Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2018)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian Page 2A Thursday, November 15, 2018 Pot stores find that strength in numbers a big thing Retailers consolidate as a new industry evolves By EDWARD STRATTON EO Media Group Signs for Mr. Nice Guy, an ode to the 1998 stoner comedy “Half Baked,” recently began popping up in Astoria. The marijuana retailer has merged with a sis- ter company, Hi Cascade, absorbing its location at the foot of the South Slope. Mr. Nice Guy will open another store next month on Bond Street downtown. The new addition to Astoria’s growing number of marijuana stores is also part of a trend toward con- solidation, as many shops try to weather a weak mar- ket, sometimes taking on outside investment capital. Will Wiedenmann, an assistant director of oper- ations with Mr. Nice Guy, said the two companies’ ownership felt they needed to make a universal brand behind Mr. Nice Guy. The company now has 16 loca- tions in Oregon, including former Hi Cascades. Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Dallas Matuszek fills an order for a customer at Sweet Relief in Astoria. “Strength in numbers is a big thing,” Wiedenmann said. Five Zero Trees, a Port- land-based retailer that recently opened stores in Cannon Beach and Asto- ria, has six locations on the North Coast and around Portland. Sweet Relief has five locations on the North Coast and inland to Columbia County. Canna- bis Nation, with a location in Seaside, has four stores around the state. Marijuana stores have faced increasingly tight margins since overpro- duction after the drug was legalized in Oregon led to Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Milder with clouds and sun Times of clouds and sun Partly sunny and chilly Mostly sunny and chilly Sunshine and patchy clouds 53° 39° 48° 33° PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 43° 27° 43° 26° 44° 27° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 54° 40° 50° 32° 46° 28° 43° 27° OREGON FORECAST 44° 26° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 55/50 49/36 52/30 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 51/40 Lewiston 54/44 52/39 Astoria 56/46 Pullman Yakima 47/36 54/46 51/38 Portland Hermiston 55/43 The Dalles 54/40 Salem Corvallis 57/37 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 53/35 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 57/37 57/31 57/35 Ontario 51/27 Caldwell Burns 49° 32° 51° 33° 69° (2001) 6° (1978) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 56/37 0.00" 0.01" 0.53" 6.46" 8.15" 7.81" WINDS (in mph) 51/27 53/14 0.00" 0.10" 0.60" 8.25" 14.27" 10.59" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 51/32 57/40 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 53/39 53/41 50° 26° 50° 33° 72° (1953) -4° (1955) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 55/46 Aberdeen 42/34 44/36 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 55/50 Today Medford 64/34 Fri. SW 4-8 W 4-8 Boardman Pendleton NNE 4-8 NW 6-12 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 57/22 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2018 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 6:54 a.m. 4:24 p.m. 1:17 p.m. 11:33 p.m. First Full Last New Nov 15 Nov 22 Nov 29 Dec 6 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 91° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -8° in West Yellowstone, Mont. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s cold front — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211 Office hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed major holidays www.eastoregonian.com To subscribe, call 1-800-522-0255 or go online to www.eastoregonian.com and click on ‘Subscribe’ East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published daily except Sunday, Monday and postal holidays, by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Copyright © 2018, EO Media Group 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front 110s high low By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Capital Bureau A months-long effort to fashion a new ferry service across the Columbia River in Portland comes into public view on Friday before the Oregon Transportation Commission. The ambitious plan to ferry hundreds of people between Vancouver and Port- land has been encouraged by Gov. Kate Brown, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and other leaders. The force behind the plan is a company called Frog Ferry. Its founder and president is Susan Blad- holm, a marketing executive with prior public sector experience at the Port of Port- land and in public economic development agencies in Oregon. She also co-founded Cycle Oregon, the popular bicycle ride. Bladholm said her company has been developing its plan for a year and a half. She wasn’t ready in an interview to reveal the full details, saying such a disclosure could jeopardize efforts to round up help from government agencies to make the plan work. Frog Ferry’s idea is to deploy passenger ferry service in three stages. The first stage would mean round-trip service between Vancouver and Portland from stops on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. A one-way trip would take about 40 minutes. The ferries, which could each carry 149 passengers, would have bicycle storage but wouldn’t carry cars. Frog Ferry says the ferries could carry nearly 600 people during commute times, taking 500 vehicles off the congested Interstate 5 span between Washington and Oregon. More ferry stops would be added over the next two stages with service extending up the Columbia Gorge. The ferry service would be an answer to growing traffic congestion in the Port- land metro area that is clogging free- ways, extending commutes and costing businesses. Such congestion cost Portland com- muters $1.76 billion in time and fuel in 2014, according to a 2015 analysis by the Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. Brown believes the Frog Ferry pro- posal is “the most organized effort to date” to turn to the rivers for relieving “unprec- edented levels” of congestion, according to Nikki Fisher, a spokeswoman for the governor. She said the governor thinks “our water- ways are an untapped resource to increase mobility.” The depth of the support was revealed SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings off cover price EZPay $14.50 41 percent 52 weeks $173.67 41 percent 26 weeks $91.86 38 percent 13 weeks $47.77 36 percent *EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit or debit card/check charge Circulation Manager: Bonny Tuller, 541-966-0828 on investors, Whitney said. The process was made eas- ier by the state Legisla- ture in 2016 rolling back requirements that more than half of a marijuana store be owned by an Ore- gon resident. Now out-of-state inves- tors can contribute as much as they want to Oregon can- nabis businesses, bankroll- ing new franchises. One of the most notable examples is Portland-based chain Chalice, which has taken on millions from Cana- dian investment firms to open new franchises across the western U.S. and Can- ada, according to Willa- mette Week. More than 1 in 5 of the state’s dispensaries belong to a chain, the news- paper reported. “Investors are coming in,” Whitney said. “They see an opportunity. They are seeing a certain level of distress in the market. That distress is allowing them to buy high-value properties at a discount. They see this as an arbitrage opportunity.” Another reason for the rush of outside capital is that marijuana business owners can’t access tradi- tional financing, such as loans, because of federal prohibition, Whitney said. Brown, Wheeler support river ferries to relieve I-5 congestion Subscriber services: For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 1-800-522-0255 ext. 1 Single copy price: $1 Tuesday through Friday, $1.50 Saturday a sharp decline in prices. Having more places to sell allows retail chains to buy at a larger scale for a lower price, said Beau Whitney, a cannabis economist with New Frontier Data. “That creates a pricing differential relative to the smaller mom and pops that don’t have the purchasing power,” he said. “To me, this is a natural evolution of the market. It’s starting to increase now lately.” It seemed like Oregon was reaching saturation when it recorded nearly 600 dispensaries, Whitney said. But the state had focused on getting more licensees and offering lower entry fees to help take consumers away from the illicit market. “In retrospect, when you think about it, hav- ing unlimited licenses in a closed environment ... at some point there was natu- rally going to be a consoli- dation in the marketplace,” Whitney said. State regulators in June placed a moratorium on new licensees until they can work through the backlog of applicants seeking entry into the marijuana indus- try. That backlog is exacer- bated by companies chang- ing ownership as they take ADVERTISING Regional Publisher and Revenue Director: Christopher Rush 541-278-2669 • crush@eomediagroup.com Advertising Services: Angela Treadwell 541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com Grace Bubar 541-276-2214 • gbubar@eastoregonian.com Multimedia Consultants: • Kimberly Macias 541-278-2683 • kmacias@eastoregonian.com • Jeanne Jewett 541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com • Dayle Stinson 541-278-2670 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com in letters Frog Ferry submitted to the state ahead of Friday’s meeting of the state Transportation Commission. “Transit remains a critical priority for our region, and I appreciate you working with the Portland Bureau of Transporta- tion, the Bureau of Planning and Sustain- ability, the Office of the Harbormaster, and my office to pursue a Portland-area river taxi service,” Wheeler wrote in a Jan. 12 letter to Bladholm. Curtis Robinhold, executive director of the Port of Portland, addressed Frog Fer- ry’s proposal in a Feb. 9 letter to Bladholm. “I support the Frog Ferry initiative as a public-private partnership, and wish you well in leveraging local, state and federal funding sources, as well as private sec- tor investors to aggregate resources and improve the traffic situation,” Robinhold wrote. “Best of luck to you as the initiative moves forward.” Bladholm approached Matt Garrett, director of the state Transportation Depart- ment, six months ago about appearing before the state commission, according to Tom Fuller, agency spokesman. He said Garrett has taken no position on the plan. “I think the commission is just inter- ested in hearing information and ideas around ferry service and we’ll just have to see whether anything comes of it after that,” Fuller said. Commission Chair Tammy Baney said she didn’t expect any decision at Friday’s meeting. The commission “is charged with ensur- ing a safe and efficient transportation sys- tem. This concept is one that we want to know more about,” she wrote in an email to the Oregon Capital Bureau. “Susan Blad- holm, of the Frog Ferry, has been working with ODOT on feasibility. It makes sense for us to be informed.” In an interview Monday, Bladholm couldn’t estimate the cost of the river ferry service but said her company would seek public and private funding to launch the service. Corrections The Nov. 14 “Aiming to recapture commuters” misstated Pendleton Trian- gle’s address and how many more units would be developed. The address is 289 S.W. 28th Drive, and there are 13 more units expected to be completed. The Nov. 13 article “Company pro- vides cutting-edge bovine IVF treat- ments” incorrectly stated when Luciano and Alina Bonilla worked for Wheat- sheaf Group. They worked for a different biotech company in Wisconsin before moving to Hermiston. Classified & Legal Advertising 1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678 classifieds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com NEWS • To submit news tips and press releases: call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com • To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News: email community@eastoregonian.com or call Tammy Malgesini at 541-564-4539 or Renee Struthers at 541-966-0818. • To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit www.eastoregonian. com/community/announcements • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips: 541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com Business Office Manager: 541-966-0822 COMMERCIAL PRINTING Production Manager: Mike Jensen 541-215-0824 • mjensen@eastoregonian.com
