A11
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2021
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DOW
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BRIEFING
COVID-19 housing,
work rules will stay
While statewide
COVID-19 mandates on
masking, social distanc-
ing and gatherings will be
ending soon, workplace
rules will not.
“Our rules, with the ex-
ception of masking and
distancing, will remain
in place and continue to
be subject to discussion
about when they’ll be re-
pealed and how they’ll be
phased out,” said Michael
Wood, administrator of
Oregon Occupational
Safety and Health.
While the decision
aims to fully reopen the
state’s economy, Wood
said the risk of contract-
ing COVID-19 is still pres-
ent, hence the need for
continued workplace re-
strictions.
“We know there are
still risks present,” he said.
“It isn’t like the risk of dis-
ease has completely van-
ished.”
Wood said the rules
are temporary, and the
agency is having “regular
conversations” about how
and when to phase them
out entirely.
“The COVID-19 rules
will go away,” he said.
Oregon farm joins
suit against USDA
An Oregon farming
couple has filed a lawsuit
claiming the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture’s loan
forgiveness program for
minorities violates the
constitutional principle
of equal justice under
the law.
The complaint filed by
Kathryn and James Dun-
lap of Baker City is among
at least nine similar cases
alleging the $4 billion pro-
gram unlawfully excludes
white farmers from receiv-
ing loan assistance.
A federal judge in Flor-
ida temporarily halted the
program Wednesday, but
the Oregon lawsuit aims
to test its constitutional-
ity in the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, which
has jurisdiction over nine
Western states.
Since the legal ques-
tion will likely be decided
by the U.S. Supreme
Court, having the issue
“percolate” in several ap-
pellate jurisdictions will
help guide its thinking,
said Wen Fa, an attorney
with Pacific Legal Foun-
dation, a nonprofit orga-
nization that’s represent-
ing the Dunlaps.
Summer gas prices
likely to keep rising
After a brief dip, gas
prices in the U.S. are on
the rise again.
The U.S. average price
for a gallon of gasoline
rose 2½ cents from last
week to $3.09 per gallon
on Monday, according to
the travel and fuel price
tracking app GasBuddy.
The national average
is now almost 5 cents
higher than a month ago
and 92 cents higher than
this time last year.
GasBuddy petroleum
analyst Patrick De Haan
says Americans should
expect to pay even more
at the pump heading into
July 4th, a popular road
trip holiday.
With the U.S. economy
rapidly recovering from
the 15-month-long pan-
demic, demand for fuel is
rising and pushing prices
to levels not seen since
2014. And hurricane sea-
son carries the prospect
of higher prices if a storm
impacts oil drilling and re-
fining on the Gulf Coast.
“Motorists should pre-
pare to dig deeper for the
second half of the sum-
mer ,” De Haan said.
— Bulletin wire reports
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Willamette Valley Vineyards to build winery
Winery-restaurant
planned in Bend
BY GEORGE PLAVEN
Capital Press
TURNER — Willamette
Valley Vineyards is building
a new winery in the Dundee
Hills southwest of Portland
and will hire a new director to
oversee winemaking and vine-
yards, including 65 full- and
part-time employees, the com-
pany announced.
The company also plans to
build four winery restaurants
including one in Bend, it an-
nounced Thursday .
Jim Bernau, founder and
CEO, said the decision comes
as production has vastly out-
paced capacity at the current
winery in the Salem Hills near
Turner.
“It got to the point where I
just couldn’t wait any longer,”
Bernau said. “We have ex-
ceeded the design capabilities
for this winery.”
Founded in 1983, Willamette
Valley Vineyards is a leading
producer of Oregon Pinot noir.
The winery was originally built
for making 12,500 cases of wine
per year, Bernau said.
Last year, the winery pro-
duced 175,357 cases — more
than 14 times its initial ca-
pacity.
“That creates a lot of pres-
sure on our cellar staff,” Bernau
said. “What I really need to do
is prepare for the future.”
Four years ago, the com-
pany purchased 40 acres in
the Dundee Hills American
Viticultural Area along state
Highway 99 where it plans to
build a state-of-the-art winery
with the capacity to produce
between 250,000 and 500,000
cases annually.
The winery will be within a
few miles of Willamette Valley
Vineyards’ new sparkling wine
facility, called Domaine Willa-
mette, which is slated to open
in May .
See Winery / A13
George Plaven/Capital Press
Jim Bernau, founder and CEO of Willamette Valley Vineyards, holds up
a cluster of Pinot noir grapes growing at his vineyard in Turner.
FACEBOOK
U.S. judge
dismisses
antitrust
lawsuits
OFFICES
AFTER COVID
Wider hallways, fewer desks
and other changes may remain
BY DEE-ANN DURBIN
Associated Press
G
RAND RAPIDS, Mich.
— The coronavirus al-
ready changed the way
we work. Now it’s chang-
ing the physical space, too.
Many companies are making
adjustments to their offices to
help employees feel safer as they
return to in-person work, like im-
proving air circulation systems
or moving desks further apart.
Others are ditching desks and
building more conference rooms
to accommodate employees who
still work remotely but come in
for meetings.
Architects and designers say
this is a time of experimenta-
tion and reflection for employ-
ers. Steelcase, an office furniture
company based in Grand Rapids,
says its research indicates half of
global companies plan major re-
designs to their office space this
year.
“This year caused you to think,
maybe even more fundamentally
than you ever have before, ‘Hey,
why do we go to an office?’” said
Natalie Engels, a San Jose, Cali-
fornia-based design principal at
Gensler, an architecture firm.
Not every company is making
changes, and Engels stresses that
Shafkat Anowar/AP
Shobha Surya, associate manager for projects and sales operations of Ajino-
moto, a global food and pharmaceutical company, works in a shared office
space in Itasca, Illinois, on June 7. Surya is thrilled to be back in the office,
saying she feels energized by the light pouring in from skylights at the new
headquarters. She also missed her colleagues.
they don’t have to. She tells clients
to remember what worked well
— and what didn’t — before the
pandemic.
But designers say many com-
panies are looking for new ways
to make employees feel safe and
invigorated at the office, espe-
cially as a labor crunch makes
hiring more difficult.
That’s what drove food and
pharmaceutical company Ajino-
moto to overhaul the design of its
new North American headquar-
ters outside Chicago last year.
Ajinomoto’s employees re-
turned to in-person work in May
to a building with wider hallways
and glass panels between cubicles,
to give them more space and try
to make them feel more secure.
See Offices / A13
BY MICHAEL BALSAMO
AND MARCY GORDON
Associated Press
123RF
WASHINGTON — A
federal judge on Monday
dismissed antitrust lawsuits
brought against Facebook
by the Federal Trade Com-
mission and a coalition of
state attorneys general, deal-
ing a significant blow to at-
tempts by regulators to rein
in tech giants.
U.S. District Judge James
Boasberg ruled Monday that
the lawsuits were “legally in-
sufficient” and didn’t provide
enough evidence to prove
that Facebook was a monop-
oly. The ruling dismisses the
complaint but not the case,
meaning the FTC could re-
file another complaint.
“These allegations —
which do not even provide
an estimated actual figure or
range for Facebook’s market
share at any point over the
past ten years — ultimately
fall short of plausibly estab-
lishing that Facebook holds
market power,” he said.
The U.S. government and
48 states and districts sued
Facebook in December ,
accusing the tech giant of
abusing its market power in
social networking to crush
smaller competitors and
seeking remedies that could
include a forced spinoff of
the social network’s Insta-
gram and WhatsApp mes-
saging services.
The FTC had alleged
Facebook engaged in “a sys-
tematic strategy” to elimi-
nate its competition, includ-
ing by purchasing smaller
up-and-coming rivals like
Instagram in 2012 and
WhatsApp in 2014. New
York Attorney General Le-
titia James said when filing
the suit that Facebook “used
its monopoly power to crush
smaller rivals and snuff out
competition, all at the ex-
pense of everyday users.”
See Facebook / A13
Oregon’s tiered minimum wage system sees new increase this week
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Oregon’s lowest-paid workers will be
earning more beginning Thursday — as
much as $14 an hour for some.
It’s the sixth of seven increases the
Legislature mandated in 2016, which
have steadily raised the state’s hourly
minimum from $9.25. Oregon will have
one of the highest minimum wages in
the nation when the new rates kick in
Thursday, but the rate varies consider-
ably depending on where you work.
Oregon lawmakers took an inno-
vative approach, mandating different
minimums for different regions of the
state, so the $14 hourly minimum ap-
plies only to the three counties in the
Portland metro area.
Employers in Deschutes and other so-
called standard counties will pay $12.75
an hour. Those in Crook, Jefferson and
other nonurban counties will pay $12.
The difference is meant to account
for lower costs of living outside the
metro area.
The nation’s highest statewide or dis-
trictwide minimum wage is in Washing-
$12/$12.75
The new minimum wages starting
Thursday, in Crook and Jefferson
counties ($12) and in Deschutes
County (75 cents more).
ton, D.C., at $15 an hour. Washington
state’s hourly minimum is $13.69. Mas-
sachusetts’ is $13.50, and California’s is
$13. Many cities or counties have higher
minimum wages than their states.
When Oregon’s higher minimums
kick in Thursday, the wage floor in
the Portland area will have climbed by
more than 50% since 2016. That works
out to nearly $10,000 more annually for
a full-time worker earning the Portland
area’s higher minimum wage.
The minimums rise again in July
2022, topping out at $14.75 an hour in
the Portland area, $13.50 in Deschutes
County and $12.50 an hour in Crook
and Jefferson counties. Subsequent in-
creases will be tied to inflation.
See Wages / A13