INSIDE: DEAR ABBY, HOROSCOPE, PUZZLES & FEATURES
C1
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2021
bendbulletin.com/business
Eric Alexander, CEO at Partners In Care , admires
construction progress Tuesday at the Hospice House in Bend.
in a pandemic
Carly Sanders, Neighbor Impact
food program director, shows the Neigh-
borImpact mobile food pantry in Red-
mond on Tuesday. Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
BY SUZANNE ROIG
The Bulletin
E
arly in the pandemic, Linda Stelle
realized that Partners in Care
needed help to meet financial goals
during the pandemic.
The Powell Butte resident knew the
nonprofit had canceled its 2020 gala
created to fund the $6 million needed
for the 12-bed Hospice House facility.
As one of the board of directors, Stelle
realized that the community needed to
pitch in.
She pulled out her checkbook
and wrote her second check to the
organization. Sometimes a nonprofit
needs muscle and money to meet its
goals.
“With the pandemic, it put pres-
sure on the organization, and I saw
it was a good time for me to have
support from their donors,” said
Stelle, who founded AmeriTitle
more than 40 years ago. “I wanted
to make sure the organization has
a strong foundation, great leader-
ship to prove they’d go into per-
petuity.
“These are key things for me.
Partners in Care fits all those com-
ponents.”
For some nonprofits, like the
Latino Community Association,
the pandemic forced it to can-
cel outright the main fundraisers
that fuel the work it does. And
for other nonprofits, like the De-
schutes Land Trust, the pandemic
has been a boon for their finances,
with people making heftier dona-
tions than normal.
See Nonprofits / C8
A tumultuous but productive 2021 legislative session
T
he 2021 legislative ses-
sion was characterized
by Zoom meetings,
COVID-19 restrictions and
disruptions. It was surprisingly
productive, however. In a nor-
mal year, the legislative pro-
cess is not one for the faint of
heart, as over 3,500 bills are in-
troduced in a long session ad-
dressing a vast range of issues.
This year’s session proved to
INSIDE
BUSINESS
By Katy Brooks
be very different as lawmakers
gathered virtually and the state
Capitol was closed to the pub-
lic due to COVID-19.
While the new format did
make it easier to provide testi-
mony in lieu of traveling across
the pass to Salem, it presented
challenges with the flow of in-
formation and the opportunity
to communicate with elected
officials.
All told this was a very chal-
lenging session for lawmakers
and advocates alike.
COVID-19 brought federal
and state programs to the fore-
front this session for businesses
and employees alike. Foreclo-
sure moratoriums, federal un-
employment assistance and fi-
nancial support for businesses
like the Paycheck Protection
Program were intermingled
with legislation and pandemic
state guideline development.
And while this was playing
out, businesses were concerned
about whether additional taxes
would be levied in a year of
struggle for so many.
If there has ever been a year
to advocate for supporting the
health of our business commu-
nity, this was it.
The ongoing and often-
changing list of COVID-19
requirements on businesses
has been challenging and at
times detrimental. Businesses
showed up this session to
share their stories of struggle
through the pandemic and
successfully prevented several
attempts to increase taxes.
In the end, the legislature
passed bi partisan bills to as-
sist the business community,
including changes to the state
unemployment insurance trust
fund to decrease accelerating
unemployment rate increases
due to COVID-19.
See Legislature / C2