A7
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021
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BRIEFING
Right-to-repair bill
dies in committee
The Oregon Legis-
lature has once again
shelved a bill that would
have required electron-
ics manufacturers to give
consumers the tools and
instructions to repair their
own gadgets.
So-called “right to re-
pair” laws have been a
flashpoint between big
electronics companies
like Apple and consumer
advocates as manufactur-
ers guard the parts, tools
and guides needed to fix
broken devices.
Critics say that pre-
vents the gadgets’ own-
ers, and independent
repair shops, from mak-
ing inexpensive repairs
or, often, any repair at
all. Consumer groups say
that often forces consum-
ers to buy expensive new
electronics and discard
the old one, creating un-
necessary waste.
Right-to-repair advo-
cates made a big push in
two-dozen state legisla-
tures across the country
this year but appear to be
making little headway. A
right-to-repair bill died in
Colorado last month and
now Oregon’s bill is also
dead after a House com-
mittee declined to move
it forward.
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Mortgage rates
dip for first time
since January
Mortgage rates fell
for the first time in more
than two months as buy-
ers continue to be stifled
by high prices and limited
supply.
Mortgage buyer Fred-
die Mac reported Thurs-
day that the benchmark
30-year loan rate dipped
to 3.13% this week from
3.18% last week. At this
time last year, the long-
term rate was 3.33%.
The rate for a 15-year
loan, popular among
those looking to refi-
nance, fell to 2.42% from
2.45% last week. One
year ago it was 2.77%.
Last week, the National
Association of Realtors
reported that its index of
pending home sales tum-
bled 10.6% to 110.3 in
February, its lowest level
since May of 2020.
— Bulletin wire reports
EURO
$1.1917 +.0051
OREGON | COMMERCIAL RENT
Applicants outpace relief by $15M
BY ZANE SPARLING
Oregon Capital Bureau
Hundreds of commercial
landlords and tenants who
applied for state funding to
cover unpaid rent went away
empty-handed last month — a
disappointment worth approx-
imately $15.5 million.
Oregon’s Commercial Rent
Relief program is set to hand
out $49.9 million to property
owners after the first round of
grant funding closed March 22.
Applications outpaced cash,
with the requests totaling $65.4
million.
The results aren’t unex-
pected: Oregon hasn’t had a
commercial eviction morato-
rium in place since the end of
September, and business own-
ers in arrears had until March
31 to make up the back rent.
But state data released to
Pamplin Media Group shows
those applicants with empty
pockets — more than 350 busi-
ness owners in total — are all
located in the Portland metro
area.
“There was simply more de-
mand than supply in the metro
region,” said Nathan Buehler,
a spokesman for Business Or-
egon. “Only some businesses
in the Portland metro area
weren’t able to get funded, but
they will automatically be con-
sidered in round two of fund-
ing we’ll roll out mid-April.”
The state’s agency funding
formula allocates 20% of the
fund each to Portland metro
GM, FORD | PRODUCTION
and Willamette Valley busi-
nesses, as well as a 15% slice
each to the eastern, southern,
central and coastal regions of
the state. But rural applica-
tions came in well below their
cap, so the money rolled over
and Portland area businesses
ended up with 63.7% of the al-
location.
See Rent / A8
HERMISTON
Chip shortage
forces more cuts
Midwest
distribution
company
plans $11M
warehouse
BY JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
U.S. jobless claims
up to 744K as virus
still forces layoffs
The number of Amer-
icans applying for unem-
ployment benefits rose
last week to 744,000,
signaling that many em-
ployers are still cutting
jobs even as more people
are vaccinated against
COVID-19, consumers
gain confidence and the
government distributes
aid throughout the econ-
omy.
The Labor Depart-
ment said Thursday that
applications increased
by 16,000 from 728,000
a week earlier. Jobless
claims have declined
sharply since March of
last year. But they remain
high by historical stan-
dards: Before the pan-
demic , weekly applica-
tions typically remained
below 220,000 a week.
For the week ending
March 27, more than 3.7
million people were re-
ceiving traditional state
unemployment benefits,
the government said. If
you include supplemen-
tal federal programs that
were established last year
to help the unemployed
endure the health crisis,
a total of 18.2 million are
receiving some form of
jobless aid the week of
March 20.
p
Jeff Roberson/AP
Mid sized pickup s and full-sized vans are parked outside a General Motors assembly plant where they are produced in Wentzville, Missouri.
Associated Press
DETROIT —
T
he global shortage of semiconductors has forced General Motors and Ford to further cut production at
their North American factories as chip supplies seem to be growing tighter. The shutdowns likely will
crimp dealer inventory of vehicles made at the plants.
GM says it has managed to keep
humming factories that make hot-sell-
ing and very profitable full-size pickup
trucks and SUVs.
“GM continues to leverage every
available semiconductor to build and
ship our most popular and in-demand
products,” the company said Thursday
in a statement.
The chip shortage has already been
rippling through various markets since
last summer. It has made it difficult for
schools to buy enough laptops for stu-
dents forced to learn from home, de-
layed the release of popular products
such as the iPhone 12 and created mad
scrambles to find the latest video game
consoles, such as the PlayStation 5.
But things have been getting even
worse in recent weeks, particularly in
the auto industry, where factories are
shutting down because there aren’t
enough chips to finish building vehicles
that are starting to look like computers
on wheels. The problem was recently
compounded by a grounded container
ship that blocked the Suez Canal for
nearly a week, choking off chips headed
from Asia to Europe.
See Chip / A8
HERMISTON — A new
warehouse starting construc-
tion in Hermiston is expected
to produce 100 new jobs once
it is completed later this year.
Meyer Distributing, a com-
pany headquartered in Jas-
per, Indiana, received a build-
ing permit from the city of
Hermiston in March to begin
work on a new $11 million
warehouse. Meyer Distribut-
ing Chief Executive Officer
Jeff Braun said he expects the
warehouse to begin operations
in December.
According to its website, the
family-owned company is “a
leader in specialty products
marketing and distribution”
and uses strategically placed
warehouses around the coun-
try to distribute auto parts,
sanitation supplies and lifestyle
products.
After the Hermiston ware-
house opens near the end of
2021, Braun said the company
expects to hire between 75 and
100 people by the end of 2022.
He said starting wages for all
positions will be at least $15
an hour, and the company will
likely begin hiring in November.
The Hermiston warehouse
will house inventory ready to
be shipped to customers in the
region. The facility will be in
Hermiston’s southern indus-
trial area .
Braun said the company’s
Indiana headquarters has a
population of 16,000 people in
a county with a population of
about 43,000 people.
“We are aware of how im-
portant an impact a company
like ours can have on the local
community and look forward to
being a good partner with the
city and its citizens,” he said.
For more information
about the company, visit www.
meyerdistributing.com.
UNION DISPUTE
Powell’s says laid-off workers will have to reapply for their jobs
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Powell’s Books says it plans
to add more employees as it
prepares for business to pick
up again as the pandemic re-
cedes. But laid-off workers will
have to reapply for their old
jobs after the bookstore and
its union failed to strike a deal
over terms for rehiring them.
Before the pandemic, Pow-
ell’s had 400 union workers
across the business. About
85% of them lost their jobs in
March 2020 as the bookstore
shuttered all its locations in the
early days of the pandemic.
Those stores are open again,
except for the Powell’s location at
“We are appalled at Powell’s
decision to eliminate the
recall list and force laid off
employees to apply for their
former jobs.”
— Myka Dubay, union
representative
Portland International Airport,
which closed permanently. But
Powell’s employs just around 170
laid-off workers, about 135 of
them in union jobs.
Powell’s says laid-off workers’
right to be their old jobs had
expired under terms of its con-
tract with ILWU Local 5, the
union representing its workers.
The bookstore’s new CEO, Pat-
rick Bassett, said in an “open
letter” Tuesday that the com-
pany had talked with the union
about extending those recall
rights for another six months.
Having failed to reach agree-
ment, though, Bassett wrote
that the recall rights have
lapsed and Powell’s will post its
openings publicly.
“I want to emphasize that
any former Powell’s employees
whose seniority and employ-
ment were lost under the labor
contract remain eligible to ap-
ply for new positions,” Bassett
wrote.
See Powell’ s / A8
Beth Nakamura/ Oregonian file
Powell’s Books flagship store in downtown Portland.