A16 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018
FROM A1
POPULATION
continued from Page A1
for that, but you also don’t want to under-build and not
have capacity,” he said.
The city is currently working on a new water project
northeast of town that will include a new water tower and
pipes by the spring of 2020. Morgan said there are already
housing developers talking to the city about taking advan-
tage of the additional capacity to bring in new housing.
East-end cities in Umatilla County lost population or
stayed the same, with the exception of Milton-Freewa-
ter, which gained 35 people. On the west side, Umatilla
gained 75 people, Stanfield gained 40 and Echo gained
five. Overall, Umatilla County’s population increased 0.3
percent to 80,765.
Morgan said he wasn’t surprised to see growth in
Umatilla, Stanfield and Echo.
“We’re really more like neighborhoods of the same
housing market,” he said.
Stanfield City Manager Blair Larsen echoed that
sentiment, noting that new jobs for projects like Lamb
Weston’s expansion and Amazon’s new data centers usu-
ally result in people moving in to all four west-end cities.
“I think we’re really seeing a rising tide lifting all
boats in this area right now,” he said.
Larsen said the city is always looking for ways it can
help people who own property in Stanfield to get it devel-
oped, and is seeking to add more industrial land around
the Interstate 84 interchange. Housing development has
been up this year, he said, and Stanfield had 15 homes
under construction in February.
“That was the first time in anyone’s memory that we
had that many stick-built homes going at once,” he said.
Population increases come with benefits and chal-
lenges for cities. Often money that comes to local gov-
ernment from the state is based on population, which is
why the state requires PSU to undertake population esti-
mates each year. More people means more money, from
the state and from local property taxes.
On the other hand, the growth can also strain resources.
Hermiston School District Superintendent Tricia Mooney
said the district will be adding two more modular class-
room buildings to its campuses over spring break — one
at Hermiston High School and one at Sunset Elemen-
tary School. They will also be using spaces at the middle
schools differently next year to accommodate more stu-
dents there.
She said enrollment is currently about 50 students
higher than it was at this point last year, which is in line
with the growth that the district had projected. The dis-
trict’s smallest class is its high school juniors, at 375
students.
“Obviously growth has been a theme for the district
over the last 10 years,” she said.
Mooney said the district is looking forward to con-
tinue to partner with the city to address continued growth
in the area.
While Umatilla County saw slight growth, Morrow
County had a net loss of five residents. Boardman grew by
55 residents, but other parts of the county lost residents.
Overall eight counties in Oregon lost population,
mostly in Eastern Oregon. The state’s total population
grew by 1.3 percent to 4,195,300 residents, according to
PSU’s estimates.
STAFF PHOTO BY JADE MCDOWELL.
Goss Family Jewelers, pictured here, is one of the Main Street businesses participating in Small Business Saturday.
RUSH
Continued from Page A1
for retailers.
“There’s not as much
pressure, but it was also
exciting and different, and
the drama was kind of fun
to manage,” he said.
The Smiths are third-gen-
eration owners of the busi-
ness, which started in 1948
— predating the Black
Friday craze. The phrase
“Black Friday” as it per-
tained to post-Thanksgiv-
ing shopping was popular-
ized in Philadelphia in the
1960s, by police in the city
who dreaded trying to man-
age crowds of holiday shop-
pers coming in to the city.
By the 1980s it had spread
nationwide, and retailers
had come up with a more
positive connotation for
the name by noting that the
profits from holiday shop-
ping put them “in the black”
financially for the year.
While retailers of all
sizes often offer deals the
weekend after Thanksgiv-
ing, small businesses have
been getting an extra focus
over the past few years as
Small Business Saturday
has caught on.
Goss Family Jewlers,
located on Main Street, is
one of the small businesses
participating in Black Fri-
day and Small Business
Saturday, with 20 percent
off jewelry. James Goss
said he doesn’t usually see
a big rush the weekend after
Thanksgiving, because peo-
ple tend to be traveling out
of town for the four-day
weekend.
“We get a few, but I think
people go up to the Tri-Cit-
ies,” he said.
But because he does cus-
tom work, overall he does
see an increase around the
holidays from people who
are interested in a unique
gift for their loved ones. Elk
ivory jewelry is especially
ALL NEW 2018
popular, he said.
Debbie Pedro, director of
the Greater Hermiston Area
Chamber of Commerce,
said several local business
are participating in Small
Business Saturday this year.
She said people should be
able to find out about plenty
of great deals by checking
out local business’s Face-
book pages and radio and
newspaper advertisements.
“It’s really exciting to
see each one of our busi-
nesses really participate,”
she said.
Pedro put in a plug for
shopping local year-round,
but particularly during
the holiday season. It’s an
opportunity for people to
support their friends and
neighbors, she said, and
make sure that money con-
tinues to circulate through-
out the community. Local
big box stores offer deals
on big-ticket items, while
smaller businesses offer
unique Christmas presents
not found in other cities.
“There is an opportu-
nity to buy just about any-
thing you need right here in
Hermiston,” she said.
Hermiston will have
even more shopping options
once the long-awaited
Ranch & Home opens on
South Highway 395. A
manager at the Hermiston
store confirmed on Monday
the business is planning to
open in Mid-December, and
job listings are prominently
displayed on its website.
While Pedro and local
businesses encourage keep-
ing the Christmas shopping
local, in recent years Cyber
Monday the week after
Thanksgiving has offered
online deals for what peo-
ple can’t find locally. That
money may not be directly
recycled into the local econ-
omy, but the world’s larg-
est online retailer, Amazon,
employs a significant num-
ber of people locally via its
data centers.
4 , 000
$
HIGHLANDERS
OFF!
IN STOCK!
Stk# 18h889. See dealer for details. $4,000 off msrp. $2,500 Rogers discount and $1,500 Toyota Financial Service customer cash. Plus tax, title
and $75 doc fee. On approved credit. Offer expires 11/30/18.
ALL NEW 2018
TUNDRAS
IN STOCK!
5 , 500
$
OFF!
Stk# 18h957. See dealer for details. $5,500 off msrp. $2,500 Rogers discount and $3,000 Toyota Financial Service customer cash.
Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. On approved credit. Offer expires 11/30/18.
ALL NEW 2018
RAV4 ’S
IN STOCK!
4 , 000
$
OFF!
Stk# 18h1057. See dealer for details. $4,000 off msrp. $1,000 Rogers discount and $3,000 Toyota Financial Service customer cash.
Plus tax, title and $75 doc fee. On approved credit. Offer expires 11/30/18.