BUSINESS & AG LIFE
2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
JOBLESS
Continued from Page 1B
Wallowa County’s rate
dropped from 5% to 4.6%.
The county totals 167
unemployed, a decrease of
16. The county has 2,440
nonfarm jobs, a decrease of
20 from February.
In Umatilla County,
the unemployment rate
increased two-tenths of a
point to 5.8%. It added 66
people to the unemploy-
ment rolls for a total of
2,209 for March. Umatilla
County also added 120 to
its nonfarm jobs for a total
of 27,430.
According to the most
recent Oregon Employ-
ment Department Job
Vacancy Survey of private
employers, the occupation
with the most job openings
in Eastern Oregon (Baker,
Grant, Harney, Malheur,
Morrow, Umatilla, Union
and Wallowa counties)
in 2020 was heavy truck
and semitrailer drivers
with 284, about 11% of the
total vacancies within the
region.
Statewide, Oregon’s
unemployment rate shifted
from 6.1% in February to
6% in March. For the past
three months, according to
BY THE NUMBERS
Top 10 Eastern Oregon occupations with the highest number of job
vacancies in 2020
Heavy truck and semitrailer drivers: .......................................................284
Personal care aides: ......................................................................................139
Packers and packagers: ...............................................................................107
Nursing assistants: ........................................................................................103
Farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery and greenhouses: ........102
Production workers, all other: .....................................................................99
Retail salespersons: .........................................................................................98
Registered nurses: ............................................................................................81
Construction laborers: ....................................................................................60
Cooks, restaurants: ...........................................................................................56
All occupations: ......................................................................................... 2,527
Source: Oregon Employment Department
the Employment Depart-
ment, Oregon’s unemploy-
ment rate has ticked down
by one-tenth of a point each
month.
During the past 11
months the pace of
recovery in Oregon’s unem-
ployment rate has mirrored
the national experience.
The U.S. unemploy-
ment rate dropped to 6%
in March, from 6.2% in
February.
Nonfarm payroll
employment rose 20,100
jobs in March, following a
gain of 15,300, as revised,
in February. Two-thirds of
all the jobs gained in March
were in leisure and hospi-
tality (+13,900 jobs).
Three other major
industries added more than
1,000 jobs each: manu-
facturing (+2,000 jobs);
professional and busi-
ness services (+1,300);
and transportation, ware-
housing and utilities
(+1,100). Construction and
private educational ser-
vices each added 700 jobs.
All other major industries
performed close to their
normal seasonal patterns.
The addition of the
20,100 total nonfarm jobs
in March was Oregon’s
largest monthly gain since
July 2020, when the state
added 38,300 jobs. March’s
gain was the third monthly
increase, following a large
drop in December that was
the result of temporary,
heightened restrictions at
the time.
In March, Oregon’s non-
farm payroll employment
totaled 1,840,600, a drop of
132,400 jobs, or 6.7% from
THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2021
the pre-recession peak in
February 2020. Oregon’s
employment dropped to a
low of 1,687,500 by April
2020. Since then, Oregon
has recovered 153,100
jobs, or 54% of the jobs
lost between February and
April 2020.
During the past year, the
employment gyrations in
leisure and hospitality have
accounted for a large share
of the swings in Oregon’s
total employment. This
broad category includes
restaurants, bars, coff ee
shops, hotels, golf courses
and fi tness centers.
The industry employed
a peak of 216,300 workers
in February 2020, which
was 11% of total nonfarm
payroll employment. Then,
within two months, lei-
sure and hospitality cut
more than half its jobs.
Since then, the industry
has recovered about half
the drop to employ 165,200
by November. Then came
a new slew of COVID-19
restrictions, knocking the
industry to 136,800 jobs in
December.
Since then, the industry
added 25,900 jobs and is
close to its recent high point
from last November, but
it is still far below its Feb-
ruary 2020 peak.
Get in on restaurant revitalization grant opportunities
GREG SMITH
SBDC
here is no doubt the restaurant
industry has been particularly
hard hit during the pandemic.
As part of the American Recovery
Plan, $28.5 billion has been used to
establish a “restaurant revitalization
fund.”
When it was fi rst announced, busi-
ness owners were told they needed
to obtain a DUNS number and they
had to register in SAMS. However,
on March 30, the Small Business
Administration announced neither is
the case, and restaurants will not be
required to do so.
According to the National Restau-
rant Association, “Eligible businesses
may receive a tax-free federal grant
(does not have to be repaid) equal to
the amount of its pandemic related
loss, calculated by subtracting its 2020
gross receipts from its 2019 gross
receipts. Those pandemic related rev-
T
TAXES
Continued from Page 1B
“Lawmakers devel-
oped these tax policies to
encourage corporate tax-
payers to make investments
in economic growth, infra-
structure and renewables,”
Duke spokesperson Cath-
erine Butler said.
She said federal tax
rules allowed Duke to delay
some cash payments for
taxes into the future, but
not eliminate them. The
company had about $9 bil-
lion in deferred tax liabil-
ities at the end of 2020,
which Butler said will
become future tax pay-
ments over time.
Nike, meanwhile, used
a federal tax credit meant
to encourage corporate
research and development.
The athletic apparel giant
also took tax benefi ts related
to share-based compensa-
tion for its fi scal year that
ended on May 31. Alto-
gether, it received $109 mil-
lion in federal tax rebates
after reporting total pretax
income of $2.9 billion for
the year.
Offi cials at Nike, which
is based in Beaverton,
Oregon, could not be
immediately reached for
comment.
“Most CEOs of large,
publicly trade corporations
are not going to risk prison
to get out of paying taxes
when Congress provides
enue losses are reduced by any Pay-
check Protection funds received.”
Who is eligible?
• Restaurants
• Food stands
• Food carts
• Caterers
• Saloons, inns, bars, lounges,
brewpubs, tasting rooms, taprooms,
etc.
Applicants must submit a good
faith certifi cation that:
• They are applying because of the
economic uncertainty and need sup-
port to continue operating.
• They have not applied for or
received a Shuttered Venue grant for
live venues.
Eligible expenses are:
• Payroll and paid sick leave
• Mortgage — principal or interest
• Rent
• Utilities
• Maintenance
• Construction for outdoor seating
• Supplies such as protective equip-
ment and cleaning materials
• Regular food and beverage
inventory
them with so many legal
ways to do so,” said Steve
Wamhoff , director of fed-
eral tax policy at the Insti-
tute on Taxation and Eco-
nomic Policy.
The $2.2 trillion rescue
package that Washington
approved last spring to ease
the pain caused by the pan-
demic opened more ave-
nues for companies to limit
their federal tax bills. The
law allowed corporations
to takes losses reported in
2018 through 2020 and use
them to reduce tax liabili-
ties from earlier years, even
ones where income was
taxed at higher rates.
• Certain supplier costs
• Any other expenses SBA deems
essential to maintaining operations
It’s important to note that $5 billion
is available to businesses with gross
receipts of $500,000 or less during
2019. Once the grant is opened, pri-
ority will be given during the fi rst 21
days to restaurants owned and oper-
ated by women veterans, or those
considered socially or economically
disadvantaged.
It is expected this fund’s dollars
will be dispersed very quickly and
there is no indication as to whether the
fund will be replenished. Businesses
are encouraged to apply for other
COVID-19 related programs including
the PPP, of which President Biden just
extended the deadline from March 31
to May 31. Visit www.sba.gov to apply
for the PPP.
———
Greg Smith is the director of the
Eastern Oregon University Small Busi-
ness Development Center, La Grande.
If you are seeking free, confi dential
business advising, call 541-962-1532 or
email eousbdc@gmail.com.
“When President Trump
signaled his intention to cut
corporate taxes in 2017, he
and Congress had an oppor-
tunity to pare back the
many loopholes that have
allowed companies to avoid
tax on much of their income
since the early 1980s,” the
authors of the report, Wam-
hoff and Matthew Gardner,
wrote. “But now, with three
years of data published on
the eff ective tax rates paid
by publicly traded com-
panies, it is clear that the
Trump law has not mean-
ingfully curtailed corporate
tax avoidance and may even
be encouraging it.”
Corporations altogether
paid nearly $243 billion
in total tax receipts in
2019, down 30% from five
years earlier.
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
A worker handles onions March 11, 2021, at Baker & Murakami Pro-
duce, Ontario. CEO Grant Kitamura says the company plans to pack
and ship until about the start of May.
ONIONS
Continued from Page 1B
disruptions shut down
many restaurants.
The Nyssa company
was forced to discard
some 50 truckloads of
onions at the end of last
year’s marketing season.
Demand and pricing
for the crop grown in
2019 were excellent
at the outset and then
weakened, he said.
The 2020 crop had
good demand in fall and
holiday seasons. The
market has been mostly
steady in 2021.
USDA’s food box pro-
gram “indirectly helped
all of us,” Riley said.
For example, some cus-
tomers fi lled food box
orders with onions they
bought from Snake River
Produce.
High shipping costs
and a tight supply of
trucks and drivers chal-
lenge the industry,
he said. Input costs
and competition
from non-U.S. onions
increased in the past
year.
Shay Myers, CEO
at Owyhee Produce
in Parma, Idaho, said
Monday, April 12, the
company likely will pack
and ship local onions
for another two to three
weeks before shifting to
California-grown supply.
Prices have been at or
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slightly below the fi ve-
year average.
Idaho, Oregon and
Washington produced a
strong crop, “so out of
the Northwest, we really
shipped a lot of onions,”
Myers said. Quality is
high.
“They were a dif-
ferent cocktail of cus-
tomers” this year, he
said. Owyhee Produce
sold more onions into the
retail segment.
Myers said it appears
the increase in at-home
consumption boosted
total consumption, which
was unexpected given
pandemic-related clo-
sures and restrictions
in the large foodservice
sector.
Baker & Murakami
Produce in Ontario, as
of Monday planned to
pack and ship onions for
another two-and-a-half
weeks, CEO Grant Kita-
mura said.
“It is not a stellar year
in terms of marketing
prices,” he said. “But
we shipped the product,
which is good.”
USDA April 12
reported a 50-pound
sack of jumbo yellow
onions from the Ida-
ho-Oregon region sold
for $6 to $7.50, mostly
$6. Year-earlier prices
were $5 to $6.
Shipments to date
totaled 28,219, up from
24,572. A shipment is
400 cwt.
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