BUSINESS & AG
THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2021
THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD — 3B
Bentz backs passage of Farm
Workforce Modernization Act
The Observer
WASHINGTON —
Oregon U.S. Rep. Cliff
Bentz announced he voted
in favor of House of Repre-
sentatives bill 1603 — the
Farm Workforce Modern-
ization Act of 2021, which
passed the House with
bipartisan support 247-174.
The bill goes to the U.S.
Senate for consideration.
Bentz and 29 House
Republicans voted in favor
of the legislation, which
seeks to address the labor
shortage many food and
fi ber producers face in
Oregon’s Second Congres-
sional District.
“As one who was raised
on a cattle ranch in Harney
County, I know fi rst-
are important to
hand just how much
ensure a stable
work must be done
and legal work-
by those who work
force is available to
in agriculture,”
operate and raise
Bentz said in a press
the more than 200
Bentz
release. “I have also
crops produced in
spoken with local
Oregon. The bill also
leaders across our dis-
will help guard against
trict — including farmers,
future illegal immigra-
ranchers, orchardists
tion through a manda-
and producers; business
tory, nationwide E-Verify
owners; trade associations; system for all agriculture
and local governments.
employment.
After many conversations
The agriculture sector
and careful consideration,
has long sought the
I agreed with my constitu- reforms the bipartisan bill
ents that our district would provides to help stream-
benefi t from the reforms
line and reduce costs in the
this bill makes to the H-2A H-2A visa program.
guest worker program.”
The program has
Bentz said the reforms
received criticism for
being cumbersome, ineffi -
cient and slow. Still, many
in the agriculture sector
rely on H-2A visas to help
fi ll gaps in their workforce,
grow our economy and
feed the nation, according
to Bentz.
This legislation also
would institute a manda-
tory E-Verify system for
all agricultural employ-
ment — serving as a last
necessary part of ensuring
a legal workforce for the
agriculture sector.
Bentz also reported sev-
eral Pacifi c Northwest agri-
culture leaders applauded
his support of the bill,
which now is in the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
Capital Press, File
Greg Taylor, president of Liberty Orchards of Cashmere, Washington,
has announced the closure of the company, which makes Aplets &
Cotlets fruit candies.
Maker of Aplets
& Cotlets candy to
close after 101 years
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
YEAR
Continued from Page 1B
tenant from overseas
inspect several local offi ce
buildings. To get inside one
of the buildings you had to
run the gauntlet through an
encampment of homeless
people.
One of the company offi -
cials just wouldn’t do it, out
of fear or indignation or
both.
“The problem has
become so insidious,
it’s driven patrons out,”
Holzgang said. “People are
genuinely fearful. And it’s
not panic, it’s rational. It’s
chasing people out of our
city, it’s chasing people out
of our state.”
AJ Brown helps run
LeadsRx, a small Portland
software company.
The fi rm battled its
way through the pan-
demic, through the remote
working, the virtual chats.
LeadsRx borrowed more
than $235,000 through the
federal Paycheck Protec-
tion Program, which helped
avoid layoff s.
A bigger challenge was
worker safety. LeadsRx
operated out of WeWork’s
co-working space in Old
Town. Shared offi ces posed
a health problem in the pan-
demic era. Also, Brown and
his partner wanted out of
Old Town.
LeadsRX left its 900
square feet in Old Town in
favor of 2,200 square feet
south of downtown along
South Macadam Avenue.
“Our lease wasn’t up
till April, but it was just
unworkable for us to stay
downtown,” Brown said.
“The riots, the homeless,
the garbage… We’d just had
o enough of the smell of urine
rn in the air.”
s in
Cultural strain
The Standard has for
decades been a pillar of
downtown Portland. About
2,000 of the insurance com-
pany’s 3,000 employees
work downtown in two
large buildings.
Last March, it sent them
all home.
The pandemic hurt The
Standard’s bottom line.
Vacancies soared in its
downtown properties. The
Stevens-Ness stationary
company, a McDonald’s,
a 7-Eleven, a Starbucks
and an independent coff ee
shop were among its long-
time tenants that closed
permanently.
But in terms of Stan-
dard’s fi nancial stability, the
pandemic and other prob-
lems of 2020 did not pose
an existential threat. The
real issue at The Standard
has been one of culture.
The company learned
that a dispersed work-
force poses enormous chal-
lenges. Some employees
love working from home
and dread the thought of
resuming the daily com-
mute to their cubicle.
Others struggle. They
miss the camaraderie and
teamwork.
People are working
too much. When the com-
puter and cellphone are in
the next room rather than
downtown, it’s hard to stay
away.
“Now work is at the
dining room table,” said
Bob Speltz, The Standard’s
senior director of commu-
nity relations. “And for
some it’s also their kids’
classroom, a day-care
center and a pet grooming
station.”
more dangerous. Wild-
fi res of unprecedented size
were rampaging down the
Clackamas and the Santiam
drainages. The two giant
blazes threatened to merge
in the heavily forested foot-
hills of southern Clackamas
County,
The smoke was so thick,
Hansen worried about
health of his herd.
“That one morning, we
didn’t see daylight until
about 11:30 in the morning,”
he recalls.
The farm got a lucky
break when the heavy east
wind that had been pushing
the two huge fi res in their
direction eased. But spot
fi res were erupting all over
“People are genuinely fearful.
And it’s not panic, it’s rational. It’s
chasing people out of our city, it’s
chasing people out of our state.”
— Mike Holzgang, a real estate broker, on problems
caused by homeless encampments in Portland
The Standard off ered
its employees more time
off , it allowed people to
roll over more of their paid
time off from one year to
the next. And it added some
mental health care and a
$400 allowance for every
employee to outfi t their
home offi ces.
Last week, Stan-
dard informed most of its
employees they would con-
tinue to work from home
until at least Sept. 7.
‘We didn’t see daylight
until 11:30’
Twenty-fi ve miles and a
universe away from down-
town Portland, Garry
Hansen runs Lady-Lane
Farm, a dairy operation that
boasts 70 dairy cows.
He sells milk under his
own Garry’s Meadow Fresh
label in old-fashioned glass
bottles. He landed New Sea-
sons as a customer. The
high-end grocer is now his
largest client.
When the pandemic hit,
sales immediately plunged
30%. His prized glass bot-
tles became hard to get
because his grocer cli-
ents considered it unsafe to
accept bottle returns.
But Lady-Lane doesn’t
just rely on grocery stores.
Hansen also is a regular at
several area farmers’ mar-
kets. And recently, Lady-
Lane opened its own retail
operation at the farm.
They’ve branched out into
fl avored milk, butter, and
ice cream.
The Lady-Lane farm-
stand, as Hansen and his
family call it, now gener-
ates 15% to 20% of sales,
Hansen said.
The growing impor-
tance of the farm’s on-site
retail operation made the
events of September even
the area. The so-called
Spangler Road fi re had
jumped Highway 213 and
was two miles away. Lady-
Lane Farm was directly in
its path.
Farmers and ranchers
all over southern Clack-
amas County faced similar
straits. Hansen had joined in
a community eff ort to move
various herds from farms
in immediate danger. On
Sept. 10, it was his turn. The
fl ames were too close.
It was dark by the time
they got the last of the cattle
loaded in to trailers and
hauled to safer locations in
Woodburn and Gervais.
In the end, the pandemic
proved much more dam-
aging to Lady-Lane’s fi nan-
cial situation than the fi res.
But thanks in part to a fed-
eral relief loan, Hansen
was able to keep his six
employees and keep his
farm intact.
Oregonians seek a
makeover
COVID-19 fundamen-
tally changed most Ameri-
cans’ idea of recreation.
Air travel was out of the
question, which canceled
an untold number of vaca-
tions. Closer to home, the
gym and swimming pool
were closed. The ballet, the
author readings at Powell’s
Books and the movie at the
local multiplex were also
closed or cancelled. Even
the weekly pickup basket-
ball game fell victim to the
virus.
Stir-crazy Americans
took up other pursuits more
in keeping with era of social
distancing. Camping, bicy-
cling, kayaking became
red-hot. Curtis Trailers, a
venerable Portland-based
seller of campers and RVs,
enjoyed its best month ever
last June as novice campers
hit the road.
Nautilus, the Vancou-
ver-based maker of sta-
tionary bikes and other
home workout equipment,
posted the best quarter in its
history in December. Fourth
quarter sales hit an all-time
high of $189 million, more
than double the prior year.
Many Oregonians, stuck
at home all day, decided it
was past time for a drastic
makeover.
Scott and Carol Director
run Scott Director’s Custom
Furniture in Beaverton.
Their business collapsed last
spring after the shutdown
orders. The couple took to
telephoning their customers
— their goal was 30 per day
— urging them to consider
buying a table, a hassock,
some wall art, anything.
“It was very stressful,
there were so many
unknowns,” Carol Director
said.
But things turned
around.
“People weren’t trav-
eling, they were sitting
home,” Carol Director said.
“They looked at their fur-
niture and saw that they
needed a new chair or
couch.”
“We had a reasonable
year especially given we
were closed two months,”
Scott Director said.
‘Nobody diets during a
pandemic’
In the forced isolation of
the pandemic, some Orego-
nians wanted nothing more
than to splurge on some-
thing a little special.
Zoe Buckley has been
selling her own handmade
cheesecakes at a number
of local farmers’ markets
since 2005. She off ers 32
fl avors — everything from
classic New York to key
lime to tiramisu. A 3-inch,
individually sized cheese-
cake goes for $7, or four for
$25.
The year got off to hor-
rendous start when markets
shut down and it became
diffi cult to impossible to
buy sugar and some other
ingredients in bulk.
When the neighborhood
markets reopened, Buckley
was there, wearing a state-
of-the-art N95 facemask
and fearing the worst.
Customers lined up in
numbers she’d never before
seen, she remembers, her
voice thick with emo-
tion. They bought as many
cheesecakes as she could
bake and also gave her tips
and tearful thanks just for
showing up.
“I was humbled,”
Buckley said. “The lesson
is nobody diets during a
pandemic. We were at a
time when we couldn’t
go anywhere, we couldn’t
do anything. But we sure
could treat ourselves to a
fancy cheesecake.”
CASHMERE, Wash.
— After more than 100
years in business, Liberty
Orchards Co., the Wash-
ington state maker of
Aplets & Cotlets fruit can-
dies, has announced it will
permanently close June 1.
Company president
Greg Taylor, 72, grandson
of Liberty Orchards
co-founder Armen Tertsa-
gian, said the family busi-
ness has been seeking a
buyer for several years
with no luck. Taylor,
who’s run the company 43
years, said he’s “very, very
ready” to retire and the
younger generations of the
family are not interested
in keeping the operation
going.
“It’s bittersweet, but
defi nitely more sweet
than bitter. Obviously,
we’re disappointed it can’t
continue, but it’s time
for us all to move on,”
Taylor told the Capital
Press Friday. “We’re so
appreciative of all those
who have supported our
company.”
Liberty Orchards will
continue to seek a buyer
for its assets.
Through the decades,
the company has bought
ingredients — concen-
trates, purees and freeze-
dried fruit — from pro-
cessors worldwide. Apple
concentrates were mainly
sourced from Washington
state apples.
The company’s closure
will impact around 55 full-
time employees.
“We’re proud to have
provided employment for
thousands of families over
the past more than 100
years,” said Taylor.
The closure will mean
people can no longer buy
Aplets & Cotlets candies
after this June.
When the company
released news of its
impending closure, the
community of Cashmere,
Wash., near Wenatchee,
was shaken.
“Liberty Orchards is
part of Cashmere’s iden-
tity,” Cashmere’s mayor,
Jim Fletcher, told Eater
Seattle, a food publication.
In a statement, the
Cashmere Chamber of
Commerce said that Lib-
erty Orchards has made
Cashmere “a traveler
destination.”
On Aplets & Cotlets’
Facebook announcement
about closing, hundreds of
people commented, many
calling the upcoming clo-
sure “heartbreaking” and
“sad.” Many shared mem-
ories about touring the
factory.
“I have been enjoying
Aplets & Cotlets for over
50 years. I truly hope
someone buys the business
and continues the tradi-
tion,” said one comment.
Liberty Orchards was
founded in 1920 by two
Armenian immigrants,
Mark Balaban and Armen
Tertsagian.
The two started their
venture by buying a small
orchard, but times were
tough, and they searched
for ways to make use
of surplus fruit. After
research and develop-
ment, they launched their
fi rst candy line, an apple
and walnut confection
based on the famous Near
Eastern candy known as
Turkish Delight.
This they called Aplets,
the “confection of the
fairies.”
A few years later, they
created a second product,
Cotlets, made with apri-
cots and walnuts.
Over the decades, the
company expanded its
product line to include
Fruit Delights, Des-
sert Delights, Fruitlets,
Orchard Bars and other
off erings.
Since 1920, three gen-
erations of family mem-
bers have managed the
business.
The second genera-
tion, John Chakirian and
Richard Odabashian, ran
the business from 1956
into the 1980s. Since then,
Greg Taylor, the third
generation, has served as
company president.
Taylor said the
fourth-generation family
members didn’t grow up
in Cashmere and have
their own careers and
families elsewhere, which
is why there’s no one to
carry on the business.
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