BUSINESS
Saturday, December 21, 2019
East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Panda Express opens in Hermiston
Mirasol Family
Health Center gets
new manager
Staff photo by Jade McDowell
Hermiston residents wasted no time lining up for lunch after Panda Express opened its doors on Friday at 1530 N. First St.
At noon, the restaurant was busy and a line of cars extended from the drive-thru window through the parking lot. The “fast
casual Chinese” restaurant purchased the former Stockman’s Steakhouse building this summer and tore it down to build
the new building.
USDA taking comments on program rule
By GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
PORTLAND — Farm-
ers and ranchers have until
Feb. 18 to provide feedback
on proposed changes to one
of the USDA’s most widely
used conservation programs.
The Environmental Qual-
ity Incentives Program, or
EQIP, awards cost-sharing
contracts with agricultural
producers to help pay for
things like improving irriga-
tion effi ciency, restoring pas-
ture or managing woodlands
for wildfi re resilience.
EQIP is administered by
the Natural Resources Con-
servation Service. It was
fi rst authorized in 1996, and
renewed again under the
2018 Farm Bill.
NRCS posted a draft
assessment of the revised
program rules in the Fed-
eral Register on Dec. 17. The
agency is considering sev-
eral changes to EQIP that
offi cials say will adapt to
new resource threats, such
as greater weather volatility
and drought, while making
funding more available to
beginning farmers.
Jay Gibbs, acting state
EO Media Group fi le photo
The Natural Resources Conservation Service is seeking
comments on updates for EQIP.
conservationist for the
NRCS in Oregon, described
EQIP as the agency’s bread-
and-butter initiative for
healthy working lands.
“I view farmers as our
fi rst conservationists,” Gibbs
said. “There is a huge benefi t
of conservation to society as
a whole. We, as Oregonians,
value clean air, clean water
and open spaces, and land-
owners provide those bene-
fi ts to society.”
Under the 2014 Farm
Bill, NRCS awarded 2,452
contracts with landowners
through EQIP totaling $49.6
million and 1.2 million acres.
Projects might include
converting fi elds from fl ood
irrigation to sprinklers to
save water; building cross
fences in livestock pastures
to allow for better graz-
ing and animal distribution;
planting cover crops to pre-
vent soil erosion; or build-
ing seasonal high tunnels,
similar to greenhouses, that
allow farmers to extend their
growing season.
“It can be very costly to
do some of these things,”
Gibbs said. “This helps off-
set the cost of that.”
Gibbs said the interim
EQIP rule contains lan-
guage specifi cally targeting
new and beginning farmers.
With the average Oregon
farmer now 60 years old, an
estimated 10.5 million acres
of farmland is expected to
change hands over the next
20 years.
NRCS is required under
the interim rule to provide an
advance payment option for
beginning farmers, as well
as other historically under-
served producers, while rais-
ing the cost share rate for
buying materials from “not
more than” to “at least” 50%.
The interim rule also
calls for expanding EQIP to
include “new or expected
resource concerns, adapting
to, and mitigating against,
increasing weather volatil-
ity, and addressing drought
resiliency measures.”
“The concerns we’re
seeing here today are far
different from what they
were 20 years ago,” Gibbs
said. “Every Farm Bill, the
agency has an opportunity
to make some changes to the
program.”
EQIP applications are
accepted on a continuous
basis, and evaluated based
on priority resource con-
cerns. NRCS will make
available $1.2 billion nation-
wide for producers in fi scal
year 2020.
U.S. consumer spending up 0.4% in November
By MARTIN
CRUTSINGER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
—
Americans increased their
spending in November
at the fastest pace in four
months, and income growth
rebounded to its strongest
gain since August.
The Commerce Depart-
ment said Friday that con-
sumer spending rose at a
0.4% annual rate last month,
led by a jump in spending on
durable goods, like autos. It
was up from a more modest
annual gain of 0.3% in Octo-
ber, and it was the best show-
ing since July.
Incomes rose 0.5% after
a weak reading in October,
refl ecting a surge in hiring
last month in which employ-
ers added 266,000 jobs, the
most since January.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
Horacio Ment shops at a Kohl’s store in Colma, Calif. The
Commerce Department issued its November report Friday
on consumer spending, which accounts for roughly 70% of
U.S. economic activity.
Economists are expecting
consumer spending, which
accounts for about 70% of
economic activity, to remain
solid in the fi nal three months
of the year to support con-
tinued moderate economic
growth. They are forecasting
growth of around 2% in the
current October-December
quarter, similar to the 2.1%
gain of the third quarter.
Consumer infl ation, as
measured by the Federal
Reserve’s preferred price
gauge, was 1.5% in Novem-
ber compared with 12 months
ago. That’s still well below
the Fed’s 2% annual infl ation
target, and it helps validate
the central bank’s decision to
keep interest rates low with
little fear of igniting infl ation.
The Fed has highlighted
below-target infl ation as a rea-
son it could cut its benchmark
short-term rate three times this
year to aid an economy that
was being slowed by uncer-
tainties from the U.S.-China
trade war and a global slump.
The central bank has signaled
that it expects to keep rates
unchanged through 2020.
Last
month’s
0.4%
increase in consumer spend-
ing was led by a 1% surge in
spending on durable goods,
such as autos and appliances.
The saving rate edged up
to 7.9% of after-tax income
in November, compared with
7.8% in October.
$49M deal struck to buy NORPAC facilities
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — The bank-
rupt NORPAC cooperative
has struck a deal to sell its
Oregon processing facilities
for $49 million to Lineage
Logistics, a Michigan-based
cold storage fi rm.
While the processing
plants in Brooks, Salem and
Stayton are included in the
asset purchase agreement
between NORPAC and Lin-
eage Logistics, it’s unclear
whether the latter two facil-
ities will continue to be used
for food processing.
Agribusiness entrepre-
neur Frank Tiegs said he’s
planning to lease and oper-
ate the Salem facility tem-
porarily, but plans to even-
tually buy the Brooks plant
from Lineage and consoli-
date processing operations
there.
“Our plan is to only oper-
ate Brooks,” said Tiegs,
who owns 15 process-
ing plants and farms more
than 100,000 acres in the
Northwest.
Tiegs said he’s also plan-
ning to buy the Stayton facil-
ity to “gut the plant out” by
reusing or selling the equip-
ment within it, and may
potentially tear down the
structure. Lineage Logistics
would retain the corporate
offi ces in Stayton, as well
as the cold storage facility in
Brooks, he said.
As for Lineage Logistics’
long-term plan for the Salem
facility, Tiegs said he’s
unsure what the company
wants to do with it. Several
representatives of Lineage
Logistics did not reply to
requests for comment as of
press time.
At this point, the asset
purchase agreement is only
tentative, as it must still be
approved by a bankruptcy
judge and the Oregon facil-
ities may still be subject to
competing bids.
When NORPAC declared
bankruptcy in August, Tiegs
had intended to buy all of its
facilities in Oregon as well
as its plant in Quincy, Wash-
ington, for $155 million, but
later backed out of the deal.
He recently ended up
agreeing to buy the Quincy
plant for up to $107 million
A7
after prevailing in a bidding
war against the J.R. Simplot
Co., a major agribusiness
company.
The series of transactions
with Lineage made sense to
Tiegs because he didn’t want
to own all of NORPAC’s
assets. “They made it so the
numbers worked for me,” he
said.
The continued operation
of NORPAC’s Oregon facil-
ities for food processing is
important for farmers in the
Willamette Valley, who have
long sold vegetable crops to
the cooperative.
Also at stake are the
fate of 1,400 people who
worked at the Oregon facil-
ities and were issued layoff
notices during NORPAC’s
bankruptcy.
HERMISTON — Mira-
sol Family Medical Center
has a new clinic manager.
Irma Solis, a Hermis-
ton High School graduate,
began her role there earlier
this month.
Solis said in a news
release that she has always
had a love
of
health
care and a
desire
to
help those
in need.
“At fi rst,
I
wanted
Solis
to become
a pediatri-
cian, but after getting my
fi rst degree, I decided I
wanted to effect change
in an administrative role,”
she said.
She said her personal
mission fi ts “perfectly”
with
Mirasol
Family
Health Center, which is
part of the Yakima Valley
Farm Workers Clinic net-
work of care.
The clinic provides
“whole-person care to
those who are under-
served, regardless of their
ability to pay, citizenship,
or socioeconomic status.”
Solis has been a part of
the Hermiston community
for nearly two decades and
lives there with her hus-
band and three children.
In her free time, she
enjoys reading to her chil-
dren before bed, running,
baking and crochet.
BEO president
elected as banking
board offi cer
HEPPNER — Jeff Bai-
ley, president and CEO of
Bank of Eastern Oregon,
was recently elected as
secretary/treasurer of the
Community Banks of Ore-
gon Board of Directors.
A native Oregonian,
Bailey has
spent more
than two
decades
with
the
Bank
of
Eastern
Oregon.
He’s also
Bailey
active
in
the Hep-
pner Chamber of Com-
merce and Willow Creek
Economic
Development
Group.
Other board offi cers
elected to the CBO, which
represents banks head-
quartered in Oregon, were
Ron Green, chair (Oregon
Pacifi c Bank, Florence),
and Kenneth D. Trautman
Jr., immediate past pres-
ident (People’s Bank of
Commerce, Medford).
Also, new four-year
directors elected during the
Dec. 6 election included
Randy Compton, Kate
Salyers and Jim Schlot-
feldt. Those re-elected to
new four-year terms were
Trey Maust and Joseph
J. Postlewait. Others cur-
rently serving on the board
are Jarrett Stuchlik and
Craig Wanichek.
“Oregon’s community
banks are fortunate to have
this accomplished group of
bankers leading the Com-
munity Banks of Oregon.
Their commitment and
passion for community
banking will be invaluable
to our organization and the
communities we serve,”
said Linda Navarro, pres-
ident and chief executive
offi cer of CBO and the Ore-
gon Bankers Association.
CBD-only
retailer opens in
La Grande
LA GRANDE — East-
ern Oregon’s fi rst CBD-
only retailer, Nugget CBD,
is offi cially open for busi-
ness in La Grande and held
a grand opening on Fri-
day, according to a press
release.
According
to
the
release, Nugget CBD’s
stock includes “a premiere
selection of natural pain
relief, health and wellness
product,” which include
“tinctures, oils, topicals,
edibles, vape products, pet
products and more.”
The release also states
that Nugget CBD is a fam-
ily-owned and “family
friendly business” whose
team is there to help edu-
cate and pair customers
with CBD products that
“help improve their lives
in a clean and friendly
environment.”
Nugget CBD is open
Monday-Friday
from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat-
urdays. Active military
members and veterans
receive a 10% discount,
according to the press
release.
An online menu with
pricing options is available
at www.NuggetCBD.com.
2 Eastern Oregon
businesses hit with
DEQ penalties
SALEM
—
Two
regional businesses were
issued penalties from
the Oregon Department
of Environmental Qual-
ity for November, a DEQ
press release announced
on Thursday.
Umatilla’s
Fastrack
Inc. was fi ned $26,757 for
a storm water violation
stemming from a failure
to monitor or implement
a control plan, while Hep-
pner’s Miller Manufactur-
ing was fi ned $413 for an
air quality violation result-
ing from a failure to sub-
mit its annual report on
time.
The violations were two
of 20 issued by the DEQ in
November, which ranged
from Miller Manufactur-
ing’s fi ne to a Portland
business that was fi ned
$141,285. The depart-
ment’s November penal-
ties totaled $443,914.
According to the press
release, organizations and
individuals have 20 days
from Thursday to either
pay or appeal the fi ne. A
portion of the penalty may
be offset by funding a sep-
arate project that benefi ts
the Oregon environment.
— EO Media Group
n
i
W
o
t
r
e
t
n
E
!
0
0
0
$3
Newspaper Sponsored Local Shopping Survey
No Purchase Necessary
ENTER TO WIN NOW!
m
o
c
.
l
l
o
eP
s
l
u
P
.
www