Wallowa County Chieftain
Business
wallowa.com
April 13, 2016
A5
Big changes a brewin’ in our county
BIZ BUZZ
Kathleen Ellyn
I
t’s throwback days in the Wallowa County
beer industry this week.
• Terminal Gravity has won a bronze
medal at Willamette Week’s Oregon Beer
Awards for its Wallowa Lake Lager, a wheat-
based, pre-prohibition-style pilsner.
TG is often recognized for its beer. It won
People’s Choice Award for its IPA at the same
event last year and has been featured in brew
industry magazines several times in addition
to being highlighted by Travel Oregon.
Now, however, TG is turning back the page
on brewing, away from Belgian Malts and to-
ward malts grown in the Northwest for a new
line of beers. Exciting.
• Tyler Hays, owner of M Crow & Com-
pany General Store in Lostine, is also exper-
imenting with the old way. You may already
know that you can get a growler or glass of
M Crow Beer at the store. Now, rancher/farm-
er Alan Klages of Joseph is growing about
4 acres of a barley variety called “Klages,”
named after Alans’ grandfather’s brother, who
was an agronomist at Eastern Idaho University
back in the 1940s.
“It’s a malting variety that was released
in 1976 and was the most popular variety for
about 10 years,” Alan said. “It’s hard to grow
but it has a good malting pro¿le.”
Alan says they should get about 8 tons of
barley off their little 4-acre experiment, and
“then we’ll see where we go next. Tyler want-
ed to have a Wallowa County connection. His
idea is to raise the barley here, malt it here and
make the beer here. He’d really like to have
some local hops, too.”
• One last update for the connoisseur of al-
coholic beverages: Dandelion Wines at 112 W
Main Street in Enterprise will now have their
previously announced Third Thursday wine
tasting and glass-pouring event from 4 to 7
p.m. every Thursday, so come on in for a glass
of wine and enjoy downtown Enterprise.
Just a thank you to those of you who have
been sending me tips and a promise to get to
them all. If it’s been a month or two since you
sent them, remind me again. It never hurts.
Also know that some of your tips turned out
to be such big news that we contacted the busi-
ness in question and are preparing full, indi-
vidual articles.
Please send your Biz Buzz news tips to
Kathleen Ellyn at kellyn@wallowa.com.
Jobless So you wanna be a farmers market vendor?
rate dips Saturday
symposium
to 4.5
offers tips from
experts and
percent a chance to
Wallowa County Chieftain
Oregon’s
unemployment
rate dropped to a record low
of 4.5 percent in March — the
lowest point since comparable
records began in 1976. Oregon’s
February unemployment rate
was 4.8 percent. A year ago, in
March 2015, Oregon’s unem-
ployment rate was 5.7 percent.
Oregon’s rate is half a per-
centage point below the U.S.
rate of 5.0 percent in March.
The last time Oregon’s rate
was half a percentage point
below the U.S. rate was in No-
vember 1995.
The total number of Ore-
gonians employed in March
reached 1.94 million, which
was up substantially from
1.84 million in March 2015.
The rapid rise in the number
of employed is the main driv-
er of an increase in Oregon’s
labor force participation rate,
which shot up to 62.3 percent
in March from a recent low of
60.8 percent in March 2015.
“Rapid job growth and a
historically low unemploy-
ment rate mean that Oregon’s
labor market is stronger than
it’s been in decades,” said state
employment economist Nick
Beleiciks in a press release.
“Businesses are raising wages
to attract the help they need,
and it’s working because peo-
ple are Àocking to Oregon’s
labor force.”
Oregon’s payroll employ-
ment grew by 3,900 in March,
following a revised gain of
7,400. The March gain was
close to the average monthly
pace seen over the past three
years. In March, three major
industries each added more
than 1,000 jobs: health care
and social assistance (plus
1,400 jobs), wholesale trade
(plus 1,300) and profession-
al and business services (plus
1,200). Meanwhile, three ma-
jor industries cut close to 1,000
jobs apiece: private education-
al services (minus 1,200 jobs),
construction (minus 900) and
manufacturing (minus 700).
The tightening of Oregon’s
labor market is leading to rap-
idly rising wages, with the
average hourly wage up by
4.6 percent over the year. In
March, the average wage was
$24.45 per hour for Oregon’s
private sector payroll employ-
ees, which was 10 cents more
than the $24.35 in February.
network
By Scot Heisel
Wallowa County Chieftain
If you’ve ever had an urge
to become a farmers market
vendor but you aren’t sure
how to go about it or — bet-
ter still — how to be success-
ful, this could be your year to
take the leap.
Opening day for the Wal-
lowa County Farmers Market
in Joseph is just six weeks
away, and organizers are
sowing the seeds of local
commerce with a vendors
symposium from 9 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. Saturday in En-
terprise.
“(The symposium) is the
¿rst of its kind,” said ven-
dor and market manager
Carol Bartlow. “Every year
we have an annual meeting.
Potential vendors come, we
answer questions. This year,
to build up the market and
get new people involved, we
have a guest speaker to help
understand what it means to
be a vendor. And we have
a panel of veteran vendors
who will share tips on what it
takes to be successful.”
This year’s preseason
gathering will offer a new
slate of valuable resourc-
es for veteran vendors and
anyone who is interested in
testing the farmers market
waters.
Sales specialist Kathy
Bingham will offer advice on
general business strategies.
Also, Jody Berry of Wild
Carrot in Enterprise will dis-
cuss the “nuts and bolts” of
booth presentation and the
practicalities of on-site prod-
Wallowa County
Chieftain archives
The Joseph Farmers Market kicks off its 2016 season May 28.
uct display.
Following presentations
and a panel discussion, there
will be a question-and-an-
swer session on all things re-
lated to the market to cap the
event.
“It’s a wonderful opportu-
nity,” Bartlow said.
The vendors symposium
will take place at the Fish-
trap house, 400 E Grant St.
in Enterprise. Admission is
free. Registration is recom-
mended but not required. Re-
freshments will be provided.
To register or to get more in-
formation, contact Bartlow at
wallowacountyfarmersmar-
ket@gmail.com or 541-398-
8435.
In March the Wallowa
County Farmers Market
board announced that it
has canceled the Enterprise
Farmers Market, traditional-
ly held on Thursday nights,
for the 2016 season with the
intent of bringing that market
back as soon as possible.
The Joseph Farmers Mar-
ket runs from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Saturdays from May
28 through mid-October. For
more information, contact
Bartlow at 541-398-8435 or
visit www.wallowacounty-
farmersmarket.com.
Please purchase tickets before April 16
Wallowa County
Chess Club
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reserved.
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©2012 True
by True
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