B USINESS
Hermiston
A4
WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 2015
Second taxi service gets green light from city
TRANSPORTATION
BY JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
There’s a new taxi in
town
Umatilla Cab Company
is licensed to operate inside
Hermiston and approved to
accept riders from the Se-
nior & Disabled Taxi Ticket
Program effective today
The city previously had
an exclusive franchise with
Hermiston Transit Ser-
vices, but that deal expired
Tuesday, June 0
“We just inked a new
contract with the cab com-
pany this morning,” Mark
Morgan, assistant city man-
ager, said Tuesday
In March, the city coun-
cil voted unanimously to
end the practice of granting
an exclusive franchise to
Hermiston Transit Services
The city created a taxi li-
censing system open to any
company that meets the re-
Tuirements Morgan said
there would probably be a
few kinks to work out as the
new system was implement-
ed, but in the long run he be-
lieves healthy competition
between taxi companies will
be of bene¿ t to residents
Umatilla Cab Company
has been in operation for
almost a year and owner
Sundi Marquez said busi-
ness has been steady She
expects it to increase now
that the taxi company can
legally transport riders
within the Hermiston city
limits and can accept the
subsidized ride tickets
“We’re
very,
very
pleased to have the honor to
do the senior and disabled
program,” she said
She said the company’s
two full-time and three
part-time drivers have
passed the necessary back-
ground checks to operate
within Hermiston starting
July 1 The company has a
wheelchair-accessible van
It operates between 6 am
and 0 am seven days a
week and Marquez said she
is willing to pick up riders
outside of normal operating
hours if they make arrange-
ments ahead of time
The company also does
food deliveries and can pick
up things like medications
“We will even go gro-
cery shopping for people,”
Marquez said
$s for the city-run Senior
& Disabled Taxi Ticket Pro-
gram, Morgan said the city
plans to leave pricing and
other aspects the same after
)ILE 3HOTO
Umatilla Cab Company uses Cheverolet HHR vehicles for its
taxi service.
adding Umatilla Cab Com-
pany Users must be Herm-
iston residents and register
at City Hall The cost of a
one-way ticket will still be
$2 each and can only be
used within city limits
Umatilla Cab Company
can be reached at 541-567-
6055
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
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$ccess to the Hermis-
ton Herald and East Or-
egonian of¿ ces at E
Main St is still restricted
due to ongoing sidewalk
repair and construction
Walk-in customers are
still welcome, but the
main entrance is not ac-
cessible due to the side-
walk work
Power Pro, Inc, is tak-
ing out the old, uneven con-
crete steps and sidewalks
and will be replacing the
walkways leading to the
Hermiston Herald and East
Oregonian main entrance
Demolition work be-
gan on the project on June
19 and repair and recon-
struction is ongoing Work
to shore up awning sup-
ports became necessary
as part of the project and
the current heat wave has
delayed the ability to pour
new concrete, so the proj-
ect is taking longer than
originally anticipated
The temporary public
entrance to the building
is located on the east side
of the building and can be
accessed via the alley off
Southeast Third Street
The alley is located be-
tween Washington Federal
and the Desert Cobbler
For more information
or assistance, call the
Hermiston
Herald/East
Oregonian of¿ ce at 541-
567-6457
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Shari’s hires new COO
Shari’s Café & Pies,
which started with a single
restaurant in Hermiston,
has hired a new chief oper-
ating of¿ cer
Rob Geresi joins the
company’s executive lead-
ership team amid changes
occurring at Shari’s
“Shari’s has been evolv-
ing at a rapid pace over
the last couple years,” said
Bruce MacDiarmid, Shari’s
president and C(2 1early
60 percent of the restau-
rant locations have been
renovated and “we’ve re-
vamped our menu offerings
with additional fresh, local
and season item, and we’ve
combined it all together
with new branding ele-
ments,” MacDiarmid said
“Rob is a key piece of
the pu]]le He brings a
wealth of restaurant and en-
trepreneurial experience to
our organi]ation”
Geresi has held senior
positions for Sonic Corp
and Red Robin Internation-
al and he was co-founder of
1ew <ork Bagel (nterpris-
es
In 1995, he received the
1ational (ntrepreneur of
the <ear $ward’ from the
8S Small Business $d-
ministration
Shari’s is the largest
full-service chain based
in the Paci¿ c 1orthwest
Founded in Hermiston
in 1978 and operated by
Shari’s Management Cor-
poration of Beaverton,
Oregon, Shari’s Cafe &
Pies restaurants are open
hours a day Shari’s has
more than 4,000 employees
at 96 locations throughout
Oregon, Washington, Cali-
fornia, Idaho, 1ebraska and
Wyoming
7he ¿ rst Shari’s was
founded in Hermiston,
where the local restaurant
is still located in Hermis-
ton Plaza, by Ron and Sha-
ron BergTuist 7he Shari’s
name was derived from
Sharon’s nickname
Latino Business Network meeting planned
The Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce Latino Busi-
ness 1etwork meeting will
take place at 9 am Wednes-
day, July 8, at the Hermis-
ton Conference Center, 415
S Highway 95 Identity
theft and LegalShield law
representatives Charlene
Scott and $mber Skinner
will be the guest speakers
Coffee and doughnuts will
be available
The chamber’s vision
is to promote, educate and
support Latino businesses
in the greater Hermiston
area through networking,
advocacy and business
community
partnership
For more information
about the Latino Business
1etwork, call 541-567-
6151
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER XX
GA5< L. WE6T
JADE McDOWELL
6AM %A5%EE
6EAN HA5T
KIM La 3LANT
JEANNE JEWETT
EDITOR
gwest@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4532
SPORTS REPORTER
sbarbee@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4542
MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
Nlaplant@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4530
REPORTER
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com
541-564-4536
REPORTER
smhart@hermistonherald.com
541-564-4534
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MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
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541-564-4531
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
• stop b\ our of¿ ces at 333 E. Main 6t.
• visit us online at: www.hermistonherald.com
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