BUSINESS
Saturday, March 12, 2016
East Oregonian
BOARDMAN
BRIEFLY
ConAgra plans $30M expansion
Chamber cancels
social media sessions
Facility expected
to add 50 jobs
UMATILLA — A pair of
business social media workshops
in Umatilla have been canceled.
Due to lack of timely
response, the Umatilla Chamber
of Commerce canceled the
March 16 sessions.
For more information, contact
Karen Hutchinson-Talaski
at 541-922-4825 or karen@
umatillachamber.net.
EAGLE, Idaho — ConAgra
Foods, Inc. announced Friday
that its Lamb Weston
processing facility will
expand operations in
Boardman.
The $30 million
investment will add
additional
processing
capacity for making formed prod-
ucts such as hash brown patties and
potato puffs. The addition of the line
at the company’s existing facility is
expected to add 50 jobs to the 390
people already employed by the
company in Boardman.
With continued increase in
demand for frozen potato and
formed products, this capacity
expansion is necessary to ful¿ll
Oil price appears to
have ‘bottomed out’
PARIS (AP) — The orga-
nization that represents major
oil-consuming nations said
Friday that signs of a market that
has “bottomed out” are emerging.
U.S. crude prices jumped to
a high for the year. Brent crude,
used as a global benchmark, hit
a high for the year Tuesday and
rose 1 percent Friday.
Energy companies have been
shutting down rigs and laying
off thousands of workers as oil
prices plunged to around $30
per barrel, from well over $100
per barrel just two years ago.
A broad retreat by the energy
sector played out again Friday
on both fronts.
The number of oil and natural
gas rigs active in the U.S. fell
for the 12th consecutive week,
according to Baker Hughes on
Friday, to 480. That’s the lowest
level in decades, and perhaps the
fewest since the earliest days of
the oil drilling industry.
Texas driller Anadarko Petro-
leum Corp. said it would cut
1,000 workers, 17 percent of its
work force. The pain may ¿nally
be translating into a reduction of
a massive and global oversupply
of oil, the International Energy
Agency said.
Lamb Weston’s global growth
projections, according to a press
release from the company.
Construction on the processing
line is expected to begin this spring,
with completion in 2017. The
added line will increase processing
capacity by approximately
50 million pounds.
“With the frozen potato
category growing glob-
ally, we have tremendous
opportunity to support
our customers’ growth
in the U.S. and around the world,”
said Lamb Weston President Greg
Schlafer in a press release. “To
capture that growth, we need to
make more products. Expanding our
operations in the Columbia Basin —
with access to great potatoes, people
and ports — just makes sense.”
The facility in Boardman is close
to growing, storage and shipping
operations, with easy access to
the Port of Morrow. The company
opened an initial expansion of the
facility in June 2014, adding 300
million pounds of capacity with
a new fry line. That $200 million
project included plans for the addi-
tion announced Friday.
“Lamb
Weston’s
planned
expansion shows their continued
commitment to the Port of Morrow,
Boardman and the Mid-Columbia
region as the right place to do
business,” said Gary Neal, general
manager of the Port of Morrow.
“Their ongoing investments add
good paying jobs to our region and
we are fortunate to have such great
partners at the Port.”
Lamb Weston employees approx-
imately 4,500 people at a corporate
of¿ce and seven manufacturing
facilities in the Columbia Basin, and
operates 22 manufacturing facilities
in North America, Europe and
China.
Feds deny permit for lique¿ed
gas port, pipeline in Coos Bay
COOS BAY (AP) — Federal
regulators denied permits Friday for
a lique¿ed natural gas terminal in
the southern Oregon coastal town of
Coos Bay.
The Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission issued the 25-page
ruling, saying the Jordan Cove Energy
Project would hurt landowners, The
World reported. The ruling also said
there’s little evidence to support the
need for a pipeline and not enough
evidence of a public bene¿t.
The 230-mile pipeline route from
the farming town of Malin east of the
Cascades just north of the California
border to Coos Bay has been opposed
by private landowners and conserva-
tion groups. It crosses rivers, moun-
tain ranges and a mix of private and
public lands.
Regulators said in the ruling that the
Paci¿c Connector Pipeline would affect
nearly 160 miles of privately owned
lands and about 630 landowners.
The planned port facilities to be
built include a shipping channel,
berths for LNG tankers and tugboats
and refrigeration facilities to turn
the gas into a liquid. The $7 billion
project is led by Calgary, Alber-
ta-based Veresen Inc.
Citizens Against LNG said
Page 9A
Friday’s decision marked an
important victory against eminent
domain.
“CALNG is pleased that FERC
recognized that private landowners
should not lose their land for the
bene¿t of a private company,” Citizens
Against LNG President Katy Eymann
told The World. “Landowners were
threatened with loss, and this decision
ensures that for the time being, they
won’t face that threat.”
Supporters have touted jobs and
an economic boost in the billions for
Oregon.
Mark Wall with Boost Southwest
Oregon, a group advocating for the
project, said his group was disap-
pointed in the ruling. But Wall called
it a bump in the road.
“The project’s not dead. This is
not a deal-killer,” he told The World.
Regulators said the companies
involved in the project are free to
reapply in the future and that the
commission would consider their
plans if they can demonstrate “a
market need” for their product.
A spokesman for Gov. Kate
Brown’s of¿ce who was asked for a
reaction told The Oregonian Friday
afternoon they were still reviewing
the ruling.
Business lunch
builds bridges
HERMISTON — Consultant
John Audley will discuss
building bridges to promote a
healthier and more self-reliant
rural Oregon during the
upcoming Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce B2B Luncheon.
Audley owns a consulting
business and will share
information about his work for
the Oregon Business Council
and Craft 3, a nonpro¿t ¿nancial
institution dedicated to investing
in people, their communities and
healthy natural systems.
The no-host luncheon
gathering is Tuesday, March 22
with networking starting at 11:45
a.m. at the Hermiston Conference
Center, 415 S. Highway 395. The
meal, which is catered by Ixtapa,
is $10 for members and $13 for
non-members.
For more information or to
RSVP, contact 541-567-6151 or
kelly@hermistonchamber.com.
Workforce board
seeks service proposals
LA GRANDE — The
Eastern Oregon Workforce
Board posted a Request for
Proposal (RFP 16/9-1) for
the delivery of services under
the Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act for adult
dislocated workers and youth
programs.
It targets the employment and
training component of the eight
Eastern Oregon counties of
Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur,
Morrow, Umatilla, Union and
Wallowa. Those interested in
providing a bid are requested to
attend a conference in person or
by phone Wednesday, March 16
at the WorkSource Center in La
Grande.
The RFP is available at
www.easternoregonworkforce.
org. Organizations may bid
to provide the services in
Area 1: Morrow and Umatilla
counties; or Area 2: the other
six listed counties; or the bidder
may apply for the entire area.
Proposals will be accepted
through Friday, April 15.
For more information about
the process or to attend the
conference, contact eowb@
easternoregonworkforce.org or
541-963-3693.
ODOT District
12 recognized as
WeatherReady
Nation Ambassador
PENDLETON —The
National Weather Service
has recognized District 12
of the Oregon Department
of Transportation as a
WeatherReady Nation
Ambassador. The presentation
to ODOT District Manager
Marilyn Holt was made by Mike
Vescio and Dennis Hull of the
Pendleton NWS of¿ce at a recent
meeting of district supervisors in
Pendleton.
ODOT District 12 maintains
roads in several heavy snow
areas including Weston
Mountain, Cabbage Hill,
Meacham, Battle Mountain,
Spray Mountain and freezing
fog-prone areas from Milton-
Freewater to Pendleton,
Hermiston and Boardman.
Blowing dust also threatens
travelers in these areas during
the dry season. ODOT’s close
cooperation with the National
Weather Service has allowed
more ef¿cient management of
resources and road maintenance.
The WeatherReady Nation
Ambassador initiative is
the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s
effort to formally recognize
partners who are improving
the nation’s readiness,
responsiveness, and overall
resilience against extreme
weather, water and climate
events.
———
Business briefs are compiled
from staff and wire reports,
and press releases. Email
press releases to business@
eastoregonian.com