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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2016)
A6 Business wallowa.com Sometimes less is more By Kathleen Ellyn Wallowa County Chieftain I t’s the traditional time of year for setting resolutions and a lot of us are going to be deciding to lose weight, ex- ercise more, eat out less, spend less money on “stuff,” get se- rious about our careers, save money and so on. All great resolutions and most of them are on my list, too. But I’ve been thinking about business-related reso- lutions that lead to business ¿WQHVV For many of us here in Wallowa County, being able to serve customers online is an important part of our business. “Most of the business- es in our area with walk-in businesses have social media or web pages as well,” said Happy New Year! BIZ BUZZ Kathleen Ellyn Kristy Athens, outreach spe- cialist for the Northeast Ore- gon Economic Development District. “But there are differ- ent levels of engagement, from letting local people know you are here to marketing outside of the region.” M Crow, for instance has an international business through their website. Other businesses with a strong online presence helping draw interest from out- side the region include Arrow- head Chocolates, Wild Carrot Herbals, beecrowbee and Sim- ply Sandy’s. For smaller or part-time businesses, however, a Face- book page may be enough. In fact, it may be more than enough. And here is where my New Year’s resolutions come in. I began a jewelry business on the west side of the moun- from everyone at tains before moving back to Wallowa County. Over there, , KDG ¿YH YHU\ ODUJH ED]DDUV lined up and a shop set up for shipping my product. Then I moved to Wallowa County. I no longer have shipping fa- cilities and I attended just two ED]DDUVWKLV\HDU 7KDW¶V ¿QH IRU QRZ 0\ “problem” is that I have a Facebook page I haven’t WRXFKHG LQ ¿YH PRQWKV ,¶P guilty of failing to make use of my resources. Worse, I’m setting myself up to disappoint customers. It appears I’m not alone in this. Four times in the last two months when I’ve been unable to get local business people on the phone, I’ve taken informa- tion from their Facebook or web page for my column or a story — and received calls asking me where the heck I got that information because it’s incorrect! Well, folks, I got it from your very own website or Facebook page. It’s hard to keep up with 201 East Hwy 82 Enterprise, OR 97828 541.426.0320 Teal! When it comes Still Open Seven Days a Week 10 am – 5 pm Celebrate the to your home or year business, new with the Safe Way new name brand is the Best Way! appliances! Uptown Clothing & Accessories in Downtown Joseph 12 S. Main St. • 541-432-9653 T HE B OOKLOFT AND S KYLIGHT G ALLERY Finding books is our specialty 541.426.3351 • 107 E. Main • Enterprise • www.bookloftoregon.com social media, especially if our businesses are starting out or going through changes. The fact is, as with any New Year’s resolution, we may need to both commit to better business behavior and scale back our ambitions at the same time. It’s not a step back, although the word “back” is in there. Scaling back on your marketing footprint can be a professional decision that allows you to focus on some- thing more critical — quality of service. One of the best pieces of advice I’ve received recent- ly is to scale my social media IRRWSULQWWR¿WP\DELOLW\²LQ the same way I would begin an exercise program that actually ¿WVP\FXUUHQWSK\VLFDODELOLW\ So, using myself as an ex- ample: since making a few ED]DDUVD\HDULVWKHEHVW,FDQ do right now, I’m going to re- design my Facebook presence WR¿WWKDW0DNHLWFOHDUWKDWP\ SURGXFWLVDYDLODEOHDWED]DDUV DQG ZKLFK ED]DDUV WKRVH DUH Don’t fail miserably in cus- tomer service by providing a way for folks to order online and then not being able to ship products in a timely manner. Consider scaling back on the services you provide. That might not sound like the actions of someone who wants to succeed — but within the context of an overall plan, like an exercise plan, it is the wisest course of action. Once consistency is built, the business can be expand- ed, because consistent service, like consistent exercise, is es- sential to success. Please send your Biz Buzz news tips to Kathleen Ellyn at kellyn@wallowa.com. January 13, 2016 Wallowa County Chieftain Recreational pot to be taxed 25 percent FKRO] UHDVVXUHG WKH SXEOLF that OLCC was ready for the oversight position. “Even though the mari- juana tax program is new to Oregon, administering tax programs is what we do every GD\´%XFKRO]VDLG OLCC plans to start issu- By Kathleen Ellyn ing licenses to retail facilities Wallowa County Chieftain in late 2016. At licensed retail- The Oregon Department ers, consumers will be able to of Revenue (ODR) has an- buy more types of recreation- nounced that medical mari- al marijuana products, includ- juana dispensaries will start ing immature plants, edibles, collecting a 25 percent tax on concentrates, extracts, and the retail price of recreational topical products. Retail sales marijuana products on Janu- at licensed facilities will be ary 4, 2016. taxed at 17 percent. 7KH WD[ DXWKRUL]HG LQ Cities and counties can House Bill 2014, will be ad- adopt an additional local tax ministered by the Oregon of up to 3 percent on retail Liquor Control Commission sales. The State Department (OLCC) and will remain in of Revenue is not involved in effect until Dec. 31, 2016. the collection of local mari- ODR Director Jim Bu- juana taxes. Liquor Control prepared for oversight, official says State on pace to reverse drought designation Fall, winter precipitation sparks optimism USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service — all basins in Oregon are experi- encing above-normal snow- pack levels, an estimated 125 percent of average. That’s for the basins. The By Kathleen Ellyn news gets even better. Snow- Wallowa County Chieftain fall levels already have sur- Cold weather and heavy passed the peak levels of last snowfall this winter may year’s snow season in all loca- mean the end of drought in tions statewide. All locations. 2016 — maybe. Water managers are cau- $FFRUGLQJ WR WKH ¿UVW tiously optimistic that the water supply outlook report state will see drought recov- for the year — released by ery. “This is the scenario we had hoped for following last year’s extreme drought con- ditions,” said Melissa Webb, NRCS snow survey hydrolo- gist. “The fall and early win- ter precipitation have started WR ¿OO UHVHUYRLUV DFURVV WKH state ... and snowpack that we have right now in the moun- tains is more than we had at 15% off all dental cleanings and assessments now any time last year, which is through the end of February, even for our horse friends too! very encouraging.” Most reservoirs in Oregon Call and schedule an appointment today! had below-normal amounts of water stored for this time 541.426.4470 of year except in the Willa- basin, where fall rain Double Arrow Veterinary Clinic mette boosted many of those reser- Your high-tech, home-town veterinarian. voirs back to normal levels. Available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s early for predictions, but given the abundant snowpack in the mountains, VWUHDPÀRZ IRUHFDVWV DUH H[- pected to be near normal to well above normal for this summer. The NRCS survey mea- sures snow and provides VWUHDPÀRZ IRUHFDVWV DQG snowpack data collected from 81 SNOTEL sites, 42 manu- ally measured snow courses, and 26 aerial markers. 301 W. Main, Enterprise • 541.426.3177 BIRTHS ACROSS DOWN 1. Color properties 5. Arabian greeting 10. Frozen spike 12. Levels 14. Tear down social stiffness 16. Rapper Hammer’s initials 18. Midway between E and SE 19. Shooting marble 20. Edward __, British composer 22. Largest English dictionary (abbr.) 23. Cygnus’ brightest star 25. Goidelic language of Ireland 26. Midway between N and NE 27. Auditory organ 28. Last month (abbr.) 30. Indicated horsepower (abbr.) 31. Mediation council 33. Aussie crocodile hunter 35. Sylvan deity 37. Clears or tidies 38. In a way, emerges 40. Whimper 41. G. Gershwin’s brother 42. Begetter 44. Seated 45. Old world, new 48. Girls 50. “Song of triumph” 52. A covering for the head 53. Attack 55. Norwegian krone 56. Coach Parseghian 57. No good 58. Task that is simple 63. A way to move on 65. In a way, advanced 66. Loses weight 67. Shift sails 1. Go quickly 2. Fiddler crabs 3. Cervid 4. Gundog 5. Gushed forth 6. Caliph 7. Shoe cord 8. Give extreme unction to 9. Of I 10. “A Doll’s House” author 11. Documents certifying authority 13. Drunk 15. Principal ethnic group of China 17. Crinkled fabrics 18. Longest division of geological time 21. Pancake 23. Small pat 24. A garden plot 27. Strayed 29. Surgical instrument 32. No. French river 34. Modern 35. Now called Ho Chi Minh City 36. Set into a specific format 39. Exhaust 40. Individual 43. Moves rhythmically to music 44. D. Lamour “Road” picture cos- tume 46. Having earlike appendages 47. Certified public accountant 49. Outermost part of a flower 51. Supplement with difficulty 54. Plains Indian tent (alt. sp.) 59. Electronic warfare-support meas- ures 60. Displaying a fairylike aspect 61. Taxi 62. They __ 64. Syrian pound A daughter, Harper Elizabeth Layton, was born December 22, 2015, in Enterprise to Jacob and Kelsey Layton of Wallowa. Grandparents are Elizabeth Phelan, Terry Kamlade, and Rene and Ronnie Layton. A son, William Bishop Hurley, was born December 24, 2015, in Enterprise to Thaddaeus and Robin Hurley of Joseph. Grandparents are Sara and Dr. Brian Bowe, and Susanna and David Hurley. A daughter, Trinity Ann Schoeszler, was born December 26, 2015, in Enterprise to Paul and Maddy Schoeszler of Enterprise. Grandparents are Rebecca Marino, Gordon Richardson, and Janette and Mike Schill. A son, Case Asher Stockdale, was born December 31, 2015, in Enterprise to Craig and Erica Stockdale of Joseph. Grandparents are Kristen & Darrel Gilliland, and Kim Stockdale.
