WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Herald Business
Follow us on Twitter
@HermistonHerald
Lamb Weston plans $30
million Boardman expansion
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY DEBBIE PEDRO
More than 300 people attended the third annual
Community Agricultural Workers and Employees
Resource Fair, Wednesday at the Hermiston Conference
Center.
300 attend
ag workers
resource fair
More than 300 employ-
ers, job seekers, families
and community members
came together March 9 for
the third annual Communi-
ty Agricultural Workers and
Employers Resource Fair.
The attendance more
than tripled over past years,
according to Debbie Pedro,
director of the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to 45 in-
formational and vendor
booths, the two-hour event
also included dental care,
hair cuts, a meal provided
by Fiesta Foods and multi-
ple health screenings, such
as blood pressure checks
and cholesterol screenings.
The free event was pre-
sented by the Hermiston
Latino Business Network,
Fiesta Foods, Atkins Staff-
ing and the Hermiston
Chamber of Commerce.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
BY DEBBIE PEDRO
Michelle Monroe, of
literacy program Ready 2
Learn, mans a booth at the
third annual Community
Agricultural Workers and
Employers Resource Fair.
“We hope that next year
we’ll be able to expand the
event and it will continue to
grow,” Pedro said. “It was
awesome, and we will de¿-
nitely do it again.”
Plant investment
comes before
planned split with
ConAgra Foods
later this year
ConAgra Foods Inc.
announced Friday that its
Lamb Weston processing fa-
cility will expand operations
in Boardman.
The $30 million invest-
ment will add additional
processing capacity for
making formed products
such as hash brown patties
and potato puffs. The addi-
tion of the line at the com-
pany’s existing facility is
expected to add 50 jobs to
the 390 people already em-
ployed by the company in
Boardman.
With continued increase
in demand for frozen potato
and formed products, this
capacity expansion is neces-
sary to ful¿ll Lamb Weston’s
global growth projections,
according to a press release
from the company.
Construction on the pro-
cessing line is expected to
begin this spring, with com-
pletion in 2017. The added
line will increase processing
capacity by approximately
50 million pounds.
“With the frozen pota-
to category growing glob-
ally, we have tremendous
opportunity to support our
customers’ growth in the
U.S. and around the world,”
said Lamb Weston President
Greg Schlafer in a press
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Employees gather outside the ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston frozen potato plant in June 2014
at the Port of Morrow in Boardman.
release. “To capture that
growth, we need to make
more products. Expanding
our operations in the Co-
lumbia Basin — with access
to great potatoes, people and
ports — just makes sense.”
The facility in Boardman
is close to growing, storage
and shipping operations,
with easy access to the Port
of Morrow. The company
opened an initial expansion
of the facility in June 2014,
adding 300 million pounds
of capacity with a new fry
line. That $200 million proj-
ect included plans for the
addition announced Friday.
“Lamb Weston’s planned
expansion shows their con-
tinued commitment to the
Port of Morrow, Boardman
and the Mid-Columbia re-
gion as the right place to do
business,” said Gary Neal,
general manager of the Port
of Morrow. “Their ongoing
investments add good pay-
ing jobs to our region and
we are fortunate to have
such great partners at the
Port.”
Lamb Weston employs
about 4,500 people at a
corporate of¿ce and seven
manufacturing facilities in
the Columbia Basin, and
operates 22 manufacturing
facilities in North America,
Europe and China.
Lamb Weston was estab-
lished in 1950 by F. Gilbert
Lamb in a former co-op
plant in Weston, Oregon.
Lamb and the company
also invented the water gun
knife in 1960, which was
used to make french fries
by moving potatoes with
water at a high speed into a
sharpened steel grid to turn
the whole spuds into fries.
The company entered the
domestic potato process-
ing market and withing
10 years had expanded by
adding new processing fa-
cilities in American Falls,
Idaho; Connell and Quincy,
Washington; and Hermis-
ton.
ConAgra Foods an-
nounced late last year that
it will separate from Lamb
Weston later this year, form-
ing two separate publicly
traded companies. That
spin-off is expected to be
completed sometime this
fall, with Lamb Weston be-
ing headquartered in Kenne-
wick, Washington.
ConAgra Foods, which
currently has headquarters
in Omaha, Nebraska, will
become Conagra Brands
and also move its corporate
of¿ces to Chicago this year.
ConAgra aquired Lamb
Weston in 1988.
All other stations were list-
ing higher prices according
to customer reports to the
GasBuddy.com website.
“The cheapest gas prices
of the year are now solidly
behind us,” said Patrick
DeHaan, senior petroleum
analyst for GasBuddy.
“The current upward trend
is an unfortunate one that
we witness every year, but
the sudden jolt this time
around has been enhanced
by a 45 percent jump in the
price of crude oil in the last
month.”
While prices are expect-
ed to increase for a while,
there may be good news
for consumers later this
spring and summer.
“At the end of the day,
we expect this rally in gas-
oline prices to run for an-
other month or two before
stalling out,” DeHaan said.
“Perhaps the best news?
Motorists still could see
the cheapest average sum-
mer gasoline prices in over
a decade.”
Chamber cancels
social media sessions
BRIEFCASE
Secretary of State
sets notary seminar
Gas prices
climbing again
A free seminar for ex-
perienced notaries is being
offered by the Secretary of
State.
The class covers such
topics as employee notary
issues, comparing signa-
tures and identi¿cation, no-
tary and elder abuse fraud,
and journaling witnesses.
The class is not for begin-
ning notaries.
The session is Thurs-
day, March 24 from 9:30-
11:30 a.m. in ST-214 at
Blue Mountain Community
College, 2411 N.W. Carden
Ave., Pendleton.
Although the session is
free, those planning to at-
tend must register at http://
notsem.sos.state.or.us or by
calling 503-986-2200.
Average retail gasoline
prices in Oregon have risen
9.2 cents per gallon in the
past week, averaging $2.07
per gallon on Sunday, ac-
cording to GasBuddy’s
daily survey of 1,307 gas
outlets in Oregon.
Nationally, the average
price has increased 11.9
cents per gallon in the last
week to $1.93 per gallon,
according to gasoline price
website GasBuddy.com.
Including the change
in gas prices in Oregon
during the past week, pric-
es Sunday were 80.3 cents
Business lunch
builds bridges
Consultant John Audley
will discuss building bridg-
es to promote healthier
and more self-reliant rural
Oregon during the upcom-
ing Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce B2B Luncheon.
Audley owns a consult-
ing business and will share
information about his work
for the Oregon Business
Council and Craft 3, a non-
pro¿t ¿nancial institution
dedicated to investing in
people, their communities
and healthy natural sys-
tems.
The no-host luncheon
gathering
is
Tuesday,
March 22, with network-
ing starting at 11:45 a.m.
at the Hermiston Confer-
ence Center, 415 S. High-
way 395. The meal, which
is catered by Ixtapa, is $10
for members and $13 for
non-members.
For more information or
to RSVP, contact 541-567-
6151 or kelly@hermiston-
chamber.com.
per gallon lower than the
same day one year ago
and are 16.5 cents per gal-
lon higher than a month
ago. The national average
has increased 23.9 cents
per gallon during the last
month and stands 50.2
cents per gallon lower than
this day one year ago.
Fuel prices in the Herm-
iston area have started ris-
ing too, but remain below
the statewide average.
According to GasBud-
dy.com, the lowest price
for regular unleaded in the
greater Hermiston area on
Tuesday was the Pilot trav-
el center in Stan¿eld at In-
terstate 84 at $1.899 and the
Tesoro station in Umatilla.
A pair of business social
media workshops in Uma-
tilla have been canceled.
Due to lack of timely re-
sponse, the Umatilla Cham-
ber of Commerce canceled
the March 16 sessions.
For more information,
contact Karen Hutchin-
son-Talaski at 541-922-
4825 or karen@umatilla-
chamber.net.
SELF DEFENSE
Learn self-defense techniques,
including: Awareness, home security,
verbal de-escalation, evading and
escaping maneuvers. This is a contact
class. Age 12 and up. Free, but must
pre-register. Call 541-667-3509.
March 31 • 6:00 - 8:00pm
GSMC Conference Center 2
POWERFUL TOOLS FOR
THE CAREGIVER:
A FREE program for family caregivers. Learn how to
reduce stress and relax, communicate effectively, reduce
guilt and anger, make tough decisions, set goals and
problem solve. Must attend the first class. Registration
is required as space is limited.
Sign up by 3/18.
Tuesdays • 4:00 - 5:30pm
March 22 through April 26
To register, call 541-667-3509
HEALTHY FRIDAYS
FREE health screenings & health coaching: Blood
pressure checks, weigh-ins, body mass index,
cholesterol and glucose.
First Friday of each month
9:30 - 11:30am
Third Friday of each month
2:00 - 4:00pm
GSMC Conference Center 7 (by Education Dept)
Information or to register
call
(541) 667-3509
or email
healthinfo@gshealth.org
spec-1/#13