A7
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021
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BRIEFING
U.S. adds 49K jobs
The U.S. Labor Depart-
ment reported Friday that
employers added a mea-
ger 49,000 jobs in Janu-
ary, after having slashed
227,000 in December.
Still, the nation’s un-
employment rate slid
to 6.3%, its lowest level
since March, from 6.7% in
December.
And January was the
first month since June in
which the economy gen-
erated more jobs than
it did the month before:
After a bounce-back of
4.8 million added jobs
in June, net hiring had
weakened to 1.7 million
in July, 1.6 million in Au-
gust, 716,000 in Septem-
ber, 680,000 in October
and 264,000 in Novem-
ber — and then actually
shrank in December.
All told, the United
States still has 9.9 mil-
lion fewer jobs than it
did in February last year,
just before the corona-
virus erupted across the
country.
Grocery industry
sues Seattle
Two grocery industry
trade groups have filed a
lawsuit against the city of
Seattle over its new law
mandating $4 an hour
pay raises for grocery
stores.
The suit was filed by
the Northwest Grocery
Association and the
Washington Food Indus-
try Association Wednes-
day in U.S. District Court
in Seattle, The Seattle
Times reported.
It alleges the city’s law
interferes with the collec-
tive-bargaining process
between grocery stores
and unions and also
“picks winners and losers”
by singling out large gro-
cery companies.
Seattle’s law passed
last week and went into
effect Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, the
council’s unprecedented
ordinance, its unilateral
action, and unwillingness
to work with the grocery
industry has left us with
no other option than to
file a lawsuit against the
city,” Tammie Hetrick,
president and CEO of
the association, said in a
statement.
A spokesperson for
Seattle City Attorney Pete
Holmes, Dan Nolte, said
“We will absolutely de-
fend the City’s right to see
essential grocery workers
receive the hazard pay
they so rightly deserve.”
There’s a new
burger in town
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.2043 +.0077
‘Grassroots’
campaign
against tax
hikes starts
in Oregon
BY HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
A Bender burger
from Killer Burgers.
It has bacon, spicy
barbecue, crispy
jalapeno, house
sauce, grilled onion
and cheddar.
Submitted photo
Killer Burger plans Bend location by August
BY MICHAEL KOHN • The Bulletin
T
he battle over who slings the best burger in Central
Oregon could get a little more heated with the
arrival later this year of Killer Burger.
The Portland-based burger joint
is expected to open its first branch
in Bend in August, according to
Dave Cowan, owner of the Bend
branch of the restaurant.
Killer Burger is the latest chain
restaurant to nudge its way in the
Central Oregon market. Chick-
fil-A opened up last year in Bend.
Other entrants in recent years in-
clude Cracker Barrel, Five Guys,
Chipotle and Jersey Mike’s.
“As we make our entrance into
Bend, we had to partner with an
experienced, qualified individual to
make it possible, and David fits that
bill perfectly,” said TJ Southard,
founder and CEO of Killer Burger.
The fast -casual restaurant sets
itself apart with a few quirks, but
its primary claim to fame is that all
burgers come with bacon and fries.
After that, there is a range of other
toppings to choose from. All Killer
Burger locations offer craft beer
and ciders on draft or to-go.
“Ever since my first bite of the
Peanut Butter Pickle Bacon burger,
I’ve been infatuated with Killer
Burger,” said Cowan. “When I be-
gan looking for a new business
venture, it became an obvious
choice, especially after meeting
with their corporate team and
learning about the processes and
support.”
Cowan grew up in Bend but is
relatively new to restaurant owner-
ship. He has previously been em-
ployed as a math teacher and has
also worked in real estate.
“I can’t wait to introduce to the
people of my hometown the burg-
ers that have literally changed my
life,” said Cowan.
Killer Burger currently has 12
locations — 10 in Oregon and two
in Washington. Cowan said site se-
lection is currently underway for
the restaurant in Bend, so the com-
pany has not settled on a specific
location.
ý
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
State is behind on
jobless payments
The Oregon Employ-
ment Department said
Friday it won’t be caught
up with payments to
self-employed workers
by the end of this week,
missing a self-imposed
deadline.
The delays pertain to
Pandemic Unemploy-
ment Assistance, a ben-
efits program Congress
created in March and
extended in December.
Oregon had promised to
deliver backlogged pay-
ments by Friday, but now
says some benefits will be
delayed for an indefinite
period.
“We want to sincerely
apologize for any confu-
sion and delays in PUA
benefit payments,” the
department said Friday in
a letter to claimants. “We
know you need and are
counting on your benefits
and we are dedicated to
getting them to you.”
The employment de-
partment didn’t say how
many people the delay
affects.
p
Oregon’s largest business
lobbying group launched a
“grassroots movement” this
week to enlist people around
the state to oppose any tax in-
creases during the legislative
session now underway.
Chief among the potential
tax hikes: a proposed rollback
of three tax breaks Oregon
copied automatically from
a 2020 Trump administra-
tion-influenced law. One, if not
canceled, would overwhelm-
ingly benefit just the top 1% of
earners, and another only ap-
plies to businesses with at least
$25 million in annual revenue,
The Oregonian has reported.
Nonetheless, the Oregon
Business & Industry campaign
“Our Jobs Our Voice” asked on
its Twitter account Thursday
morning, “Should we end the
federal #CaresAct tax assis-
tance for small businesses?”
On Wednesday afternoon,
representatives from business
groups were the only ones al-
lowed to testify on a proposal
to eliminate the three Oregon
tax cuts that stem from the
federal 2020 coronavirus relief
act, known as the CARES Act.
Oregon automatically incorpo-
rates federal tax code into state
law unless the Legislature ac-
tively intervenes to stop it.
Sen. Ginny Burdick, D-Port-
land, said other people who
should have been notified of
the hearing, such as possible
supporters of canceling the tax
breaks, were not informed of it
due to a technical problem.
Burdick, who is chair of the
Senate Committee on Finance
and Revenue, said “I will defi-
nitely do at least one more
hearing on it.”
See Tax / A8
Millennials
burst into
the luxury
real estate
market
BY JACQUELINE DAVALOS
Bloomberg
nutritional profile. … The cat-
tle are finished on pasture and
forage-based crops rather than
grain” in feedlots.
“Pasture-raised meat is
different,” said Jamie Powell,
Burgerville’s vice president of
food and menu development
in the release.
In sharp contrast to the
“slacker” stereotype that has
defined their generation, mil-
lennials aren’t living in parents’
basements. They’re buying
multimillion-dollar homes.
At 38%, millennial-adults
born from 1981 to 1996 repre-
sent the largest share of home-
buyers in the U.S., according to
a survey by the National Asso-
ciation of Realtors released last
year. “They’re just as interested
in owning a home. They just
waited longer to buy their first
one,” says Bradley Nelson, chief
marketing officer of Sotheby’s
International Realty.
Breaking from the notion of a
“starter home” that older genera-
tions embraced, wealthy millen-
nials, Nelson says, are going big.
“In the past, people bought
a modest property, lived in it
until starting a family, and then
traded up to a larger property,”
he says. “Millennials are finally
coming out of the gate, and it’s
not uncommon for the first
purchase as a first-time home-
buyer to be a multimillion-dol-
lar luxury home in the U.S. or
internationally.”
See Beef / A8
See Real estate / A8
Burgerville via Wallowa County Chieftain
Ranchers ride among their grass-fed cattle on the Carman Ranch near north of Wallowa. Carman Ranch provides beef for the Burgerville
burger chain, which prides itself on using locally raised, grass-fed beef.
Beef from Wallowa County ranch
featured in new Burgerville burger
BY BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa County’s own Car-
man Ranch is contributing a
lion’s share of the meat to be
featured in the new “Wallowa
Burger,” offered by Burger-
ville, a Vancouver, Washing-
ton, chain that specializes in
using locally grown meat, ac-
cording to a press release.
“I haven’t had one yet, but
Burgerville says it’s really good,”
said Cory Carman, owner of
the Promise-area ranch.
Carman said the 100-year-
old family ranch has been sell-
ing to Burgerville for about
three years. It has been selling
grass-fed beef since 2006.
The Wallowa Burger uses
Carman’s grass-fed beef for
what some say is a healthier
meat. It also uses meat from
the Portland-area’s Mama Lil’s
Mayo.
“I don’t know that it’s spe-
cial; it’s just a different fin-
ishing diet,” she said of her
ranch’s beef. “It has a different