Portland observer., October 03, 2018, Page Page 10, Image 10

Page 10
Minority & Small Business Week
October 3, 2018
Job Openings
for 2020 Census
The U.S. Census Bureau is hir-
ing workers for temporary jobs
available in its Salem office and
in the Portland metropolitan area
in advance of the 2020 Census.
The bureau posted the fol-
lowing help wanted positions
for jobs in our area: Census of-
fice managers, paying a salary of
$45,760 - $62,400 per year; Of-
fice positions, starting at $14 per
hour; and work-at-home posi-
tions, starting at $17.50 per hour.
Applicants will be placed in
an applicant pool for 2020 Cen-
sus positions in which they qual-
ify for as jobs become available.
For office manager jobs apply
online at census.gov/fieldjobs.
For the other office positions
and work-at-home jobs, apply at
2020census.gov/jobs.
photo by
D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Jarvez Hall, executive director of the nonprofit East Metro economic Alliance, says he’s excited by efforts between govern-
ment and private enterprise to create jobs and small businesses opportunities in east Multnomah County.
East County Business Focus
C ontinueD from p age 4
velop a strategic framework
for economic development in
the area, and the report states
that its purpose is to promote
a “collaborative, proactive ap-
proach in shaping the area’s
long-term economic future.”
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer,
D-Portland, opened the forum,
and speakers included Hall, as
well as presentations by Ames
and Martin on the results of
their research. Forum partici-
pants then attended breakout
Minority Business
sessions on the forum’s four
focus areas. The sessions were
rounded out with participants
answering questions about the
four areas from their perspec-
tive. Later in the forum, partic-
ipants identified their top prior-
ities for each focus area.
Plans call for the forum to be
an annual event and to expand its
reach through the development
of task forces to continue the
work in each of the focus areas
and to develop strategic plans.
Hall said that Rockwood
Rising, a 5.5-acre development
by the city of Gresham, will be
a major player in helping the
forum reach its goals. The proj-
ect will include a mixed-use
village with a bank, health clin-
ic, child care and employment
services; a market offering di-
verse ethnic foods; a commu-
nity plaza with a playground
and water feature; public art
and room for events and festi-
vals, and perhaps most import-
ant, a job training facility for
manufacturing, construction,
medical, technology and food
service fields.
Many nonprofit agencies, in-
cluding the Small Business De-
velopment Center and Oregon
WorkSource will have offices
in Rockwood Rising, where
construction will start this year.
The Rockwood neighbor-
hood, which is roughly bor-
dered on the east and west by
Southeast 162nd Avenue and
Southeast 202nd Avenue, then
by Northeast Glisan on the north
and stair-stepping south from
Southeast Stark to Southeast
Main all the way to Vance Park,
represents the most diverse area
in East County as well as having
the highest level of poverty.
Hall said a concentration of
social services in the Rock-
wood Rising development will
help address some of the prob-
lems of an area so diverse that
37 languages are spoken with-
in a 10-mile radius, and where
poverty is a big problem.“I’m
excited that Micro Enterprise
Services of Oregon is provid-
ing opportunities out there and
will work a lot with women and
people of color, and they’re go-
ing to be providing services in
Rockwood Rising,” he said.
The plan is for many of those
Rockwood residents to become
small business owners, he said.
“A lot of those individuals
will become entrepreneurs,”
he said. “You’ll see a taqueria
or a Greek restaurant, because
some of those services of the
(Oregon) Small Business De-
velopment Center with MESO
and other organizations will
include funding. They will be
able to provide capital for peo-
ple to start businesses who may
not have thought of starting
one in the past.”
To learn more about the
work of EMEA, go to www.
eastmetro.org.