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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
A4 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 2017 Herald Business Follow us on Twitter @HermistonHerald Shearer’s Foods Former PGG terminals, investment will come elevators to get upgrades onto tax rolls this year By GEORGE PLAVEN EO Media Group By JADE McDOWELL Staff Writer No enterprise zone construction came onto the tax rolls in 2016, but an investment made by Shearer’s Foods will come on in July. Hermiston’s enter- prise zone, one of sever- al around the state, gives qualifying companies a three- to five-year proper- ty tax exemption on new investments that add jobs to the community. Shearer’s Foods used the break on a $3.1 mil- lion investment in 2010, a $25 million investment in 2011 and a $3.5 mil- lion investment in 2014. The company will start paying property taxes on the final $3.5 million in- vestment on July 1. City manager Mark Morgan said that since the property is located outside city limits, the taxes will go to Umatilla County, Umatilla County Fire District 1 and Herm- iston School District but not the city. However, $16.48 mil- lion in expansions by Du- Pont Pioneer and Pioneer Hi-Bred will come on the city’s tax rolls in 2019. Morgan said it’s hard to know exactly how much money comes into the city’s general fund as a result of new projects joining the tax rolls, be- cause the city receives property tax revenue in one lump sum and that sum fluctuates up and down as some properties become more valuable and others depreciate. However, he estimated that the city is getting somewhere between $150,000 and $200,000 per year from DuPont Pioneer’s $35 million investment that came on the tax rolls in 2015. Companies that quali- fy for the enterprise zone include shippers, manu- facturers and processors but exclude retail, con- struction businesses or finance. To qualify for a three-year property tax break on new capital in- vestments, the construc- tion or new equipment must come with at least a 10 percent increase of full-time, permanent jobs that lasts for the du- ration of the tax break. The city can choose to extend the tax break for another one or two years if the compensation of the new workers is at or above 150 percent of Umatilla County’s aver- age wage. Morgan said that some people grumble about the city giving tax breaks, but Morgan said he “can say with abso- lute certainty that a lot of these investments would not have come here if property tax exemptions were not on the table from the start.” He said about a year and a half ago Herm- iston was the second place finalist for an Auto Zone distribution center that would have brought about 250 new jobs to the area. He said the en- terprise zone featured “prominently” into dis- cussions with the com- pany. “They ended up in Pasco, but without the enterprise zone we wouldn’t have even been at the table for that dis- cussion,” he said. He said there are no new enterprise zone ap- plications in hand but that people should “stay tuned.” Between 2005 and 2015 the enterprise zone was responsible for at- tracting more than $83 million in investments and more than 300 new jobs, according to a city report. ——— Contact Jade McDow- ell at jmcdowell@eas- toregonian.com or 541- 564-4536. When United Grain Corporation stepped in for Pendleton Grain Grow- ers last year, purchasing all of the co-op’s old grain infrastructure, the compa- ny promised to invest $9 million toward making the facilities more modern and efficient. Those upgrades are now underway. Among other things, United Grain has already installed automated kiosks at the McNary riv- er terminal to help trucks weigh and unload cargo faster. Jason Middleton, region manager for United Grain, said they are also working to buy 20 more acres from the Port of Umatilla to ex- pand at McNary along the Columbia River, boosting storage capacity by 3-4 million bushels. As for up- country elevators, Middle- ton said they will provide space for specialty crops other than wheat, such as beans, canola and barley. The projects were laid out during a series of grow- er’s meetings last week in Hermiston, Pendleton and La Grande, giving local farmers an idea of what to expect come next harvest. “Speed, space and ser- vice is what our goals are here,” Middleton said. “We’re trying to repair our infrastructure and keep up with the grower.” For 86 years, members relied on PGG for fuel, agronomy, marketing and more. After PGG dissolved on May 2, 2016, the board of directors voted to sell its grain assets to United Grain, including the Mc- Nary terminal, Alicel rail terminal and upcountry el- evators. United Grain took over the business on June 10, just weeks before wheat harvest began. That didn’t allow much time to focus on im- proving buildings, though Middleton, who was hired by PGG as the director of grain operations in 2012, said they knew coming in STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS A semi-trailer pulls out of the United Grain McNary terminal on Monday in Umatilla. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Wheat falls into a grate as operator Pete Veliz opens the bottom of a grain hopper at the United Grain McNary terminal on Monday in Umatilla. there was work that needed to be done. “There was just a lack of maintenance on a lot of those projects,” said Mid- dleton. “You can go back four decades, at least.” With that hectic first har- vest behind them, Middle- ton said they are now ready to move forward on infra- structure. The bulk of the money will be spent at Mc- Nary, he said, where they recently automated kiosks at the trucking scales. Now, drivers simply swipe a card to bring up their informa- tion, and are directed to one of five pits where they can unload grain. The way scales are set up will allow trucks to flow in one direction, Middleton said, instead of before when drivers had to weigh in and out at the same scale. “It’s going to save a lot of time, compared to last year,” he said. “There’s no reason trucks couldn’t get in and out anywhere from five to eight minutes, entire process.” Automation has also come to the elevator con- trol room at McNary, which will make it easier for the operators there to switch between bins and keep wheat segregated. The idea, Middleton said, is to maxi- mize efficiency — the less time farmers spend at the elevator, the more time they have to work in the fields. That’s also the concept behind ground piles at Mis- sion and Helix. As com- bines are able to cut wheat faster, Middleton said farm- ers are using larger trucks to deliver grain, which can be unloaded more quickly at piles as opposed to the old upcountry elevators. Each pile will store 1.4 million bushes, Middleton said. The goal is to build a third pile near Athena by next year as well, he added. Finally, a ground pile and automated scales will be in- stalled at the Alicel Terminal near La Grande. Both Alicel and McNary are used for storing and shipping grain, which is hauled by train at Alicel and by river barge at McNary. “It should just be a lot more of an efficient pro- cess,” he said. As for the upcountry el- evators, many of the old wooden buildings have al- ready been closed for safety, Middleton said. Those in- clude Helix, Rew, Mission, Stanton, Elgin, and Hold- man. But some of the metal and concrete elevators will be upgraded, where farmers will be able store crops on demand separate from tra- ditional wheat. With wheat prices as low as they are, Middleton said he expects farmers may be considering alternatives to help pay the bills. Options are limited in dryland farming, but bar- ley, canola and certain types of beans or peas may be options, depending on the market. “If there are other options out there, I think guys will be looking at them,” he said. Some of the “on de- mand” crop elevators will include Fulton, Sparks, Pi- lot Rock, Juniper, Adams and Midway. Many of these facilities simply need some routine repairs and mainte- nance, Middleton said, but won’t require a ton of cap- ital. By giving farmers more tools come harvest, Mid- dleton said United Grain hopes to become a compet- itive choice for growers in the region. “It’s difficult being a farmer now, with margins as tight as they are,” Mid- dleton said. “We want to be their best option.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. $ WHY ADVERTISE IN THE EAST OREGONIAN AND HERMISTON HERALD CLASSIFIED SECTION? EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS. CHOOSE A PROVEN SOURCE FOR RETURN ON INVESTMENT You should be advertising in these tough economic times. “ We are a regional transportation company with drivers and vehicles stationed in six cities. We occasionally run classifi ed help wanted ads in various publications in the northwest when we have driver openings. Sometimes our classifi ed ad draws very few results (depending on the time of year) so we must repeat the ad. This recently occurred with a week long ad we ran in the East Oregonian. Our classifi ed ad representative, Dayle S. expressed concern about the lack of success in our ad and asked our permission to enhance the ad to garner a better response. She revamped the ad which we were very impressed with. The response to her revamped ad was dramatic and we are SO SO impressed with the unsolicited service Dayle provided. Transportation Solutions Out of all the publications we advertise in, this was the fi rst time an ad representative took the time to assist us with a more eff ective ad. Anytime we need a classifi ed ad in the East Oregonian, we will require that Dayle is the one who places our ad. Of the six cities we advertise in, Dayle with the East Oregonian is the very best classifi ed ad consultant we have ever worked with. ” Myron H., Transportation Solutions To advertise in the most powerful local media available, call Dayle or Terri at 1-800-962-2819 . Dayle Stinson Terri Briggs
