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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2022)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Thursday, February 10, 2022 Food industry must adapt to long-term labor shortages ers found pay rates are 14th on their list of concerns, while enjoying their job is the top consideration, he said. “Employees are becoming the new customers. We have to make them happy,” said Steve Childs, a production manager for Chaucer Foods in Forest Grove. “Employees aren’t something you do once and then put on a shelf.” Roughly 70 million work- ers from the baby boomer generation are projected to retire during a time period when only 40 million new workers will enter the work- force, said Brian LaPlante, district account manager with FANUC America Corp., a robotics company. Ret i rements have increased in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, accelerating changes in the workforce that were already underway, LaPlante said. “COVID has done auto- mation a favor,” he said. “The pandemic is continuing to influence the reluctance to return to work. People don’t want to come back.” Robots have a history in food processing that dates back to the 1980s, when they started stacking boxes on pallets, LaPlante said. Since then, the machines have been moving “upstream” to inter- act directly with food. “They are cleanable. They By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press PORTLAND — The worker shortage isn’t a temporary trend that farm- ers and food processors can hope will soon blow over, experts say. As insufficient labor plagues the agriculture and food industries, employers must persistently compete for workers while investing in automation, according to experts at Food Northwest’s annual processing and pack- aging expo Feb. 3 and 4 in Portland. “This is the new normal. Things will not go back to how they were before,” said Osvaldo Granillo, sales director with Redzone Production Systems, which helps companies with worker productivity. Retaining employees is key — apart from the expense of recruiting and training workers, companies face an “opportunity cost” when they can’t fill orders due to an insufficient work- force, he said. Employee ret ent ion doesn’t just boil down to spending more on wages, especially with the new generation of workers, Granillo said. A survey of young work- Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press Participants examine food processing equipment in early February 2022 at Food Northwest’s processing and packag- ing expo in Portland. keep things from coming into them and keep things from coming out of them,” he said. Some robots can learn how to accomplish tasks through physical train- ing rather than traditional programming, he said. “It Forecast for Pendleton Area | Go to AccuWeather.com TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Mostly sunny Mostly sunny and cooler Mostly sunny Mostly sunny A couple of showers 66° 33° 51° 29° 67° 32° 53° 31° 46° 33° 50° 41° HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 51° 29° 52° 34° 53° 37° OREGON FORECAST 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 50/39 49/29 54/30 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 60/32 Lewiston 49/37 61/31 Astoria 51/39 Pullman Yakima 45/26 51/37 57/35 Portland Hermiston 55/39 The Dalles 67/32 Salem Corvallis 54/36 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 51/27 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 54/38 73/29 59/28 Ontario 41/30 Caldwell Burns 66° 33° 47° 29° 70° (1996) -24° (1929) 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 53/37 Trace Trace 0.31" 0.93" 0.71" 1.45" Today Medford 70/34 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022 Fri. WSW 4-8 WSW 6-12 Boardman Pendleton 63/23 NE 4-8 N 3-6 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today Full 7:05 a.m. 5:14 p.m. 11:42 a.m. 3:00 a.m. Last New NATIONAL EXTREMES High 91° in Santa Ana, Calif. Low -10° in Angel Fire, N.M. Feb 16 Feb 23 Mar 2 Mar 10 NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s ice 50s 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 70s East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 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 © 2022, EO Media Group 80s 90s 100s warm front stationary front East Oregonian 110s high low SALEM — The Oregon Department of Environmen- tal Quality in a recent press release announced it has new leadership in its Water Quality Program and Eastern Region offices. Jennifer Wigal is the new Water Quality Program administrator, replacing Justin Green, who left DEQ to pursue other interests; and Shannon Davis is the East- ern Region administrator, replacing Linda Hayes-Gor- man, who is retiring from the agency. The two administrators come from within the mana- gerial ranks at DEQ and bring a wealth of experience to their new jobs. Davis has led the Lifecy- cle Programs Team in DEQ’s Materials Management Divi- sion for the past four years. The program studies envi- ronmental impact of the full Circulation Dept. For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214 lifespan of materials and products, from manufacture to disposal. Davis has worked in the materials management field for 15 years. In addition to her work at DEQ, she has tackled environmental issues for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Arizona and in the halls of Congress. While at EPA, she contributed to national materials management policy development and co-led the West Coast Climate and Materials Management Forum. As director of Arizona DEQ’s waste programs and Pima County’s air quality program, Davis focused on environmental policy devel- opment and implementation. She also served three elected officials, including chief of staff to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She also had the privilege of supporting indigenous SUBSCRIPTION RATES Local home delivery Savings (cover price) $10.75/month 50 percent 52 weeks $135 42 percent 26 weeks $71 39 percent 13 weeks $37 36 percent EZPay Single copy price: $1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday communities throughout the Southwest in the stewardship efforts of their land. Wigal has more than 20 years’ experience working in water quality programs at the state and federal level. She’s been at Oregon DEQ since 2008, and most recently served as Water Quality deputy administrator. In her tenure at DEQ, she’s held several roles within the Water Quality Program, including manag- ing Oregon’s Water Qual- ity Standards Program and the Water Quality Assess- ments Program. Prior to DEQ, she built her expertise in water quality programs at EPA headquarters, working in water quality standards and permitting. Wigal also has held national leadership positions, including serving as the president (2017-18) and vice president (2016-17) of the Association of Clean Water Administrators. ADVERTISING Classified & Legal Advertising Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group: Classified advertising: 541-564-4538 • Karrine Brogoitti 541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com 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 EastOregonian.com In the App Store: wrote WDFW enforcement liaison Becky Elder in an email. Coyote hunting regula- tions are some of the least restrictive in Washing- ton state, with no bag limit and a year-round hunting season. While a small game or big game hunting license is required to hunt coyotes, coyotes are not classified as game animals, which means that existing laws against wastage do not apply, Elder said. “Currently no statute exists that would prohibit a person from lawfully shoot- ing a coyote and letting it naturally degrade,” she wrote. “The unlawful take of a coyote would include poisoned, trapped, or that any other unlawful means of harvest were used.” DEQ announces new leadership in Eastern Region, Water Quality Program First Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) -10s WALLA WALLA — A Walla Walla man running his dogs near Kibler Road the morning of Friday, Feb. 4, came across a startling scene: four dead coyotes stacked on top of each other in a ditch between the road and an adjoining field. “It is sickening to say the least,” said Steve Rusch. “I’ve been running my dogs on that road for 20 years; I have never seen anything like this. It’s barbaric.” The coyotes appeared to have been dumped rela- tively recently, with one showing signs of scaveng- ing, and were along Kibler Road, a dead-end country road near a weigh station on the side of U.S. Highway 12 east of Walla Walla. Rusch said he was distressed to see the carcasses dropped on the side of a remote road, calling it disre- spectful to the animals and to people in the area. “They’re close to the highway. Someone probably just pulled in there to dump them,” he said. Not certain if any laws had been broken, Rusch reached out to federal agencies and the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office, where staff referred him back to the Washington Department of Fish and Wild- life, he said. That agency regulates coyotes in Washington, but until officers observe the site to determine if the carcasses were illegally dumped, it’s not immediately clear that anything criminal occurred, WINDS (in mph) 47/29 58/24 Trace 0.04" 0.39" 1.57" 0.99" 1.93" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 49/22 56/38 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 66/33 67/39 64° 40° 45° 29° 73° (1996) -20° (1929) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 50/37 Aberdeen 44/28 42/31 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 51/40 a food industry group. Workers are less likely to jump ship if they see a future at the company, he said. “In this environment, you’ve got to keep engag- ing them and make them feel important,” he said. “If they feel like family, they will stay.” Bright employees can act out and become “smart alecks” when they’re bored, so it helps to provide them with a purpose and oppor- tunities for advancement, Damon said, so they “see a career path where they didn’t see one.” Promoting people from within the company ensures that employees in leadership roles know “every crack and cranny” of the operation, said Debbie Radie, vice president of operations at Boardman Foods. “My top mechanic today started on my trim line,” Radie said. Boardman Foods has a generous paid time-off policy and started an all-day child daycare program to retain female employees who’d otherwise be compelled to stay home during the pandemic, she said. “We find creative ways for people to have that work-life balance,” Radie said, “even on the work floor trimming onions.” Discovery of coyote carcasses distresses Walla Walla man By EMRY DINMAN Walla Walla Union-Bulletin PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST 49° 30° streamlines the process, makes it a lot easier.” In agriculture, robots already have been deployed to harvest peppers, for exam- ple, but the technology still is at a relatively “infantile” stage, LaPlante said. The challenge is creat- ing software for robots to successfully interact with the environment, he said. “The robot can do what you tell it to do, but you need someone to tell it what to do.” Robotics offer a way to make up for the shortfall in workers and automate dull and unpleasant tasks, LaPlante said. Existing employees then can engage in more productive and rewarding duties. “It’s not our enemy. Auto- mation is our friend,” he said. “It’s more of a tool to use than a threat to people’s jobs.” Workplace culture is a crucial consideration for employers who are compet- ing against other companies whose workers perform simi- lar tasks, said Matt Crabtree, sales director with Redzone. Given a choice between filling boxes with products or peeling onions, for exam- ple, a worker may choose the company “where people want to go and spend their time,” he said. “Retention is the cheapest thing you can do to maintain productivity,” Crabtree said. It’s worth spending the time to continuously educate and train employees, focus- ing on communication and soliciting feedback on work processes, said John Damon, workforce development manager for Food Northwest, Multimedia Consultants: • Angel Aguilar 541-564-4531 • aaguilar@hermistonherald.com • Melissa Barnes 541-966-0827 • mbarnes@eastoregonian.com • Audra Workman 541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com Business Office Legal advertising: 541-966-0824 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, engagements, weddings and anniversaries: email community@eastoregonian.com, call 541-966-0818 or or visit eastoregonian.com/community/ announcements. • To submit sports or outdoors information or tips, email sports@eastoregonian.com. 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