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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 1994)
M arch 1 6 , 1 9 9 4 • T he P ortland O bserver P age A 6 ’O J* äs roxfcx " la n it h s e ru e r Jobs Move To Portland From California As How Plantscaping Makes Space Feel Alive and Cozy Housewares Importer Comes To Town With the help of the Portland Development Commission, Portland will welcome to town a new company and new jobs on March 10. Richards Homewares, Inc. is a 55-ycar old manufacturer and im porter of housewares, with offices in both the Los Angeles and New York City areas, Richards deals in closet storage and home organization prod ucts, as well as protective covers for outdoor furniture and barbecues im ported from Hong Kong and Taiwan. The company employs 15 people at its Long Beach, California office. Annual sales are in the $4-5 million range. Needing a much larger facility for h is growing company and no longer satisfied with the quality of life in Los Angeles, Robert Frcelandcr, owner and president of Richards Homewares, Inc., began in 1991 to look for another West Coast location. Reports Freclander, “It is impor tant for an import company to be near the Pacific Rim. We started to look at our options. Freclander contacted the Port- land Development Commission to learn more about Portland. As for any business, the skills of the workforce were important, and Richards was especially interested in the quality of marine, truck and air transportation in the region. PDC worked closely with the company over a lengthy period of time, answering questions and ad dressing concerns. PDC forwarded information of the North/Northeast Portland Enterprise Zone and on the loan programs PDC and the Oregon Economic Development Department make available to businesses coming to town. But Mr. Freelandcr was also in terested in the quality of life in Port land. “The more I learned about Port land, it seemed like a great place for my employees to settle down and raise tlieir fam dies, “Freclander raves. “My whole staff talked it over and over, and we decided Portland was the place for out company.” Richards Homewares needed two things to move, and Freelandcr again turned to PDC. First, the company had to have a home. PDC provided industrial prop erty inventories giving Freclander a feel for the P o rtla n d m arket. ----- Freelandcr worked with commercial broker Norris Beggs & Simpson to find a building, Richards purchased a 35,000 square-foot building located at 3810 North Mississippi in the Lower Albina Industrial Area. Second, Richards needed high- skilled employees. Five members of his current staff are joining Freclander on the move north. So along with Frcelandcr and his company comes jobs for Portlanders, five or six at first, with more soon to follow. To recruit top notch local people for his business, Freclander turned to PDC’s JobNet program. JobNct links new and expanding companies to qualified workers from the Portland area. Freelandcr reports that he is very pleased with the skills and char acter of the people JobNet has sent his way. M ayor Katz is eager to greet the new firm : “ This is w hat i t ’s all about. The best thing P ortland has to offer are our people and our quality o f life. W hen a firm like R ichards H om ew ares com es to tow n, bringing jobs to North P o rt land, it m akes the qualify o f life b etter for all o f our c itiz e n s” . “Retirement Housing: W hat’s Right For You?” A class which explores the many yhe course is designed for seniors best time to investigate a house change housing options available during re- and fami,ics who helping older and when is the best time to move tirementyears will be held at Alameda re,atives make housing dccisions. It Cost of housing and the amenities Community School, 2732 NE Fre- win ,ore thc many oplions which which arc available will also be dis- mont, Portland. The class will meet availablc including condomini- cussed. Other factors such as loca- for 2 sessions, on Monday, April 4 artmentStmanufacturedhous- lion, style and other important facors and aprii 11 from 6:30 pm to 9 pm. and Qlhcr Rids of typical scnior lo consider will be covered. The class cost of the course is $13 plus a $1.50 B’s-n will help participants decide on the materials fee. Pre-registration is ad- wil, focus on whcn is the type of housing which is best for v i s e d . ___________________ ___________________________________ them. Thc instructor is Bonnie L. Vorcnbcrg, who served as the Na tional Enrichment Director of the Hillhavcn Corporation and has been thc Executive Director of a retirement community. She has worked in the field of aging for 14 years in the areas of arts, activities, marketing and man agement. For information contact Susan News USA Potter at 284-1686 or Bonnie L. (NU) - Congratulations! You have your new home, you cannot deduct Vorcnbcrg at 335-3343. been promoted to that new position. the cost of any meals eaten on the Now you must relocate yourself and way. It is a good idea to “bring your your family. Well, it's 1994, and the own," because a reimbursement for American Payroll Association warns the meals from your employer could that the rules of the relocation game mean indigestion when tax time rolls I Thanks to you, all sorts around in 1995. have changed drastically. YOUR TAXES Relocating? Here’s What You Can Deduct What's Deductible The following are considered •Qualified Moving Expenses" un der the P resident's Budget Bill passed last year. Only these costs can be deducted from your 1994 in come, and reimbursements for them from your employer need not be in cluded in your wages. • The reasonable (the IRS has not yet defined “reasonable") cost of moving household goods and per sonal effects from your former home to your new home. • The reasonable costs of travel and lodging in moving from the old location to the new one. Bring your picnic basket! Even though you can deduct your costs in moving yourself and your family to What's Not Deductible That is all you are allowed to clas sify as deductible. Any additional re imbursements made to you by your employer will be reported as taxable income and taxes will be withheld at the time of payment. If your employer gives you a lump sum payment for all expenses, the payment will be handled in the same manner. Payments or re imbursements will either be shown as taxable income on your Form W- 2, “Wage and Tax Statement,” or shown in Box 13 with the Code "P" to show the amount of "Qualified Moving Expense" payments. Good luck on your move and in your new position. Just be sure to check your tax liability closely be fore year's end. of everyday products are being m ade from the paper. plastic, m etal and glass that you've been recycling But to keep recycling R working to help protect the environm ent, you need to S 9 i buy those products (NU) - This is an interior decor treasure hunt you must not miss. The goods can be found in shop ping malls, office towers and even hotels. They increase property val ues and occupancy rates. No, it’s not furniture nor art. The big secret, it turns out, is plants. Check out a successful local mall or office lobby. Not only is the use of plants an inexpensive way to deco rate surroundings, but it’s proving tremendously popular to occupants, clients and customers. For example, Woodfield Green Executive Centre near Chicago cred its its 86 percent occupancy rate, compared to a national average of 65 percent, to the interior plantscape. “It’s a major selling point," says Centre Manager Karen Ptasnik, as she stands in the middle of the plant- filled, oak-paneled, glass-rooted atrium. “The plants make us unique.” Interior Landscape magazine re ports that "interior landscaping is key” to the Embassy Suites hotel chain’s excellent occupancy rates, which run far higher than the indus try average. The unique Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Tenn., charges an aver age $30 extra for rooms overlooking its 12 acres of interior plantscaping, with walkways, gazebos, waterfalls and 18,000 plants of 600 species. Soothing the Savage The ultimate interior plantscape, however, can be found — where else? — in the ultimate mall: the gargantuan Mall of Am erica in Bloomington, Minn. And the plantscape makes Knott’s Camp Snoopy, an entertainment park located inside the mall, look like it is outdoors. That’s because Terry Van Gorder, president and chief executive officer of the p a rk 's parent com pany, Knott's Berry Farm, insists that mall entertainment parks can’t look like they’re indoors. At Cincinnati’s plant-filled Tri County Mall, the construction coor dinator for the management firm. Bill Lively, said, “When you’re in a pleasant environment, you want to stay there and shop there." Doctors have apparently consid ered this advice. Since they know that people definitely prefer not hang ing around their offices, they’ve be gun using plants as mind-soothers for worried patients. If you want plantscaping tips for home or business — ranging from simple to exceptionally lavish — re quest information by sending a self- addressed, stamped envelope to: As sociated Landscape Contractors of America, Dept. Interior, 12200 Sun rise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 22091. Pacific Power Pacific Power has proposed lo lower its overall prices in Oregon by $7.2 million annually. This price de crease is based on thc amount thc company receives in property tax ben efits resulting from thc ballotmcasurc 5 property tax initiative. Pacific filed with the Oregon Pub lic Utility Commission Feb. 15, for perm ission to pass thc decrease through to customers beginning April 15. “Like many property owners in Oregon, Pacific Power has seen a re duction in thc property taxes it pays to support schools and government ser vices,” said Pacific Power manager Sheila Holden. “This decrease passes through to our customers the savings resulting from reduced property taxes.” Pacific is proposing to include property tax savings that have been accumulating in a separate account since thc enactment of ballot measure 5, as well as projected property tax savings through 1995. Pacific paid approximately $17 million in Oregon property taxes in 1993. “This price decrease allows us to remain a low-cost prov idcr of electric ity in the region,” said Holden. More Young People Are Starting To Smoke Each Day In the United Slates, 3,000 young people start lo smoke every day. Sur geon General Joycclyn Elders will discuss findings on Smoking and Health, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People at a satellite broadcast town meeting. The meet ing, called Youth and Elders Against Tobacco Use, will air at nine sites in Oregon from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on March 24. A panel of experts and local to bacco control advocates will interact with participants nationwide in dis cussions related to tobacco addiction, addiction in adolescence, the link between smoking and other drug use, the impact of tobacco advertising on young people and thc issues surround ing youth access to tobacco. The town m eetin g w ill bring to g e th e r policymakers and youth, health, edu cation, and substance abuse preven tion advocates on the federal, state and local levels to discuss the prob lems of and solutions to tobacco use by young people. Thc Oregon sites selected to air this free program are: Crook County High School, Prineville Douglas County Health Department, Roseburg Hood River Memorial Hospital, Hood River Southern Oregon State C ollege, Medford Lane Community College, Eugene Portland Slate University, Portland Blue Mountain Community College, Pendleton Eastern Oregon State College, La Grande Willamina High School, Willamina Call 288-0033 For Ad Information The First Home Equity Line That Comes Complete With Alarms, Wires, And Some Real Peace Of Mind. BUY RECYCLED. It works like this. Open and use a West One Bank Equity Manager' line of credit for McMurphy's Appliance Center $ I 5 .0 0 0 or more, and we ll pay for an installed ADT Home Security System. So when you use the Equity M anager" to add that new rec room, or remodel that kitchen, you can rest assured that ADT will protect the rec A N D SAVE. 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