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About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2021)
A5 B USINESS THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2021 q DOW 30,996.98 -179.03 p bendbulletin.com/business q NASDAQ 13,543.06 +12.15 S&P 500 3,841.47 -11.60 BRIEFING Existing home sales rose in 2020 Sales of existing homes rose 0.7% in De- cember, pushing the en- tirety of 2020 to a pace not seen in 14 years and providing one of the few bright spots for a U.S. economy mired in a global pandemic. Rising sales in the final month of the year lifted activity to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.76 million units in De- cember, the National Association of Realtors re- ported Friday. For all of 2020, sales rose to 6.48 million, the highest level since 2006 at the height of the housing boom. That represented a 5.6% gain from the 5.34 million previously owned homes sold in 2019. Oregon bank names new vice president The Bank of Eastern Oregon has named a new executive vice president and chief operations of- ficer, according to a press release. Becky Kindle will as- sume the role, following Gary Propheter, who plans to retire later in 2021. Kindle started her ca- reer with Bank of Eastern Oregon in 1998. She has worked in virtually all ar- eas of operations, most recently serving as senior vice president and chief banking officer. She is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School and past recipient of Oregon Bank- er’s Association’s Presi- dential Award, given an- nually to the outstanding committee chair of the trade organization. — Bulletin wire reports PEOPLE ON THE MOVE Katie Roper has re- cently joined G5’s lead- ership team as vice pres- ident of Roper senior liv- ing, responsible for daily strategy and business processes of the sales team to drive revenue growth and new client acquisition. • Sarah Bodo, Emily Tompkins and Mi- chelle Solley have been named to Bend 2030 board of di- rectors. Bodo is a park planner Bodo for Bend Park & Recre- ation District, Solley is an Solley events and development spe- cialist for St. Charles Foundation and Tomp- kins is an independent consultant specializing in climate change. • Courtney Massey has been pro- moted by Lead- ing Edge Flight Acad- Massey emy to director of Business De- velopment. Courtney joined Leading Edge in 2014, and has advanced through various roles in the marketing and cus- tomer success depart- ments. q 30-YR T-BOND 1.85% -.02 q q CRUDE OIL $52.27 -.86 GOLD $1,855.70 -9.60 q SILVER $25.52 -.30 p EURO $1.2167 +.0007 BUSINESSES IN CENTRAL OREGON Seven Nightclub, The Herb Center sanctioned by OLCC BY SUZANNE ROIG The Bulletin Seven nightclub’s liquor li- cense has been suspended for 50 days, and The Herb Center will surrender its license under sanctions imposed by the Ore- gon Liquor Control Commis- sion on Thursday. The downtown Bend night- club surrendered its license 50 days after a complaint was filed with the Deschutes County Health Services by a person who had been at the bar and later tested positive for COVID-19. The complaint alleged the nightclub was not enforcing rules requiring that workers and patrons wear a facial cov- ering and maintain a 6-foot physical distance to prevent the spread of the virus. The allega- tions occurred Oct. 30 and 31, according to the OLCC docu- ments. After the initial complaint, inspectors provided training before the bar opened on how to get and stay in compliance, according to the OLCC stipu- lated agreement. When inspec- tors returned later that same night, none of the measures had been put in place, accord- ing to the agreement. The bar’s owner could not be reached for comment. The bar had also received a warning in July. See OLCC / A6 Abby’s Legendary Pizza sold; all will stay open BY IAN CAMPBELL The News-Review (Roseburg) Abby’s Legendary Pizza has been purchased by Lone Rock Resources, according to a statement from the com- panies. Lone Rock will purchase 100% equity ownership of the 36 pizzerias throughout Ore- gon and Washington. Abby’s has locations in Bend, Ma- dras and Redmond, accord- ing to its website. “We are very excited with this opportunity to further our commitment to this area and continue Abby’s commitment to its customers,” said Lone Rock Resources CEO Toby Lu- ther. “We fully appreciate the long-term operation, experi- ence, and growth of the Abby’s business. Over the past three years, we’ve visited every Abby’s location and have fallen in love with the high-quality employ- ees, loyal customers and family- oriented business model.” See Abby’s / A6 Early warning system? Scientists are developing a mask sensor that detects the novel coronavirus UCSD University of California, San Diego is developing a mask-borne sensor that detects the coronavirus. BY GARY ROBBINS The San Diego Union-Tribune SAN DIEGO — he National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of California, San Diego $1.3 million to de- velop a small, wearable sensor that can tell whether a person has the novel coronavirus or has been exposed to it by someone else. The lightweight sensor would be attached to face masks to T monitor for the presence of coro- navirus-related molecules that appear in a person’s breath and saliva. The “surveillance” test strip also would detect virus mole- cules expelled by someone else and possibly inhaled by the user of the mask. The user would squeeze the sensor to see if it turns color, de- noting a positive reading. The process is similar to the one used to check results in a home preg- nancy test. If there’s a positive reading, the face-mask user would then get a test to confirm the infection. The result would be available almost immediately. The sensor also is meant to be useful in contact tracing. “This would be a way of iden- tifying outbreaks early,” said Jesse Jokerst, the university’s nanoen- gineering professor who is lead- ing the project. “We’re repurpos- ing something that people are already wearing to sort of moni- tor the environment.” The test strip, which could be ready for use later this year, is a variation of things that the univer- sity is already doing to detect and stop the spread of the coronavirus. In the fall, the university be- gan placing sensors in its waste- water system to monitor for the presence of the virus in sewage coming out of specific buildings. When there’s a positive reading, the university alerts people who might have been using the build- ings at specific times and asks them to get a COVID-19 test. Portland brewers try unusual methods to survive One plans to open new pub, while a second tries crowdfunding BY ANDRE MEUNIER The Oregonian For a second time during the COVID-19 pandemic, Port- land-based Migration Brewing brewery is bucking the con- traction trend and will open a new pub, this one in the for- mer space of Hopworks Urban Brewery’s Bike Bar in north Portland. Migration is expected to open its new pub in early March after a six-week reno- vation. “This is a great chance for us to expand our brand to a new neighborhood that is bustling with great energy,” said CEO and co-founder McKean Ban- zer-Lausberg. “We’ve worked really hard to stay positive over the past year and have been looking for creative ways to keep growing in a pandemic. We feel very fortunate to be in a position to take on this proj- ect.” The Williams Street pub will be Migration’s second expan- sion since COVID-19 shut- downs began in March. In August, Migration opened The Rooftop at Can- vas taproom in the Stadium District of the Goose Hollow neighborhood. Migration’s third location sits high atop the ninth floor of the Press Blocks, a new commercial and residen- tial development at the site of The Oregonian’s former press plant, with a view down onto Providence Park. Banzer-Lausberg said the pandemic-caused down- turn hit hard at Migration, which closed its pubs for three months and laid off the major- ity of workers during that time. But expansion of packaged beers in recent years paid off with solid grocery- and spe- cialty-store sales, Banzer-Laus- berg said. See Brewers / A6