A10
Business
wallowa.com
May 18, 2016
Wallowa County Chieftain
USDA awards funding to Small business
biomass collaborative advisor hire
Wallowa County Chieftain
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of
Oregon is applauding the U.S.
Department of Agriculture deci-
sion to award a groundbreaking
project with funding to continue
its innovative work using wood
waste for renewable energy.
The Oregon Torrefaction
Project will convert forest
wastes to a low-carbon prod-
uct that can be used to heat and
power homes and businesses.
Processing in John Day will
create access to rural jobs and
reduce transportation costs.
“Thanks to community ef-
forts that responsibly tripled
the harvest from the Malheur
National Forest, there’s a huge
increase in the amount of bio-
mass available,” Sen. Wyden
said. “This project addresses
several local industry and com-
munity needs by building new
markets for wood wastes from
forest health restoration and
wildire risk reduction, all while
creating good-paying jobs in the
woods.”
The project is a public-pri-
vate partnership between the
U.S. Forest Service, the U.S.
Endowment, Bonneville Envi-
ronmental Foundation and pri-
vate entities including Ochoco
Lumber and Portland General
Electric.
“We are excited to work with
our partners on the ground, in-
cluding the local collaboratives
and the Forest Service, to build
markets that can enhance forest
restoration activities,” said Matt
Krumenauer, Project Manager
for Oregon Torrefaction. “Proj-
ects like ours not only help build
resiliency in the forest, they sup-
port family wage jobs and the
health of our rural communi-
ties.”
Home care registry now open to all
By Kathleen Ellyn
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Oregon Home Care
Commission (OHCC) un-
veiled a new service on May
10 that connects people need-
ing in-home care with care-
givers. The Homecare Choice
Program provides consumers
with access to the OHCC’s
online Registry of home care
and personal support workers
who have been background
checked and trained.
This state-run registry
is the irst of its kind in the
nation because it serves all
populations, not just people
who have state-funded plans.
Previously, the OHCC’s reg-
istry primarily served Orego-
nians receiving in-home care
through Medicaid and Oregon
Project Independence. As the
65-plus population continues
to grow, more seniors and
people with disabilities will
require in-home care. The
Oregon Ofice of Economic
Analysis estimates the num-
ber of Oregon residents age
65 and over will reach nearly
796,000 by 2020.
The Homecare Choice
Program is available to peo-
ple of all ages and ability
levels who need support to
stay at home. The registry can
be accessed 24 hours, seven
days per week, and the hir-
ing process includes doing
self-assessment, choosing the
services needed and selecting
and interviewing a pre-qual-
iied caregiver. From there,
consumers sign a written ser-
vice plan, set their schedules
and supervise the caregivers
in their homes.
Services available through
the program include assistance
with personal care, household
tasks, companionship, meal
preparation, pet care, running
errands and medication.
“The Homecare Choice
Program simpliies the pro-
cess of inding and hiring a
safe, qualiied caregiver. It
also helps people handle the
legal requirements, such as
payroll and taxes, which lifts
a burden of responsibility off
of them,” said Cheryl Mill-
er, Executive Director of the
OHCC.
The Homecare Choice
Program was created by the
Oregon Legislature in 2014
(SB 1542) to meet the grow-
ing demand of those needing
in-home care by allowing
private pay consumers to
purchase home care services
from the OHCC through its
registry. The OHCC has man-
aged a successful, function-
ing registry of home care and
personal support workers in
all 36 counties across Oregon
since 2008 that serves peo-
ple receiving in-home care
through
Medicaid-funded
plans and Oregon Project In-
dependence.
For more information
about the program visit
www.HomecareChoiceOre-
gon.com, email homecare.
choice@state.or.us or call
1-844-494-4227.
USFS seeks input on tree removal project
Wallowa County Chieftain
The Wallowa-Whitman Na-
tional Forest is asking for pub-
lic comments on a project pro-
posal to cut and remove danger
trees and trees broken by wind
along forest road 3960, camp-
grounds and surrounding areas
For speciics about this
project please visit http://ti-
nyurl.com/go5jnjj and click on
the project name: “Road 3960
Windthrow and Hazard Trees.”
Forest staff are working
to complete the planning and
analysis for the project by Au-
gust.
The Forest Service en-
courages those of you who
are interested in this project to
become involved in the plan-
ning process by providing us
with your comments on these
projects and visiting with our
staff. Please submit written
comments to: Wallowa-Whit-
man National Forest, Wallowa
Mountains Ofice, Attention:
Sitka Pence (Planning Pro-
gram), P.O. Box 905, Joseph,
k Courtney Bailey is a sophomore at
e
e
W
e
th Joseph Charter School and is the daughter
f
o
t
n
e
of Stephanie and Chris Bailey.
tud
S
Courtney Bailey
Joseph Charter School
Courtney maintains 4.0 gps while
competing as a three sport athlete.
She engages in upper level classes such as
Future Health Professionals and Success 101
both for college credit and is in advanced
math. Courtney is active in FFA, Natural
Helplers and FCCLA and seves as her class's
Secretary. The staf and administration
would like to congratulate Courtney on
being student of the week and thank her
for making our school outstanding.
OR 97846
Comments also can be
submitted via email to sit-
kapence@fs.fed.us.
To submit comments by
telephone, or for more in-
formation about the project,
please contact Sitka Pence at
541-426-5689. Please submit
your comments by June 17.
Comments provided as well
as the name and address of
the person providing the com-
ments, will become a matter of
public record.
Wednesday May 18, 2016,
in recognition of Older Americans Month,
Community Connection will provide a
COMPLIMENTARY LUNCH
to Seniors and their spouses
over the age of 60 at both the
Enterprise and Wallowa Centers.
Cake, Refreshments and Information will
be provided at the Enterprise Center
from 1pm to 2pm.
The Student of the Week is chosen for
academic achievement and community
involvement. Students are selected
by the administrators of
their respective schools.
We hope to see on Wednesday May 18th!
Kathleen Ellyn
E
d Pitts, Acting Chair
of Wallowa Business
says that Blue Moun-
tain Community College is
just about a week away from
announcing who will replace
Marc Stauffer as the small
business advisor in Wallowa
County.
Stauffer left that position
March 31 citing an “unex-
pected increase in market
area and resulting increase in
business” for his ine furni-
ture reinishing business.
The business advisor for
Wallowa County is em-
ployed by Blue Mountain
Community College Small
Business Development
Center (SBDC). Wallowa
Business, which has served
914 entrepreneurs through
its contracts with advisors
since 2001, entered a service
agreement with SBDC in
2015 to serve Wallowa
County. SBDC brings an
array of business tools and
experience developed in its
network of SBDCs in 1,000
counties across the nation.
While on the job as busi-
ness advisor Stauffer served
22 clients, some of whom
have already opened new
businesses in the county
from his office inside the
Tomas Building in En-
terprise next door to the
Wallowa County Chamber
of Commerce.
• And in the “so many
good meetings, so little
time” category, here’s a very
short report on the meeting
held last week at Winding
Waters Boathouse where
Judy Goodman presented in-
formation on how she took
her company, BGood Bars,
public. Goodman is taking
advantage of a new state
law that allows ordinary
folks — who don’t have to
be “accredited investors,”
as defined by the Securities
and Exchange Commis-
sion — worth $1 million
to qualify as investors and
purchase shares in local
companies.
The presentation gave an
overview of the exemptions,
the community public option
and what it means for small
business and entrepreneurs.
Then, Goodman talked about
the details of her offer. You
can see her prospectus online
Please send your Biz Buzz
news tips to Kathleen Ellyn
at kellyn@wallowa.com.
Now in paperback
Come Rain
or Come Shine
by
Jan Karon
T HE B OOKLOFT
107 E. Main • 541.426.3351
always open at www.bookloftoregon.com • bookloft@eoni.com
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BIZ BUZZ
at the Hatch portal: http://
hatchoregon.com/invest-pub-
lic-offerings.html.
NEOEDD will offer
training for business owners
interested in going public
this summer in Union Coun-
ty, though dates have not yet
been set.
• I didn’t make that meet-
ing because I was out at Hur-
ricane Creek Grange taking
part in the Friends of Family
Farmers listening session.
Next time the FoFF
comes around (in another
two years) I highly recom-
mend as many family farm-
ers as possible come and
be part of this discussion. Al-
though the meeting is meant
to brainstorm issues to take
to the legislature, solutions
to those issues were also
discussed and connections
to other folks in the county
working on the same issues
are extremely valuable.
One of the subjects
that came up is the lack of
seasonal workers in Wallowa
County, which connects
to the lack of housing for
seasonal workers, which
connects to the cost of train-
ing workers and business
concerns about rising wages.
These are all subjects that
should be in the forefront
of legislators’ minds, and
getting them there by means
of as many organizations
— like FoFF, The Oregon
Cattleman’s Association,
Oregon Tilth, National Small
Business Association and
others — is essential.
• And inally, a bit of sad
news: Sarrah Wells Crist,
owner of Wynken Blynken
and Nod Children’s Thrift
and Consignment Clothing
store in Joseph recently
announced that the store is
closing. The closing date
depends on when new rent-
ers are found, so the store is
still open from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. daily as Crist decreases
inventory.
She cited the short sea-
son, the high cost of labor,
high rental cost and her own
very busy schedule with ive
children as reasons for the
closure.
“It’s sad, because I think
it’s a really good shop, but
maybe I was a bit premature
in my plans,” Crist said. “I
wish it could make it here,
I think it’s something the
community needs.”
Across from the courthouse in Enterprise
of
the

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