A14 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
JOBS
said, as he sorted through a
box full of sprinkler heads
that had been pulled out of
Continued from Page A1
the blueberry fields. “It’s all
He said the rapid on-the-job training. It’s just
changes in technology has common sense.”
also altered the way farms
For many teens, secur-
ing a seasonal job is easier
operate.
In less than 20 years, if they know someone in the
most machinery has become industry.
automated, which limits
“It’s kind of a network-
ing thing,” said Jack
the number of jobs
Bellinger, owner of
teens are needed to
Bellinger Farms.
do.
“When I was
He said he hires
growing up, you
anywhere from five
saw more younger
to 10 teens per sum-
mer, and many are
people working sim-
pler jobs on a farm,
friends of his high
like picking ber- Ditchen
school-age sons, or
ries,” he said. “You
people they already
don’t see that anymore. For know.
so many kids, their first job
Most teens work on
is at 16. And they’ve never the sorting line, process-
ing, weighing and dividing
been around a farm.”
He said that lack of famil- up melons. They will help
iarity requires employers to pack them into boxes for
spend more time training small-market orders, and
kids on how to operate and make lids and pallets.
be safe around equipment.
“Some drive forklifts —
“I’ve turned a lot of kids not very many,” Bellinger
away this year,” he said. said, noting that kids have
“The jobs are out there, but to be a certain age to oper-
ate machinery.
it’s a hard job.”
Still, Ditchen said, he
Rarely are teens out in
likes hiring high school the field, Bellinger said.
and college kids to work
“It’s definitely manual
for him. This year, he hired labor,” he said.
eight high school students
Larger companies like
and three college students.
Atkinson Staffing hire stu-
Trevor Horn, 17, is a dents every summer to work
Hermiston High School stu- in the fields starting at age
dent in his first year work- 15, mostly weeding around
ing for Ditchen.
crops in Hermiston and
As he drove a combine Boardman.
harvesting Kentucky blue-
Some agricultural jobs in
grass seed, Horn said he has the area are more research-
been asked to do every type based. The Hermiston
of task on the farm since Agricultural Research and
he started working a few Extension Center, oper-
ated through Oregon State
weeks ago.
“I probably enjoy help- University, hires a handful
ing in the mechanical shop of high school students, as
most,” he said. “Mostly well as college and graduate
because then I understand students, to assist with lab
as much as I can.”
work every summer.
Operating the combine
“The principal investiga-
is a close second, he said, tor will hire students based
but he’s had to remind him- upon need,” said center
self how big the machine is director Phil Hamm. While
— even if it doesn’t travel high schoolers don’t have to
faster than 2 miles per hour. have a science background
Sammy Moore, 16, is to get hired, it does help.
in his second summer at
“It gives them the poten-
tial to learn about some-
Golden Valley Farms.
“It’s farm labor — any- thing they never knew about
thing and everything,” he before, and potentially to do
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
FROM A1
as a career,” he said.
Raegan Aldred, 17, and
Benjamin Moore, 18, are
both in their second year
working at the experiment
station, and are assisting
with research in the ento-
mology lab.
The two help collect data
and read samples from the
field.
Before starting work, the
students have to go through
safety training to learn how
to be around farm equip-
ment, and when it’s safe to
go in the fields after pesti-
cide has been applied.
Both are interested in
wildlife, and have been able
to apply the skills they’ve
learned in some way.
“For me, it’s more been
learning how scientists put
data together,” Moore said.
“It’s helped me out with
some science classes.”
Dallas Fridley, a regional
economist for the state
employment department,
said in the third quarter of
2017, teens ages 14 to 18
held about three percent of
the jobs in Umatilla County,
or about 1,047 jobs. The
number of agricultural jobs
for youth increased in 2017,
from about 40 to about 200.
“There has been more
competition for these jobs
from older workers,” Frid-
ley said in an email to the
Hermiston Herald. “Cer-
tainly the situation was
more difficult for youth fol-
lowing the recession — but
with unemployment rates at
historic lows, the job mar-
ket for youth should be bet-
ter now than it has been in
recent years.”
He said the top employer
of youth in Umatilla County
is the leisure and hospitality
industry, providing about
370 jobs.
Many local employers
said they will start their high
school students at minimum
wage, but are happy to give
raises if they come back the
next year, or show initiative
in the job.
“The labor force out there
is not plump,” Bellinger
said. “We’re always looking
for qualified people.”
Stay safe with fireworks
HERMISTON HERALD
As the Fourth of July
approaches,
American
Red Cross and the Uma-
tilla County Fire District
1 are reminding people to
be safe, and to use com-
mon sense when lighting
fireworks.
Fire marshal Scott Goff
asked people to make sure
they light fireworks in
areas clear of vegetation,
stored items, and away
from structures.
“Make sure you get a
good plan to dispose of
them,” he said. “A bucket
with water, give them a
BTW
Continued from Page A1
the public have approached
the city council about issu-
ing more licenses and cre-
ating an area where food
trucks can gather. The city
survey asks for opinions on
increasing the number of
licenses, creating a food cart
pod and possible amend-
ments to the ordinance.
• • •
The Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce is gear-
ing up to put FUN in the
festival. See next week’s
Hermiston Herald for
information about Hermis-
ton Funfest. The free fam-
ily-friendly event is Satur-
day, July 14 in downtown
Hermiston.
• • •
The East Oregonian and
Hermiston Herald have a
new intern for the summer.
Brittany Norton, a
native of Eugene, is a 2018
graduate from the Univer-
sity of Oregon School of
Journalism and Commu-
nication. She graduated
with bachelor’s degrees
in journalism and media
studies, and has an inter-
est in feature writing. She
has written for student-run
good soak and make sure
they’re out before throwing
them in the trash.”
It’s important to make
sure kids are supervised
when they light fireworks,
he said, and Red Cross
warns not to give any fire-
works to young children.
The fire department
often sees problems with
people lighting fireworks
too close to a house or
out in the yard, Goff said,
where parts of the land-
scape will catch fire.
Goff said the department
usually has a few extra
people on hand during the
Fourth of July holiday, as
they usually see a few fires
just after dark.
He said as far as he
knows, all the fireworks
sold in the area are licensed
and permitted through the
state fire marshal’s office.
“The problem is typi-
cally stuff coming from out
of state,” he said. “Things
that fly in the air, explode,
those kinds of things tend
to cause us problems.”
The Red Cross sug-
gests storing fireworks in a
cool, dry place where chil-
dren and animals can’t get
to them, and to keep your
pets indoors the night of the
Fourth of July.
publications Ethos Mag-
azine and OR Magazine,
and has published freelance
work in Eugene Weekly
and 1859 Magazine. She
will be joining the newspa-
pers through the Charles
Snowden for Excellence
in Journalism program,
which is run through the
University of Oregon.
You can check out her
story on job vacancies on
A5, and contact her with
story ideas at 541-966-
0809 or at bnorton@eas-
toregonian.com.
• • •
Kayak Public Tran-
sit will be making stops in
Echo starting July 1.
The free public bus
system run by the Con-
federated Tribes of the
Umatilla Indian Reser-
vation will make multi-
ple stops per day at City
Park between Bridge and
Dupont streets.
Echo residents can take
the Hermiston Hopper into
Stanfield, Hermiston, Uma-
tilla, McNary or Irrigon in
the morning and return in
the afternoon. They can
also take the bus into Pend-
leton, with connections
to La Grande and Walla
Walla.
Susan Johnson, man-
ager of Kayak, said people
can find the full schedule
at ctuir.org/tribal-services/
planning/kayak-pub-
lic-transit and encour-
aged riders to call dis-
patch at 541-429-7519 with
questions.
“Our dispatchers are
here to help people plan
their trips,” she said. “It
can be confusing for riders
to figure out the schedule,
but they are very helpful.”
• • •
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merk-
ley — who recently con-
firmed he is “exploring”
the possibility of a presi-
dential bid — is holding a
series of town halls in East-
ern Oregon, including stops
in Umatilla County.
On July 8, Merkley
will stop at the Pendleton
Early Learning Center
(455 SW 13th St. in Pend-
leton) for a town hall at 1
p.m. That same day, he
will move onto Boardman,
where he’ll hold a town hall
at the Port of Morrow Riv-
erfront Room (2 Marine
Drive NE in Boardman) at
4 p.m.
———
You can submit items
for our weekly By The Way
column by emailing edi-
tor@hermistonherald.com.
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