A7
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2021
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BRIEFING
Daimler Trucks
names new CEO
Daimler Trucks North
America named a new
CEO Tuesday, John
O’Leary. A 20-year veteran
of the company, he be-
gins his new role April 1.
Daimler Trucks em-
ployees about 2,600 at
its North American head-
quarters on Swan Island.
Its Portland operations
include corporation func-
tions, research and engi-
neering and production
of the Western Star truck
line. It also has a test track
near Madras Airport.
Daimler, a German
company, is in the pro-
cess of spinning off its
truck and bus division
from its Mercedes-Benz
line of luxury cars.
O’Leary, 60, was CEO
of Thomas Built Buses
before joining Daimler,
where he served as chief
financial officer and chief
transformation officer. He
succeeds Roger Nielsen,
60, who is retiring after 35
years with the company.
Nielsen worked in
North Carolina, but Daim-
ler said O’Leary’s office
will be at the company’s
Swan Island office.
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US jobless claims
rise to 861,000
The number of Amer-
icans applying for unem-
ployment aid rose last
week to 861,000, evidence
that layoffs remain pain-
fully high despite a steady
drop in the number of
confirmed viral infections.
Applications from
laid-off workers rose
13,000 from the previ-
ous week, which was re-
vised sharply higher, the
Labor Department said
Thursday. Before the vi-
rus erupted in the United
States in March, weekly
applications for unem-
ployment benefits had
never topped 700,000,
even during the Great Re-
cession of 2008-2009.
The figures underscore
that the job market has
stalled, with employers
having added a mere
49,000 jobs in January
after cutting workers in
December. Nearly 10 mil-
lion jobs remain lost to
the pandemic. Though
the unemployment rate
fell last month from 6.7%,
to 6.3%, it did so in part
because some people
stopped looking for jobs.
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.2085 +.0048
OREGON EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT
Agency fights fraudulent claims
BY PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
The Oregon Employment
Department is devoting more
attention to preventing and
fighting fraud, by hiring more
people and training others, as
the agency pays out a record
amount of unemployment
benefits, the acting director
said.
David Gerstenfeld said peo-
ple are being added to the unit
that works with police and
prosecutors to detect and com-
bat fraud, and current staff
members are undergoing addi-
tional training to recognize po-
tentially fraudulent claims.
“Unfortunately, this has been
a bigger frontier than usual
during this pandemic and we
have been spending a lot of
time focusing on that,” he told
reporters on a weekly con-
ference call Wednesday. “We
expect it will be an ongoing
focus.”
Gerstenfeld has disclosed
no figures. He has said he does
not want to give any hints that
might encourage numerous
organized efforts at fraud. But
he has said previously that Or-
egon has nowhere near the
degree of losses reported in
California, $11.4 billion as of
January, and Washington, $600
million, according to a state
audit in December.
The agency already has
an internet address to report
fraud. It’s unemployment.ore-
gon.gov/unemployment-insur-
ance-fraud-id-theft.
There’s also a hotline at 877-
668-3204.
Gerstenfeld was the director
Seed industry continues to
SPROUT
of the unemployment benefits
division from 2011 to 2019,
when he took a different job
within the agency. Gov. Kate
Brown named him the acting
director of the department on
May 31, 2020, after she fired
his predecessor over big back-
logs resulting from a record
number of unemployment
claims.
See Claims / A8
Oregon
landlords
can apply
for relief
BY JAMIE GOLDBERG
The Oregonian
Gucci opens new
store in Portland
Gucci has opened a
new 6,500-square-foot
store at Pioneer Place in
downtown Portland.
The boutique is the
luxury fashion brand’s
first store in Oregon and
features a wide range
of men’s and women’s
shoes, handbags, lug-
gage, jewelry and other
products. The store offi-
cially opened Feb. 12.
The new boutique is a
boon for downtown Port-
land, which is struggling
to recover from myriad
challenges.
Foot traffic downtown
plummeted last year as
companies asked em-
ployees to work from
home and tourism dried
up amid the pandemic,
leaving downtown busi-
nesses with a limited
customer base. During
the height of the holiday
season in December, foot
traffic in downtown was
down more than 80%
from the year prior.
Some downtown busi-
nesses, including the Ap-
ple store across the street
from Pioneer Place, have
not reopened since last
summer when protests
consumed the down-
town core.
p
Courtesy of Territorial Seed Co. via Capital Press
In Cottage Grove, Territorial Seed’s farm operation supplies about 17% of its seed; the company buys the remain-
der from seed producers worldwide, including contracting with local growers.
BY SIERRA DAWN MCCLAIN • Capital Press
A
lmost a year into COVID-19, the domestic seed industry is flourishing. “A lot
of seed companies are selling out. Some warehouses are empty of seed. They’re
having an incredible year,” said Angie Smith, executive director of the Oregon
Seed Association.
Industry leaders say when the pandemic hit in
March, there was an alarming lull in sales. But from
about April on, experts say, sales took off in most
seed sectors, and the momentum has continued
into 2021.
The specialty seed sector, including vegetable
and flower seeds, is blooming on the retail level.
Last year, Americans nationwide planted a record
number of gardens. Extension agents at the time
wondered whether people’s interest in gardening
would carry into 2021. So far, the answer appears
to be “yes.”
“The season started off awfully strong again,”
said Tom Johns, president of Territorial Seed Co.
in Cottage Grove. “When our catalog came out
around January, we had a very high volume of or-
ders that was equal to or surpassed the peak of the
pandemic last year.”
Territorial has had so many orders, Johns said,
that he and his wife, who usually take off Sundays,
have worked extra.
Territorial’s farm operation supplies about 17%
of its seed; the company buys the remainder from
seed producers worldwide, including contracting
with local growers.
Along with vegetables, Johns said people are also
buying flower seeds to “decorate” their yards.
See Seeds / A8
Despite damage caused by snowstorm,
Enchanted Forest aims to open March 19
BY JAKE THOMAS
Salem Reporter
SALEM — When snow
and ice storms were included
in last weekend’s forecast, Su-
san Vaslev worried about En-
chanted Forest.
Vaslev also recalled thinking
how little could be done to pro-
tect the well-loved amusement
park south of Salem that her
family has owned and operated
for nearly 50 years.
“If the trees are going to fall,
there is no way to keep them
from falling,” she recalled
thinking.
She knew the park had been
damaged by the storm on Sat-
urday when the fire alarm went
off in the Challenge of Mondor
ride because the water pipes
had depressurized. She drove
out to the park, on the slope of
a hill, but didn’t go inside out
of safety concerns.
From the parking lot, she
could see the big Douglas firs
and other trees that had col-
lapsed under the weight of the
snow and ice.
On Sunday, she was finally
able to walk through the park
to survey the damage.
The kiddie train was com-
pletely crushed under a fallen
tree. The covered seating
area by the theater was also
crushed.
See Enchanted / A8
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian file
Fallen trees damaged areas of the Enchanted Forest, a woodland
amusement park outside of Salem.
Landlords in Oregon whose
tenants have fallen behind on
rent during the coronavirus
pandemic can now apply for
relief from the state.
Applications for Oregon’s
new landlord compensation
fund opened Wednesday,
nearly two months after state
lawmakers allocated $150 mil-
lion to seed the program.
Landlords can apply for re-
lief to cover 80% of the rent
they are owed by tenants dat-
ing back to April 2020. How-
ever, they will be required to
forgive 20% of unpaid rent.
Nicole Stingh, a spokesman
for Oregon Housing and Com-
munity Services, which is ad-
ministering the fund, said her
agency will make $50 million
available during the first round
of funding. The agency expects
to offer at least three rounds of
funding before the end of June.
With limited money avail-
able, the state has opted to
prioritize landlords owed the
greatest percentage of rent and
those with fewer properties.
Tenants must sign a decla-
ration of financial hardship for
landlords to submit with their
applications, a requirement that
some landlords raised concerns
about during conversations with
Oregon Housing and Commu-
nity Services in January. Those
landlords worried about losing
out on the opportunity to re-
ceive relief if their tenants didn’t
sign the declaration.
Oregon lawmakers created
the new compensation fund
in December as part of legis-
lation that extended the state’s
eviction moratorium through
June for renters who declare
they are experiencing financial
hardship.
Along with allocating $150
million to the new fund, law-
makers provided an additional
$50 million to existing rent
relief programs. Tenants can
find out how to apply for that
relief through local community
action agencies or by calling
211. That assistance will also
be paid directly to landlords to
cover past due rent.
Oregon Housing and Com-
munity Services is also receiving
roughly $200 million more in
rental assistance from the fed-
eral government, Stingh said last
month. She said the agency was
waiting on additional guidance
before allocating those funds.
Earlier this month, Sen.
Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Sen.
Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose,
introduced a bill that would of-
fer tax credits over a five-year
period to landlords who for-
give past-due rent. Landlords
would be allowed to sell credits
to other Oregon taxpayers.
Landlords approved for
funding through the new com-
pensation fund are unlikely
to see any money until at least
mid-March .