2B — THE OBSERVER & BAKER CITY HERALD
BUSINESS & AG LIFE
THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 2021
Bank of EO reports 1st quarter earnings
East Oregonian
Sierra Dawn McClain/Capital Press
Organic produce sales continue strong through the fi rst quarter of 2021.
Organic produce sales
continue growing
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
The pandemic has driven
record sales and interest
in organic food — and
that momentum isn’t yet
slowing.
A new report from the
Organic Produce Net-
work and Category Part-
ners this month shows total
U.S. organic fresh produce
sales for the fi rst quarter of
2021 increased 9.3% from
the same period in 2020
— nearly $88 million addi-
tional sales.
Conventional produce
dollars, in contrast, saw
only a modest year-over-
year increase at about
2.9% during the fi rst
quarter.
By volume sold, organic
bananas, carrots and
apples ranked as the top
drivers at retail this fi rst
quarter, according to the
report.
By dollar amount sold,
the top 10 categories, from
highest to lowest, were:
• Pre-packaged salads.
• Berries.
• Apples.
• Herbs and spices.
• Carrots.
• Lettuce.
• Bananas.
• Citrus.
• Tomatoes.
• Potatoes.
Packaged salads, in the
No. 1 spot, accounted for
17% of all organic sales.
Sarah Brown, education
and advocacy director at
Oregon Tilth, a nonprofi t
that certifi es organic pro-
ducers, told the Capital
Press last year that con-
sumers turned to organic
produce during the pan-
demic for several reasons.
People were cooking more
at home and appeared to
be looking for a sense of
security and a stable, local
food source.
“But I also think people
are just really tuned into
health right now,” she
said.
Moving into the second
quarter of 2021, as pan-
demic closures ease up
and restaurants reopen,
the Organic Produce Net-
work report said it’s not
yet clear how quickly
consumers will return to
pre-pandemic purchasing
behaviors.
“Once again, sales of
organic fresh produce con-
tinue to be a major growth
opportunity for retailers
across the country,” Matt
Seeley, CEO of Organic
Produce Network, said in
a statement. “At the same
time, as the country enters
a post-COVID environ-
ment, with restaurants
reopening and other food-
service options avail-
able, it appears the dou-
ble-digit growth rate will
be slowing.”
Some experts say it may
be easier to predict con-
tinued high sales in the
direct farm-to-consumers
space, where consumers
often have longer-term
contracts or subscriptions
to farms.
The past two months,
for example, several
organic farms running
Community Supported
Agriculture programs have
told the Capital Press they
expect even more CSA
shares to be sold this year
than in 2020.
Organic certifi ers con-
tinue to predict more farms
will enter the organic
space, and Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack
told the Capital Press in an
interview last week USDA
will be looking at ways to
make the transition from
conventional to organic
production easier.
HEPPNER — BEO
Bancorp and its subsidiary
Bank of Eastern Oregon
announced fi rst quarter
2021 consolidated net
income of $1,337,000, or
$1.11 per share, compared
to $1,110,000, or $0.94
per share, for fi rst quarter
2020.
Total assets were $710.5
million, up 46.38% year
over year. Net loans of
$508.6 million were up
20.08% from the same
period in 2020, while
deposits were at $650.7
million up 48.88% year
over year.
“The fi rst quarter of
2021 has in some ways
been a continuation of
what we all had to endure
in 2020, but in most of
our trade areas we are
seeing signs of a return to
a ‘new normal’ with busi-
nesses opening up and
some restrictions easing.
We have also seen another
round of economic stim-
ulus, with payments hit-
ting bank accounts, as
well as another round of
PPP lending through the
Small Business Adminis-
tration. I applaud our team
of bankers that have spent
countless hours working
with existing and new cus-
tomers to help them navi-
gate the new lending pro-
grams and get those funds
disbursed to help our com-
munities,” said President
and CEO Jeff Bailey in a
press release.
Chief Financial Offi cer
Mark Lemmon said,
“Shareholder equity is
up 10.5% over the past
year; Return on Average
Assets and Return on
Average Equity are 0.78%
and 12.73% respectively.”
Lemmon added, “The var-
ious government stimulus
programs over the past
year have put a tremen-
dous amount of liquidity
into the fi nancial system.
This has been the primary
cause of our signifi cant
increase in assets.”
Chief Operations
Offi cer Becky Kindle said,
“We are very pleased with
the new banking relation-
ships that our teams have
developed over the past
year along with main-
taining our existing cus-
tomer base. Employees
have worked very hard
to make sure customers’
fi nancial needs were met
during very trying times.”
“Year over year the
bank has seen growth
across all branches and
loan offi ces. The strategic
addition of personnel and
locations over the past few
years has complimented
our existing operations
and expanded our brand of
banking to many new cus-
tomers and communities.
We are grateful for the
trust that our existing and
new customers have in our
bank and team members,”
concluded Bailey.
NAILS
nails, LaFave does reg-
ular manicures, overlays
and forms, which are fi lled
with a liquid product that
can be shaped.
“I’m really big on
designs, so I do a lot of
them,” she said. “There’s
tons of other things you
can do. I do pedicures and
feet rubbing. There’s also
hard gels, like acrylics.
For me, personally, it’s
better for my nails …
it doesn’t do as much
damage to them. But it
just depends.”
Shop owner Amy
Anton was eager to have
another nail tech in her
establishment.
“There’s a need for
it. We’ve been having a
lot of calls and unfortu-
nately, we’re only one
person and can only do so
much and have a pretty
full clientele,” Anton
said. “Having Dajah come
in and ask to work was
pretty awesome. We’re
pretty excited. We’re
trying to do everything
we can to help her out and
get her going and she’s
doing pretty well on her
own. I think she’s going
to do pretty well.”
LaFave’s hours are
Tuesday through Friday
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and Saturday from
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. She can
be reached by phone at
503-849-3896. See some
of her work on her Face-
book page.
But she urges potential
customers to call soon for
an appointment.
“Book soon, because
people are coming left
and right and I’ll probably
be full,” she said.
Continued from Page 1B
said. “I’ve got too much
life to live. … I’m just
trying to live every day
by day.”
After a stint at cosme-
tology school — Bella
Institute in Beaverton —
that was dragged out from
four to six months because
of the COVID-19 pan-
demic, she got her nail
technician license and set
up shop in Forest Grove.
“You have to do a cer-
tain amount of literal
hands-on work and a cer-
tain amount of services
in order to graduate,” she
said. “It’s kind of ironic
that I went to Bella Insti-
tute and ended up at Belle
Salon.”
In addition to acrylic
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WATER
WE’RE
Continued from Page 1B
The amended version of
HB 2244 that’s headed for
a House vote creates a spe-
cial procedure for disputes
related to in-stream water
rights held by tribes and
state agencies.
The automatic stay only
becomes eff ective once the
junior irrigator actually fi les
a “proof of service” that
OWRD was served with a
lawsuit.
The agency must notify
aff ected tribes within fi ve
days.
The OWRD may also
override the automatic stay
if it causes “substantial
public harm” but the junior
irrigator can challenge this
denial in court within 21
days.
“That does put a little
more burden on the junior
who is petitioning but not
an inappropriate one or a
diffi cult one to meet,” Wilde
said of the proposed proce-
HERE TO
Hours
Mon-Fri: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sat: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
2306 Adams Ave
HELP
La Grande, OR 97850
(541) 963-8411
We're just west of I-84 (exit 261)
on Adams Ave at 20th St.
The Observer, File
A central pivot irrigation system applies water April 26, 2016, to a fi eld of
Kentucky bluegrass on a farm in the Sandridge area southwest of Alicel.
A new bill in the Oregon House that would alter the process for enforcing
Oregon water rights is gaining traction.
dure. “We’re not changing
anyone’s substantive rights.
It’s just about speeding up
the process so that everyone
gets a quicker answer.”
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