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AST
143rd Year, No. 265
REGONIAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019
$1.50
WINNER OF THE 2019 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Gen Z
looks for
work
Eastern Oregon
Career Summit
brings students and
employers together
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The formula for
career day is tried and true — a school
invites a diverse group of professionals to
speak to students and inspire their future
career aspirations.
Potential employers spend a lot of
time telling students what they need from
them to get hired, but less is spent on what
younger job seekers are looking for in a
workplace.
Umatilla County, Eastern Oregon Busi-
ness Source, and the Pendleton and Herm-
iston chambers of commerce attempted to
change that by organizing the Eastern Ore-
gon Career Summit.
While students at Pendleton High
School went through a traditional career
day Wednesday morning, Eastern Oregon
Business Source President Susan Bower led
a class of personnel from human resources
departments and workforce assistance pro-
grams at the Pendleton Convention Center
about the best way to hire the next genera-
tion of workers.
Contrary to popular opinion, Bower
said millennials and their younger cohorts
weren’t especially lazy, narcissistic, or enti-
tled compared to previous generations.
“Just because we have a certain birth-
day doesn’t mean we fi t into a certain cate-
gory,” she said.
Bower added that while many employ-
ers desire soft skills like communication
and professionalism, many young jobseek-
ers are unaware and need to be trained up
on them.
Bower said millennials were now the
largest generational group in the work-
force, and the next generation, “Generation
Z,” would soon join them.
Later that afternoon, a crush of Genera-
tion Zers from eight school districts across
Umatilla County fi lled the convention hall
to hear pitches from potential employers.
A group of students huddled around the
Washington State Department of Correc-
tions booth to hear a pitch from employees
from the Washington State Penitentiary in
Walla Walla.
Sgt. Howard Thornhill ran through all
the careers students could pursue at the
penitentiary beyond correctional offi cer,
while also highlighting the department of
corrections benefi t package and overtime
pay.
Pilot Rock High School seniors Aus-
tin Drake and Ty Dick listened intently to
Thornhill’s pitch, but they already had their
minds set on a different career track.
The pair said they both intended to
attend WyoTech in Laramie, Wyoming,
to study diesel mechanics, and they were
mostly using the job fair to get an idea of
what other options were out there.
See Work, Page A7
RIVOLI
RESTORATION
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
NEARS END
OF FIRST ACT
The foyer to the historic Rivoli features
the theater’s name in tile. The tile will
be incorporated into the new foyer.
Sealing of roof
likely saved
theater from water
damage during fi re
By KATHY ANEY
East Oregonian
ENDLETON — The fi rst and
most unglamorous phase of
the Rivoli Theater renovation
is nearing an end. During the
demolition process, workers removed
almost 150,000 pounds of debris,
including a balcony and the 3,250-
pound beam that held it in place.
What’s left is a cavernous space
that will house Rivoli 2.0 — an hom-
age to the historic theater’s original
design with modern upgrades, such as
an elevator, steel framing and sprin-
kler system. The venue will function
as a multi-purpose entertainment cen-
ter for the community.
P
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Sally Franklin and Nick Nash paint the facade of the Rivoli during a workday on Saturday at the
historic theater.
See Rivoli, Page A7
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
A large beam that once spanned the width of the Rivoli sits in pieces on the historic theater’s dirt fl oor during Saturday’s open house
and workday.
BMCC diesel technology
students repair SWAT rig
Umatilla County
Sheriff’s Offi ce
approached
school about
repairing vehicle
By PHIL WRIGHT
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Stu-
dents at Blue Mountain
Community College’s diesel
technologies program have
one burly police rig ready to
roll.
Umatilla County Sher-
iff’s Deputy Stephen West-
fall contacted BMCC’s die-
sel technologies instructor
Jeremy Pike in the spring to
see if his students would be
interested in servicing the
law enforcement agency’s
armored vehicle. Pike said
Westfall is familiar with the
program because he brings
his own vehicles to the col-
lege for work, and the stu-
dents were keen to dig in.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Josh Rob-
erts said the 1983 GMC
beast cost nothing for the
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
See Swat, Page A7
Members of the Blue Mountain Community College diesel technology program pose for a por-
trait with a 1983 GMC armored vehicle that they repaired for the Umatilla County Sheriff ’s Offi ce.