Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 30, 2016
Economy: More jobs, fewer unemployed
largest age groups younger
than 20 years old.
Polk County actually
ranks first in the state in
f o re c a s t e d l a b o r f o rc e
growth.
Continued from 1A
Irvine said the city is not
only focused on investing in
infrastructure that business-
es are interested in, but what
might appeal to workers,
such as parks and making
downtown more appealing.
“It used to be quality of
life doesn’t matter,” he said.
“It’s the workforce, utilities
and price of land that
brought business. I always
felt that was wrong. Good
quality workers want a good
quality of life.”
Obstacles
County progress
Most of the development
or potential development in
Polk County is happening in
the cities, but unincorporat-
ed parts of the county also
have seen an uptick in proj-
ects.
Building permits have in-
creased in number and in
value of work being done,
said Austin McGuigan, Polk
County Community Devel-
opment director.
“We are running 20 per-
cent lower than the peak,
pre-recession, but those
were hyper-inflated times,”
McGuigan said.
The county also does
electrical permits for Dallas,
Independence, and Falls
City. Those have increased
significantly and are per-
haps a better measure of de-
velopment in the area.
“We talk to people at the
counter all the time, and we
think there’s a lot of opti-
mism,” McGuigan said.
“People are just generally
willing to take more risk
than they were before, and
we are starting to see that a
little bit.”
Low unemployment
Official statistics back up
the impressions local offi-
cials have about the econo-
my. Will Summers, work-
force analyst with the Ore-
gon Employment Depart-
ment, said the current pre-
liminary unemployment
rate for Polk County is 4.9
percent, down from 5.8 in
2015 and 6.39 in 2014.
The 4.9 percent rate
measures those who are
“able and available for work
and who are looking for
work.” It doesn’t include
those who are underem-
ployed (meaning they are
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Anna Balbaneda of First Call Home Health Care, was one of 32 vendors at the Polk County Job Fair on March 23.
overqualified for their job),
working part-time when
they are looking for a full-
time job or discouraged
workers who have given up
looking.
Summers said the 4.9 is
close to the statewide rate.
“We are getting to the
state of what we want to call
full employment,” he said.
“Businesses are getting to
the point of saying again, if
you can fog a mirror, I need
a body. I can plug you in at
the bottom level of our or-
ganization.”
Chad Freeman, the presi-
dent of Strategic Economic
Development Corporation
(Sedcor), said a job fair held
at Central High School last
week offers more evidence
of improvement. The fair
had 32 businesses in atten-
dance.
“Every one of them was
hir ing,” Freeman said,
adding a job fair held last
year had similar results.
Sedcor focuses on recruit-
ing and supporting existing
traded-sector businesses in
Polk, Marion, and Yamhill
counties. In the last three
years, Sedcor has been in-
volved in assisting business
with nearly $150 million in
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Halo Employment and Resource Specialist Lisa Howard talks with a job seeker during
the Polk County Job, held at Central High School on March 23.
investment, bringing or re-
taining more than 2,100 jobs
in the region.
Freeman said his “pend-
ing project” portfolio is $200
million. Not all those proj-
ects will come to fruition,
but it’s another measure of
growth in the region.
“It is significantly larger
than when I came on board
three years ago,” Freeman
said.
Job growth
Other indicators imply
the upward trend could con-
tinue.
Salem, which is the major
employment center for peo-
ple in Polk County, is in the
midst of the fastest job
growth in 25 years, accord-
ing to a report released last
week from the Oregon Office
of Economic Analysis. The
report also stated the Salem
area has the demographics
to supply a healthy work-
force in the future, with its
That isn’t to say there aren’t
still momentum killers — a
low inventory of industrial
and retail spaces, a lack of
qualified workers, and the
shadow of the impending
minimum wage increase.
Businesses have the most
questions about minimum
wage, and that may put a
chill on job growth, especial-
ly for medium and small
businesses.
“It’s scary because we have
worked so hard, especially
the last couple of years, at
getting employers to a place
where they can hire some-
body and be hiring staff
back,” Metcalfe said. “Now a
lot of those are off the table
or have giant question marks
on them because that cost is
going to be so impactful in so
many ways.”
Lawmakers are already
proposing tweaks to the bill
passed during this year’s
short legislative session.
While revisions are ham-
mered out, Metcalfe recom-
mends businesses start plan-
ning now, or perhaps attend
a financial management
class or workshop, so they
are prepared for changes.
Freeman said the three-
county region Sedcor repre-
sents is down to about a 2
percent industrial facility va-
cancy rate.
Anything below 10 per-
cent is considered a seller’s
market, he said, so he proj-
ects the next wave of invest-
ments will have to include
businesses building their
own facilities.
As for building a work-
force, with programs like
Halo (Helping Achieve Life-
long Objective) and K-12
school districts and commu-
nity colleges creating “career
and technical education”
programs, development is
making strides.
“We are seeing that is
happening and I think that
will be a competitive advan-
tage in the future,” Freeman
said.
Emily Mentzer contributed
to this report.
Minimum wage increases loom as ‘unknown’ to business owners
Small, mid-sized, family-owned companies should plan now to accommodate higher state wages, Metcalfe says
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
POLK COUNTY — If signs of
economic recovery are evident in
Polk County, there’s one recent de-
velopment that could stall mo-
mentum: The impending increases
in the minimum wage.
Lawmakers passed legislation in
this year’s session that would grad-
ually increase the minimum wage
in Polk County to $13.50 over six
years.
“That is panicking every size
business, especially our small- to
mid-size businesses that are fami-
ly-owned and operated,” said
Chelsea Metcalfe, the executive di-
rector of the Dallas Area Chamber
of Commerce. “Now they are al-
ready having to look at, OK, do I go
back to just family because we
aren’t going to be able to maintain
having all our employees here at
this rate.”
She said increasing minimum
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wage will have a ripple effect in
cost increases for businesses that
is creating the uncertainty.
“It’s the fear and unknowing of
how that is going to affect our
economy,” Metcalfe said. “How do
we get through this as a communi-
ty — a small community — and
keep people in the jobs they have?”
House District 20 Rep. Paul
Evans, a supporter of the bill, said
the intent of the increase was to
create more financial stability for
working families and change wage
structures to sustain the middle
class.
Work on the proposal that
passed began last year, he said.
“In ’15 there was a recognition
that we needed to figure a way to
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increase the relative purchasing
power of working families,” Evans
said.
He added the law can be
tweaked if necessary.
“Although costs will go up, it
does give families an opportunity
to get a little bit ahead and, the
way it’s staggered over time, busi-
nesses have some time to figure
out what they’re going to do. They
have time to plan,” Evans said.
Far from just being tweaked,
Sen. Brian Boquist, who voted
against the bill, believes the mini-
mum wage legislation will be over-
turned in court.
He said creating different mini-
mum wages based on geography,
as the bill does, is a violation of
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Monday - Thursday April 4 - April 7
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Oregon’s constitution.
It also presents another prob-
lem.
“Unless the rest of the nation
follows suit, it will put Oregon at a
disadvantage,” Boquist said
So far, at least in Dallas, Metcalfe
hasn’t seen evidence of minimum
wage alone stopping a business
from opening.
“People are still excited about
their business and following their
dream,” she said.
She noted that businesses
should take time to plan for the
impending increases, nonetheless.
“That’s not something anybody
wants to (do), but I think it’s the
one thing that everybody needs to
do.”
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Charlotte Lamb
will be honored on Sunday,
April 10th, following the
church service at 12:15 for
her 75+ Years in the Dallas
United Methodist Church Choir.
Please come and visit
and enjoy cake and coffee.
565 SE LaCreole Dr., Dallas
No gifts please — your presence is enough.
Visit us online at www.polkio.com