTORIA — The Lower
Columbia Human Resources
Management
Association
(LCHRMA) is the winner of a
Pinnacle Award presented by
the Society for Human Resource
Management as “Exceptional
Human Resources Program.”
Created in 1991, the Pinna-
cle Award is the most prestigious
award SHRM state councils and
chapters can receive, honoring
programs that exceed the stan-
dard activities of SHRM affiliates
in enhancing HR management.
LCHRMA was one of 12 human
resource organizations — out of
more than 600 — from across the
country to win the award in 2019.
LCHRMA was singled out
for running a “crucial” training
series. “The 40-member chap-
ter found ways to offer afford-
able training to its mostly rural
community. It did this by ask-
ing a certified speaker to provide
his services pro-bono, exchang-
ing HR services for complemen-
tary use of the training site, and
by negotiating with local busi-
nesses for hotel rooms and cater-
ing. The chapter reinvested its
profits by increasing its schol-
arship offerings, expanding the
chapter’s services to reach a rural
region 60 miles away, improving
member networking opportuni-
ties and better assisting members
in reaching SHRM certification
goals.”
“I am so proud of our chapter.
We have such a great board and
we are looking forward to con-
tinuing the series next year,” says
Chapter President Ian Wiggins.
Winning programs, selected
from 75 applications, received
a $1,000 prize given by Pay-
chex Inc., which is the sponsor of
this year’s Pinnacle Awards. The
award was presented at SHRM’s
Volunteer Leaders Business
Meeting (VLBM) in Washing-
ton, D.C., which was attended
by Chapter President Ian Wig-
gins and President Elect Zack
O’Connor.
Learn more at www.lchrma.
org.
Real estate ‘Food Fight’ is
a knockout
LONG BEACH — Real estate
agents on the Long Beach Penin-
sula recently participated in col-
lecting and donating hundreds
of pounds of food for the Ocean
Park, Ilwaco and Chinook com-
munity food banks to help allevi-
ate the need over the Thanksgiv-
ing holiday.
Donated items ranged from
sacks of potatoes, boxes of stuff-
ing and cans of green beans, to
pie filling and marshmallows,
and everything in between to
make up a tasty holiday feast.
“Giving back is an important
part of the ‘Coolture’ of Realty
One Group, and we were thrilled
that so many local real estate
firms participated,” owner Brad
Whittaker said. “We appreciate
the community where we live,
work and play, and hope to make
this an annual event to give back
and effect change by lending a
helping hand to our neighbors.”
Bumble Bee expected to
change hands
SAN DIEGO — Bumble Bee
Foods, the venerable packaged
seafood company founded in
Astoria in 1899, declared Chap-
ter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 21.
Although this form of bank-
ruptcy usually marks liquida-
tion of assets and extinction of
corporate existence, in this case
owners Lion Capital — a Lon-
don private equity firm — plans
a “Section 363 sale” of all Bum-
ble Bee assets to Taiwan-based
FCF Co. for about $925 mil-
lion, according to reporting by
Bloomberg.
If all goes as planned, the sale
will help clear Bumble Bee of
substantial liabilities, possibly
including part of a federal fine
for price fixing. The company
expects to continue operating
its business as usual and retain
nearly all of its workers, it said
in a press release. It has about
500 employees globally, includ-
ing 168 workers at its corporate
offices in San Diego and New
Jersey, according to bankruptcy
records.
Bumble Bee started as the
Columbia River Packers Asso-
ciation, a combination of sev-
eral early salmon-packing firms
on the Lower Columbia River.
Its name originated as a can label
brand used to pack Columbia
River sockeye about a century
ago.
Letter to the Editor: Cannery Pier continues to embody ‘Spirit of Sisu’ in Astoria
The Cannery Pier Hotel &
Spa has been welcomed and sup-
ported by Columbia Pacific res-
idents since it opened in 2005.
Astorians and locals through-
out this region have played
a huge role in making Can-
nery Pier Hotel & Spa the suc-
cess it is today, a local establish-
ment with a heart for community
which reflects and interprets our
rich history and singular sense of
place here.
At this time it is important to
let North Coast residents know
that Linh DePledge will be the
new director of sales & market-
ing at the Cannery Pier Hotel &
Spa as of Dec. 2. After 14 years
at CPH, I have elected to work
as a consultant through 2019 for
Vesta Hospitality, which took
ownership of the Cannery Pier
Hotel & Spa on Sept. 20.
Linh has a great love for Asto-
ria and an understanding of com-
munity partnerships, as well as
an impressive marketing and
hotel operations background.
I know our community will
continue to support the Cannery
Pier vision made real by Asto-
rian Robert “Jake” Jacob as we
welcome Linh and Vesta into the
greater CPH family. May Can-
nery Pier Hotel & Spa carry on
with the Spirit of Sisu, which is
deeply felt and embraced here in
Astoria!
DONNA QUINN
Astoria
•••
EDITOR’S NOTE: Crys-
tal Investment Property, LLC,
(“CIP”) a member of Hotel Bro-
kers International, in October
announced the successful facili-
tation of the sale of the Cannery
Pier Hotel. CIP, a licensed Ore-
gon brokerage, brought together
the seller and buyer of “one of
Oregon’s most iconic hotels.”
Joseph P. Kennedy, pres-
ident of CIP, worked closely
with buyer Vesta Hospitality and
seller, the Jacob Estate, as well as
the parties’ other professionals,
to negotiate a mutually accept-
able sale. The final sale price is
confidential.
“While the property never
came on the market or was listed,
our relationship with the seller
allowed us to make the intro-
duction to a highly qualified and
truly ideal buyer. We are pleased
to know that the high standards
and impeccable reputation for
luxury lodging in the commu-
nity will be sustained for many
years to come. We look forward
to the preservation of the legacy
of Robert Jacob, the visionary
behind this phenomenal prop-
erty,” Kennedy said.