A5
B USINESS
THE BULLETIN • SATURDAY, JULY 24, 2021
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BRIEFING
EPA gives pesticide
company penalty
The J.R. Simplot Co. will
pay a penalty of $65,250
after the Environmental
Protection Administration
accused it of pesticide
safety issues just south of
the Columbia River.
The penalty covers
problems cited by EPA
at both its Umatilla and
Moreland, Idaho, facilities
where large amounts of
pesticide are stored and
sold, the Tri-City Herald
reported.
Simplot did not re-
spond to a request for
comment.
Simplot has a ware-
house about 1,000 feet
from the Umatilla River,
just upstream from where
it enters the Columbia
River. EPA said the ware-
house had a 12-inch hole
in the floor for piping that
could allow liquid pesti-
cide that spills to contam-
inate the ground under
the warehouse.
The Idaho facility that
was included in the settle-
ment had pesticide spills
that had solidified on the
ground, creating a possi-
ble exposure for workers,
according to EPA.
Federal law requires
structures used for
containment to have
discharge outlets and
gravity drains sealed to
prevent pesticide from
leaking and contaminat-
ing the environment.
2 employees sue
Hermiston firm
Two former employees
of a home -manufactur-
ing company in Eastern
Oregon have filed a law-
suit saying they endured
anti-Black racism and
discrimination, and then
were fired after reporting
the incidents to man-
agers.
The lawsuit was filed in
federal court by two Black
women who worked
for Marlette Homes in
Hermiston between 2018
and 2020, Oregon Public
Broadcasting reported.
Twin sisters Lisa Wil-
liams and Angela Pierce
accuse the company’s
Hermiston branch of a
hostile work environ-
ment, sexual harassment,
race-based discrimina-
tion, wrongful termina-
tion and whistleblower
retaliation.
Marlette Homes Hu-
man Resources Manager
Erinn Gailey-Genack said
Wednesday that the com-
pany had no comment at
this time.
Rivian to build
second factory
Rivian, which pushed
the production launch
of its Illinois-built electric
truck back to September,
is already scouting loca-
tions for a second assem-
bly plant down the road.
The startup EV truck
manufacturer confirmed
it is looking to build a sec-
ond factory, with multi-
ple states bidding for the
project, but said Friday
the Normal plant remains
at the center of Rivian’s
production plans.
Headquartered in Ir-
vine, California, Rivian has
more than 2,200 employ-
ees working at its sole
production facility, a con-
verted Mitsubishi plant in
Normal.
Already behind its
original schedule, Rivian’s
first production vehicle
— a launch edition of its
R1T electric pickup truck
— was supposed to roll
off the line this month,
but CEO RJ Scaringe told
preorder customers last
week the semiconductor
chip shortage has pushed
the launch to September.
— Bulletin wire reports
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Biotech startup valued at $2B after IPO
hit high,
and Dow
breaches
35,000
VANCOUVER
BY MIKE ROGOWAY
The Oregonian
Vancouver startup Absci
debuted Thursday on Wall
Street, with investors pour-
ing money into the biotech
company at its initial public
offering.
Absci raised about $200
million in Thursday’s IPO to
spend in pursuit of its tech-
nology for using artificial
intelligence to create drugs
faster, and less expensively,
than through conventional
means. It’s a technique with
enormous promise — but
tremendous uncertainty.
The jump in Absci’s mar-
ket price gave the company a
market value of nearly $2 bil-
lion, instantly making it the
seventh most valuable public
company in the Portland area
RELATED
• Portland online learning com-
pany raises $50 million, A6
with a market capitalization
greater than NW Natural,
nLight, Schnitzer Steel or
Greenbrier.
“I firmly believe that we
can make this region a suc-
cessful synthetic biology
hub,” Absci CEO Sean Mc-
Clain said in an interview
Thursday from the Nasdaq
exchange in New York. He
started the company a decade
ago after moving back to his
parents’ home in Sherwood,
then used basement lab space
at the Portland State Univer-
sity to demonstrate the tech-
nology’s feasibility.
See IPO / A6
BY TAYLOR TELFORD AND HAMZA
SHABAN
The Washington Post
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Head chef Trevor Olson reaches for a newly printed ticket order June 26 at Nookie’s Restaurant & Brewery in Hermiston. As tickets
pour in, so does the stress of running an understaffed kitchen.
U.S. stock markets capped the
week in record terrain — with the
Dow closing above 35,000 for the
first time — with strong corporate
earnings lifting investor spirits af-
ter fears of the delta variant’s tight-
ening grip sent the blue-chip in-
dex sliding to its worst single-day
loss of 2021.
The Dow Jones Industrial av-
erage rebounded from Monday’s
725-point dive with four days of
gains, surging 238.20 points, or
0.7%, on Friday to 35,061.55. It
added nearly 1.1% on the week.
The S&P 500-stock index
climbed 44.31 points, or 1%, to
a record 4,411.79, bringing it up
nearly 2% for the week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq added
152.39 points, or 1%, to end the
trading day at 14,836.99, also a
record. It gained nearly 3% on
the week, boosted by strong earn-
ings: Snap and Twitter walloped
expectations with robust revenue
and user growth, powering their
shares; Twitter shares climbed 3%,
while Snap sailed nearly 24%.
See Stocks / A6
Eastern Oregon feels
the shortage of labor
Plans for
largest U.S.
solar field
scrapped
AP, KLAS-TV, Las Vegas Review-Journal
BY ALEX WITTWER • EO Media Group
L
A GRANDE — The number of Eastern Oregon residents
receiving unemployment benefits is lower now than
it was before the pandemic started, according to the
Oregon Employment Department.
But that makes no difference at
Nookie’s Restaurant & Brewery in
Hermiston, which has struggled to
find workers.
“I don’t have a single cook that’s
not in overtime right now,” said
Trevor Olson, the head chef at the
restaurant and brewery.
Before his shift started that day,
Olson had already clocked 60 hours
for the week.
In John Day, nearly every busi-
ness in the town is struggling to fill
positions.
“My crew is having to work seven
days, long hours, because we’re so
short staffed. A couple weeks ago,
we had to close down just to give
people a day off,” said Heather
Rookstool, a manager at Outpost
Pizza Pub & Grill in John Day.
Why the labor shortage
Most restaurant owners point to
supplemental unemployment ben-
efits as not only a principal cause of
the labor shortage but also a cause
of lowered morale among employ-
ees.
The shortage has prompted em-
ployers to offer increased bene-
fits, signing bonuses and higher
wages to entice workers back. In La
Grande, the McDonald’s restaurant
on Island Avenue for months had
a banner advertising up to $14 an
hour to new employees. That later
increased to $15.
“When our McDonald’s is paying
$15 and needs workers, our unem-
ployment should be zero percent,”
said Matt Scarfo, a Union County
commissioner and business owner
in La Grande.
But ending those benefits, ac-
cording to economists, would not
fix the economy’s woes.
Scott McConnell is an economics
professor at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity and also runs Side A Brewing
in La Grande, which has given him
close-up experience with the labor
shortage.
“The research says no,” said Mc-
Connell, regarding whether ending
expanded unemployment benefits
would resolve the labor shortage. “I
think it’s easy to point at that as be-
ing the sole reason.”
A large portion of the workforce
has returned to the labor market,
McConnell said.
It’s the ones who haven’t returned
that confound economists and state
leaders alike.
“This last group of people,” Mc-
Connell said, “what do we do for
them?”
What happened to the workforce?
Across the region, unemployment
claims are lower than in February
2020, before government shutdowns
over the pandemic halted the econ-
omy. The Oregon Employment De-
partment reported unemployment
claims for Eastern Oregon in May
2021 were 1,468. In February 2020,
before the pandemic, they were
1,605.
According to Oregon Employ-
ment Department data, the leisure
and hospitality industry saw a sig-
nificant chunk of workers leave the
field altogether over the course of
the pandemic. Many, it seems, were
able to find work in their profes-
sional careers — ones that matched
their college degrees or training.
“I did have a few employees who
have degrees, and (the pandemic)
actually gave them time to go look
for better jobs that would fit their
degrees instead,” Scarfo said.
That economic theory is backed
up anecdotally. The Oregon Restau-
rant & Lodging Association polled
a number of restaurants across the
state. Out of the dozens of responses
that were published, approximately
20% mentioned employees not re-
turning because they had found or
were looking for a career change.
Other factors
“There’s not just one thing go-
ing on right now,” said Chris Rich,
the state’s regional economist for
Eastern Oregon. “There’s a bunch
of different pieces that contribute
to what we would really term more
of a tight labor market than a labor
shortage.”
One of those factors has been a
problem in Oregon for several years.
“The big one that everyone points
to right now is actually child care,”
McConnell said. “They’ve had a lot
of closures of child care places per-
manently. It’s not so easy to take an
economy, shut it down and then just
expect it to wake back up.”
A January 2019 report from Ore-
gon State University found much of
Oregon remains a child care desert,
meaning there were three children
for every available slot at child care
centers.
See Shortage / A6
The push to transition from
carbon-emitting fuel sources
to renewable energy is hitting a
roadblock in Nevada, where solar
power developers are abandoning
plans to build what would have
been the United States’ largest ar-
ray of solar panels in the desert
north of Las Vegas.
“Battle Born Solar Project” de-
velopers this week withdrew their
application with the federal Bu-
reau of Land Management, which
oversees the Moapa Valley hilltop
where the panels were planned,
KLAS-TV Las Vegas reported.
California-based Arevia Power
told the television station that
its solar panels would be set far
enough back on Mormon Mesa
to not be visible from the valley.
But a group of residents organized
as “Save Our Mesa” argued such
a large installation would be an
eyesore and could curtail the ar-
ea’s popular recreational activities
— biking, ATVs and skydiving
— and deter tourists from visiting
sculptor Michael Heizer’s land in-
stallation, “Double Negative.”
Solar Partners VII LLC, an-
other California firm involved in
the project, submitted a letter to
the Bureau of Land Management
saying it intended to withdraw its
application “in response to recent
communication” with the agency,
the Las Vegas Review-Journal re-
ported.
The proposed plant would have
spanned more than 14 square
miles atop the scenic mesa and
had an 850 megawatt capacity —
roughly one-tenth of Nevada’s to-
tal capacity and enough to provide
daytime energy to 500,000 homes,
according to the company.
The stalled project presents a set-
back for the Western state, which
aims to transition to 50% renew-
able energy by 2030 and currently
generates roughly 28% of its utili-
ty-scale electricity from renewables.