4 | DECEMBER 4, 2015
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Decision coming on Bumble Bee
purchase
Clatsop added 380 jobs in year
ending in October
BANGKOK — Thai Union Group said
Nov. 24 it expects U.S. regulators to decide
Dec. 18 whether to approve its proposed $1.5
billion acquisition of rival Bumble Bee Sea-
foods, according to Reuters news service.
Thai Union is the world’s largest canned
tuna producer, already owning the Chicken of
the Sea brand, which it will divest if the Bum-
ble Bee deal goes through.
Bumble Bee is the largest canned tuna
and sardine producer in North America. Now
based in San Diego, the company was found-
ed in Astoria in 1899 as the Columbia River
Packers Association.
The Bumble Bee acquisition by Thai
Union has been in the works for a year, but has
been delayed by a U.S. Department of Justice
antitrust investigation.
ASTORIA — Seasonally adjusted unem-
ployment rates edged downward in October
in northwest Oregon, after months of slight
increases as the summer busy season wound
down, according to data from the Oregon Em-
ployment Department.
Clatsop County employers cut 470 jobs in
October, 90 fewer than expected. The chang-
es left total nonfarm payroll employment at
17,540, 380 more than the same point last
year, for a growth rate of 2.2 percent.
The county had a seasonally adjusted un-
employment rate of 5.9 percent in October,
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a year ago. Clatsop has the ninth-lowest un-
employment rate of Oregon’s 36 counties.
Pacific County joblessness notches
upward
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mated jobless rate rose slightly to 7.8 percent
in October, up from a revised 7.1 percent in
September and down from 10.0 percent in
October 2014. Based on statistical modeling,
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All eight of Washington’s farther western
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higher than the statewide rate of 5.0 percent
in this latest report from the employment Se-
curity Department. The northeast corner of the
state was Washington’s other pocket of higher
joblessness.
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estimated at 8,067 in October, compared to a
record of 9,140 in October 2003.
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Clatsop college hosts career-
exploration event
ASTORIA — Clatsop Community Col-
lege will host “an opportunity to explore new
career options” on Tuesday, Dec. 8, from 5
to 7 p.m. in Columbia Hall, 1651 Lexington
Avenue, Astoria. Dinner will be provided for
registered participants. Register for this free
event at www.clatsopcc.edu/newcareer.
“Take this opportunity to identify career
paths that make the most of your skills and
interests,” according to a press release from
the college. “Learn about what’s hot on the
regional career front. Consider new training
at CCC to help launch your new direction. In-
formation about CCC admissions and student
support programs will also be available.”
For more information, call 503-338-2411.
CMH nurse honored by March of Dimes
ASTORIA — Nurse Laura Brown was named
the 2015 Nurse of the Year in Women’s Health for
Oregon and Southwest Washington by the March
of Dimes during an award ceremony in Portland
on Nov. 13.
Brown is a labor and delivery nurse and an In-
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(IBCLC) with the Columbia Memorial Hospital
Family Birthing Center. She was one of 15 Nurse
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“We are truly blessed to have a nurse of Laura’s
caliber among our CMH family,” said Trece Gur-
rad, CMH’s vice-president of patient care services.
Brown joined CMH in 2006 to establish an
inpatient lactation program. She has expanded the
program to include two nurses with seven-day-a-
week phone consultation cover-
age.
“She has been instrumental
in expanding the resources avail-
able to breastfeeding women in
Clatsop County by developing
Laura Brown them at CMH and by partnering
with regional organizations, in-
cluding Bras2Moms and the Northwest Mother’s
Milk Bank,” the hospital said in a press release.
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Ingrid Boettcher, Colleen Fletcher, Kendra Gohl,
Lisa Harris, Jenny Jacques, Amy Karsten, Shan-
non Lackey, Rose Larson, Mihaela Lebo, Jamee
Meier, Zachary Melton, Brooke Roberts, Sarah
Salerno and Becky White.
You’ll notice the difference.
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