Business
State
expands
eligibility
criteria for
benefi ts
Oregon Employment
Department has more
flexibility to award
benefits when people
face barriers to work
By KATE DAVIDSON
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — People who
have received unemployment
benefi ts in Oregon are prob-
ably familiar with the triple
A’s — a bedrock of the bene-
fi ts system. Job seekers must
attest they are able, available
and actively seeking work to
get unemployment on a week-
to-week basis.
The Oregon Employment
Department temporarily
relaxed those rules when the
coronavirus pandemic forced
mass layoff s.
Now the agency says it
has learned a lesson from the
pandemic. It recently updated
its availability requirements
so that more people can get
unemployment.
“The world of work has
changed,” said Lindsi Leahy,
director of the unemployment
insurance division. “The
child care crisis defi nitely put
an exclamation point on it.”
To get benefi ts under the
old rule, a job seeker would
have to be available to work
any schedule, on any days,
that an employer in their fi eld
would normally require. In
other words, they had to be
completely available.
The amended rule lets
the agency consider barriers
such as lack of transporta-
tion, lack of child care or
other caregiving responsibil-
ities before denying benefi ts
to someone with more limited
availability.
For example, say a parent
looking for a manufacturing
job can’t work during the day
because their kid’s child care
provider closed.
“You don’t have child care
for day shift,” Leahy posited.
“Are you available for swing
shift and graveyard? Yes.”
Under the revised rule, as
long as a worker is available
40 hours per week during
times when an employer in
their area would typically
off er work, they may now be
eligible for benefi ts. A person
doesn’t need to be available
around the clock.
The same could be true
for job seekers caring for an
elderly parent or attending
classes during certain hours.
Or for people whose avail-
ability depends on public
transportation.
About 19,000 people are
currently receiving unem-
ployment benefi ts in Oregon.
Leahy said the agency
doesn’t know how many
more people will be eligible
for benefi ts because of the
rule change. She said some
employers raised concerns
their tax liabilities could
rise if more claimants were
paid benefi ts from the state’s
unemployment insurance
trust fund.
Any impact should be soft-
ened, however, by legislation
Oregon lawmakers passed
last summer cutting employer
taxes by roughly $2.4 billion
through 2029.
Leahy said the Employ-
ment Department would eval-
uate the rule change after a
year, to see how often it gets
used and measure its eff ect on
the unemployment trust fund.
She said additional changes
could be made in the future.
AgLife
B
Thursday, April 7, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
A question
of balance
Out of ink
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
The Swartz Ink sign rests on a heater inside the Fir Street, La Grande, shop on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, two days
before the store closed its doors.
Longtime local office
supply store owners retire
after 25 years of operation
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — A storied
local business in La Grande
recently closed its doors.
After 25 years in operation, Swartz Ink
owners Ed and Sharon Swartz closed their
business on Thursday, March 31. Swartz
Ink provided a variety of offi ce supplies
over the years, such as ink rollers, calcu-
lator ribbons, toner remanufacturing and
typewriter ribbons, as wells as remanufac-
turing and repair services.
“It just feels like it’s time,” Ed Swartz
said. “We’ve been in business for 25 years
and I just turned 65. With the two of us run-
ning the business all the time, I think we’ll
take a nice vacation for the fi rst time in
about 15 years.”
Ed Swartz started the business in the
late 1990s, looking for a creative outlet
for his experience with offi ce supplies and
machines and bring a needed service to
La Grande. With a background in copier
repairs, he found many similarities between
the technology associated with laser
printers as well.
“I was kind of disenchanted with the
work I was doing previously,” he said. “I
thought that there has to be something
better. Some inspiration from God and a lot
of footwork went into it.”
Swartz Ink specialized in services
that were unique to the local shop on Fir
Street, services that could not be found at
big-chain stores.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Owners Ed and Sharon Swartz pose for a photo
inside Swartz Ink on Fir Street, La Grande, on
Tuesday, March 29, 2022. After over 25 years of
operation, the offi ce supply store closed up shop on
March 31 and its owners are retiring.
In starting up the business, Ed Swartz
hit the ground running to make connec-
tions. Ed and Sharon Swartz traveled to
Union, Wallowa, Baker and Umatilla coun-
ties to create lasting business connections
and become a go-to provider to meet offi ce
needs in the region. Once the business was
established, Ed Swartz expanded his ser-
vices to remanufacturing toner cartridges,
copier and printer maintenance, typewriter
and calculator ribbons and other offi ce
necessities.
Beyond professional connections, Ed
Swartz noted that being a local business
downtown for many years led to relation-
ships beyond just business.
“We’ve had some real loyal customers
through the years and we really appreciate
them,” he said. “In fact, a lot of them have
become friends. That’s the part I’m going to
miss the most, the interaction with the cus-
tomers and people that stop by.”
Having stayed in the same location for
Stretching, exercise
help partially paralyzed
rancher stay positive
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
SENECA — Since a car accident
left him paralyzed from the waist
down nine years ago, a strict exercise
and physical therapy routine keeps
fi fth-generation Seneca rancher Alec
Oliver in a balanced and positive
mindset.
Oliver, 33, said he can still do
many of the things he did before,
from managing the day-to-day
goings-on at the ranch to riding a
horse. Still, there is much he misses
out on.
Reconciling that, he said, requires
a positive outlook.
“It doesn’t do any good to sit
around and dwell on things,” Oliver
said. “Everybody has struggles,
everybody has diff erent challenges,
and nobody knows what it’s like to be
in somebody else’s shoes.”
Oliver said part of what keeps him
going is exercise and stretching.
He said he does a lot of exercises
to keep his balance and his posture in
a square position.
The exercises include leg stretches
and stretches to his core. Oliver said
stretching counteracts the adverse
eff ects of sitting in a chair for 18-plus
hours a day.
“If you think about it, if you sit
in a chair in the same position for
18 hours a day and how hard that is
on the body, and how bad it is. So I
try to counter that by doing diff erent
stretches,” Oliver said.
Since he can’t stand on his own
anymore, Oliver has a standing frame
that he tries to stand in for an hour
or more a day. He said this helps
him work on his balance and stay
stretched out.
Also, Oliver has a stationary bike
that he pedals with his hands and
tries to ride each day that he is home.
Another thing that Oliver does is
instead of wheeling forward in his
chair all of the time, he wheels back-
ward to keep balance in his shoulders.
He said fi nding ways to keep his
shoulders strong, in shape and limber
to increase longevity is extremely
important.
See, Swartz/Page B2
See, Rancher/Page B2
BOLI is referee between business, workers
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — It’s Oregon’s mys-
tery political job. One of fi ve
elected executive offi ces — along-
side governor, secretary of state,
treasurer and attorney general.
The position has been around
since 1903 — with diff erent
names. It has no term limits —
one man served 24 years. Four
Republicans and three Democrats
held the job before it became a
nonpartisan offi ce with the 1996
election.
The mystery offi ce? Com-
missioner of the Bureau of
Labor and Industries, com-
monly referred to by its acronym
as “the BOLI.” Often, the job is
called by its original name, Labor
Commissioner.
The offi cial title has changed
several times, with the lon-
gest moniker from 1918 to
1930: Oregon Commissioner of
the Bureau of Labor Statistics
and Inspector of Factories and
Workshops.
The current commissioner, Val
Hoyle, dropped her reelection bid
to run for the 4th Congressional
District seat of retiring U.S. Rep.
Peter DeFazio, D-Springfi eld.
The vacuum left by Hoyle’s
departure from the race drew
three veteran political candidates.
• Yamhill County Commis-
sioner Casey Kulla switched from
the Democratic primary for gov-
ernor to the BOLI race.
Andrew Selksy/The Associated Press, File
See, BOLI/Page B6
Oregon Labor Commissioner Val Hoyle shows her oath of offi ce after she signed it Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. Hoyle was elected
labor commissioner in May 2018 after serving as a state representative and House majority leader.