Minority & Small Business Week
September 26. 2 0 0 7
Page A3
Payday
Lenders
Close Shop
photo by
M ark W ashingto \ / T he P or ri.ANi» O bserver
Humboldt Elementary Extreme Makeover
More than 250 volunteers of all ages take a lunch break Saturday between revitalizing Humboldt Elementary in north Portland by painting the entire
interior, installing a garden into a previously empty lot and cleaning up the school grounds.
Low Wage Workers Get Raise
Effective with
New Year
Oregon has announced a 15-cents-per-
hour cost-of-living increase, effective at
the end o f this year, for m inim um -wage
w orkers.
The increase to $7.95 an hour will make
O regon’s m inim um wage the third highest
in the nation, slightly behind California and
M assachusetts, with m inim um wage rates
o f $8 an hour.
Significantly higher than the federal
m inim um wage o f $5.85 an hour, low-
wage workers in Oregon still suffer dis
proportionately, according to state lead
ers.
A recent report from the Oregon C en
ter for Public Policy showed that average
pay shot up by 10 percent over inflation
between early 21XJ3 and early 2007 among
industry professions with the highest pay.
In the 25 lowest-paying industries, by
contrast, the average pay raise was just
one percent over inflation, noted Dan
Gardner, the state's labor com m issioner
who helped lead the successful 2002 bal
lot-measure effort linking minimum wage
to the C onsum er Price Index. Only the
highest-paid fifth o f workers saw their
earnings rise faster than inflation during
the first three years o f the expansion.
The rest o f the workforce, the bottom
80 percent, saw their wages fall behind
inflation. A m inim um -wage worker in
Oregon supporting a three-person family
by working full-time, year-round in 2007
will not escape poverty. Such a worker
will earn $16,536 in 2007, $634 less than
the 2007 poverty line for a family o f three.
(AP) — Payday lender Advance
America, Cash Advance Centers Inc.,
said it is closing its stores in Oregon
because it is no longer economically
viable to operate in the state.
The closures follow a state imposed
a 36 percent annual interest rate cap and
other regulations on the short-term,
high-rate consumer loans.
The new laws took effect in July and
allow payday and car title lenders to
charge a $10 origination fee per $100
loaned, though no more than $30 for a
loan of any amount.
Loans must be for at least 31 days
and can carry an annual interest rate of
36 percent. Fees included, lenders can
charge the equivalent of an annual inter
est rate o f about 154 percent for a 31 -
day loan — far less than the 500 percent
rates common before the law took
effect.
A d v an ce, w hich is based in
Spartansburg, S.C., said its Oregon
centers have generated no gross profit
for the six months ended June 30. The
company said it planned to write off
most of the value of its receivables in
Oregon, about $10.8 million.
Senior Center Provides
Relief for Hungry Seniors
The Elm Court Senior Center, previously located inside
the downtown YW CA, has been relocated to space inside
the adjoining St. Francis Apartments, 1025 S.W. Main St.
A $2(X),(XX) grant from PDC was leveraged with Loaves
& Fishes capital contributions to assist in relocation and
improvement expenses for the new 6,000-square-foot com
mercial space.
The new facility will continue to expand service to the
immediate neighborhood that has 931 units of low-income
housing for seniors. The center served 50,354 meals in the
Elm Court dining room and another 88,843 meals in the
immediate neighborhood during the past year.
Discover more, nordstrom.com Clackamas Town Center 503.652.1810. Downtown Portland 503.224.6666. Lloyd Center 503 287.2444. Salem Center 503.3717710.
Vancouver 360.256.8666 Washington Square 503.620.0555. Shipping charges may apply.
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