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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2019)
BUSINESS Saturday, November 2, 2019 Wildhorse expansion is on track for August completion East Oregonian Bank of Eastern Oregon announces increase in 3rd quarter earnings EO Media Group By BEN LONERGAN East Oregonian MISSION — Visitors to the Wildhorse Resort & Casino are one step closer to an expanded entertain- ment center following the completion of new parking facilities. The new park- ing lot, which is located on the south end of the build- ing, makes up for spaces absorbed by the entertain- ment center expansion. In a press release, Wild- horse Resort & Casino CEO Gary George explained the construction will result in an increase of nearly two hundred additional parking spaces over the previous configuration. “In the end, we’ll have more parking than before,” he said. While the parking lot increased in size, there are no ADA accessible park- ing spaces in the new lot and the only access to the building from the lot is via a flight of stairs. Mary Lib- erty-Traughber, a spokes- woman for Wildhorse Resort & Casino, said addi- tional ADA spaces were added to the existing lots to make up for those lost in the expansion. “We had to take out spots within the area that we have fenced off,” said Liberty-Traughber. “The new lot is too far away from the main entrance, so we added more spaces to the existing lots.” Wildhorse Resort & Casino advised those who Staff photo by Ben Lonergan Signs around a new parking lot at Wildhorse Resort & Ca- sino warn drivers that there is no ADA accessible parking available in the new lot. Drivers in need of ADA accessible parking must park at the entrance to the hotel or the casino in order to access the entertainment center and cineplex. need ADA access to use the entrances through the hotel or casino. The enlarged parking facilities come as contrac- tors begin to pour concrete for the foundation of the expansion. Once it is com- pleted next August, the expanded entertainment center will include a new food court, a children’s arcade and a bowling cen- ter as well as an expanded child care facility. Although the vendors have yet to be decided, the new food court will fea- ture three food vendors and a fourth storefront for some form of confec- tioner. According to Lib- erty-Traughber, the ven- dors will consist of a mix between outside businesses and those run by Wildhorse Resort & Casino. The expansion will dou- ble the size of the chil- dren’s arcade and provide more than 30 games. An expanded children’s enter- tainment center will take the place of the old arcade and offer hourly day care for those looking for child care while visiting the resort. “The old arcade will go away and be absorbed into the children’s entertain- ment center,” said Liber- ty-Traughber. “The arcade will be entirely new and in a new location about double the size.” In addition to expansions to existing resources, the new entertainment center will feature a 24-lane bowl- ing center and private party space. The bowling cen- ter will include eight “bou- tique lanes” that are sepa- rate and can be reserved for private events. More employers offer workers help paying off student loans By SARAH SKIDMORE SELL AP Personal Finance Writer WASHINGTON — Americans collectively owe nearly $1.5 trillion in student loans — more than twice the total a decade ago. It’s a burden that weighs on mil- lions of adults, shaping their life choices and often stunt- ing their financial growth. Now a small but growing number of employers are stepping in to help. About 8% of employers offer stu- dent loan repayment assis- tance in 2019, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. That’s up from 4% in 2018 and 3% in 2015. Some experts antici- pate more employers will add their own programs to help hire and hold on to a younger generation of work- ers that is more bogged down with debt than its pre- decessors and increasingly cites loan repayment assis- tance as a benefit they need to have. “The burden of student loan debt has become salient and exhausting,” said Julia Pollak, a labor economist at ZipRecruiter. “It’s crushing ... there is huge demand for student loan assistance.” In 2016-17, almost 60% of people who graduated with a bachelor’s degree took on debt and the average amount among that group was $28,500, according to The College Board. For some who seek advanced degrees, the borrowing can grow to $100,000 or more. Brittany Hamilton, 27, graduated from college in 2015 with $32,000 in debt, even though she worked full time while earning her bachelor’s degree. She went to work for Fidelity Invest- ments shortly after gradua- tion; a few months later the company rolled out its stu- dent loan repayment assis- tance program. Fidelity developed the program after a number of employees — who were well-versed in budgeting and planning for financial goals — told CEO Abigail Johnson that they were hav- ing trouble doing the same in their own lives in large part because of student debt. HEPPNER — BEO Bancorp and its subsidi- ary, Bank of Eastern Ore- gon, announced third-quar- ter 2019 consolidated net income of $1,229,000 or $1.04 per share, compared with $1,196,000 or $1.01 per share for third quarter 2018. Year-to-date earnings were $2,973,000, up 5.2% year over year, according to a press release. Total assets were up 20.4% year over year at $483.3 million. Net loans of $401.5 mil- lion were up 24% from the same period in 2018, while deposits were at $432.6 mil- lion, up 21.6% year over year. “The expansion proj- ects announced earlier in the year are translating into significant growth in depos- its, loans and assets,” said President and CEO Jeff Bailey. “The expansion has resulted in additional over- head costs, but these costs are now translating into increased revenue. Earn- ings for the quarter are up 2.76% year over year. Year- to-date results show a 5.2% increase from 2018.” Chief Financial Officer Mark Lemmon said, “Our shareholder equity is up 9% year over year, while our book value per share is up 9.3%. Return on average assets for the quarter was 1.03% and return on aver- age equity was 13.28% com- pared to 1.19% and 14.12% respectively year over year.” Chief Operations Offi- cer Gary Propheter said there has been a tremen- dous reception from the new communities in South- east Washington, and the expanded locations in Hermiston, La Grande and Pendleton have also Pacific Power to match customer donations AP Photo/Orlin Wagner exceeded expectations. “We look forward to expanding our market share across our footprint in years to come,” he said. Bailey said the 2019 wheat harvest was at least average in most of the trade area and better than average in many regions. Cattle pro- ducers are reporting good weight gains on their calves as they come off of summer grazing, he said. “All of these factors bode well for producers, but the volatility of input costs and commodity prices brought about by global and politi- cal pressures have swayed the commodity markets and provide an extra level of angst for our producers,” Bailey said. “On the bright side, decent soil moisture has provided better fall seed- ing conditions than we have seen for a number of years.” BRIEFLY UMATILLA COUNTY — Pacific Power will match up to $144,000 in customer donations to the Oregon Energy Fund this November. The Oregon Energy Fund is a Port- land-based nonprofit that allocates money to people who need help paying their utility bills in times of financial strain. This month, Pacific Power customers will find a contri- bution envelope for the organization in their bill. Customers can donate as low as a $1 per month, and donations will go to paying util- ities for someone in the same county as the donor. Pacific Power will match each dollar with two dollars in a “two-for-one.” “Studies have shown that more than a quarter of Oregonians struggle to pay their bills each year,” said Brian Allbritton, exec- utive director of OEF. “(This program) helps ensure that our neighbors don’t have to sac- rifice food, rent, medicine, or child care to make ends meet.” Last year, Pacific Power donations from customers and employees helped pay for util- ities at 589 homes. A recent press release, issued by Pacific Power, said that customers who need assis- tance with their utilities should call Pacific Power at 1-888-221-7070 to create a payment plan or be directed to agencies that “may be able to help.” Pendleton honey takes 3rd in state competition In this Oct. 24, 2019, file photo, students walk in front of Fras- er Hall on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kan. A7 PENDLETON — Honey from Blue Mountain Apiary of Pendleton took third place at the fall conference of the Oregon State Beekeepers Association. Ron Martin of Pendleton started the bee- keeping business a couple of years ago with his two sons, Elon and Devin Martin. Ron Martin went through the state association’s class on beekeeping, and this year was Blue Mountain Apiary’s first harvest. He said he and his boys decided to enter their honey in the association’s contest at the conference Oct. 25-27 in Florence. “We didn’t know what to expect,” Ron Martin said. “I put some honey in a couple of jars and handed it in.” And the result was third place. The honey scored low marks, he reported, for foam at the top of the bottles and an uneven fill. However, he said, the Martin clan won 10 out of 10 points for bottle cleanliness, 20 out of 20 for moisture content and 20 points out of 20 for flavor. That last one, he said, was what he was aiming for. With one year of harvest under the bon- net, Martin said third place is pretty sweet. Reports: U.S. launches review of China-owned video app TikTok NEW YORK — Multiple published reports say that the U.S. government has launched a national-security review of the China-owned video app TikTok, popu- lar with millions of U.S. teens and young adults. The reports Friday from Reuters, The New York Times and others said that the interagency Committee on Foreign Invest- ment in the United States, which reviews acquisitions by foreign firms, has opened an inquiry into TikTok owner ByteDance’s 2017 acquisition of a predecessor app, Musical.ly. Several senators have recently noted concerns about censorship and data collec- tion on TikTok. The Treasury Department, which houses CFIUS, said it does not comment on spe- cific cases because the agency by law can- not disclose to the public information filed to it. — EO Media Group and wire services I got screened. Now, I’m talking about it. Screening can prevent colorectal cancer or catch the #2 cancer killer early when it’s highly treatable. Most people get screened because they’re encouraged by someone they know and trust. So if you’ve been screened, please talk about your experience. And encourage others to get screened too. COLORECTAL CANCER The cancer you can prevent. TheCancerYouCanPrevent.org Karen King Pendleton, Oregon A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded campaign