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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 8, 2020)
LOCAL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2020 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A3 COLUMN The Hermiston Herald will be free starting in May n a column last week I cles published in our sister teased that exciting new paper the East Oregonian — plus the same display and changes are coming for the Hermiston Herald, insert advertising that you and this week I’m ready to have come to expect. announce it: Content will Starting the fi rst include many popu- full week of May, the lar features we have Hermiston Herald already been offer- will transform from ing, ranging from the a small-circulation Hermiston History paid newspaper to a column to obituar- mass distribution free ies. A few items, such Jade product mailed to a as local sports cov- McDowell majority of house- erage, puzzles and NEWS EDITOR holds (nearly 11,000) the Screen Time sec- in western Umatilla tion, will migrate to and eastern Morrow coun- being reserved for paid sub- ties, and distributed for free scribers of the East Orego- at rack locations throughout nian. But we will also be the area each week. adding new features, such The new Herald will fea- as a weekly full-page opin- ture unique local reporting ion page, and will have an — different from the arti- increased focus on coverage of economic development news about business, hous- ing and agriculture. Our website, social media pages and mobile app will remain active, with the paywall removed (a devel- opment that should bring joy to the many people who have expressed their dis- pleasure about said paywall over the years). In addition, all Hermis- ton Herald paid subscribers will automatically be con- verted to East Oregonian customers. There you will continue to fi nd even more breaking news, sports, and features, served up three times a week in print (Tues- days, Thursdays and Satur- days) and 24/7 across the website, e-edition, email I newsletters, social media and more. If you would like to cre- ate an account to access the digital news services included in your new East Oregonian subscription, please call our customer service center at 800-781- 3214. Subscribers can also activate their digital sub- scription via the website at eastoregonian.com, or via e-mail us at circulation@ eomediagroup.com. This transition likely brings up a lot of questions, and we will be attempting to answer all of them over the next month. Feel free to contact me directly at jmc- dowell@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4536 with ques- tions or feedback. One question I know will likely be on many people’s minds — particularly those who have seen me argue on social media and in these pages about the impor- tance of paying for news — is how we will continue to fund the reporting, edit- ing and production of the Hermiston Herald without paying subscribers. While those operations will continue to cost us money, tearing down the barriers of cost and inter- net access to make Herm- iston news more accessi- ble than ever before is a gift to the community, but it is also a gift to adver- tisers, such as candidates for offi ce, local businesses and nonprofi ts looking for a way to get their message in front of everyone in the greater Hermiston area. We hope they’ll see it that way, and will support this new, much-expanded access to news in the greater Herm- iston area and northeast- ern Morrow County through advertising. Knowing Hermiston’s famed gener- osity, we have also added a button to our website where people can support local journalism through a direct fi nancial contribution. Thank you for being a newspaper reader and an informed citizen. We look forward to serving as your local news source for many years to come in both the new Hermiston Herald and the East Oregonian. Hermiston offers help for small businesses seeking stimulus aid Umatilla County to give emergency relief grants to small businesses By JADE MCDOWELL NEWS EDITOR By ALEX CASTLE STAFF WRITER Before the federal government opened up $349 billion in funding for small businesses on Fri- day, the city of Hermis- ton, Hermiston Chamber of Commerce and Hermis- ton Downtown District were encouraging business own- ers to talk to their banks about it. Businesses that have a utility account with the city or are members of the chamber or downtown dis- trict received calls Thurs- day and Friday to discuss how they can access the Paycheck Protection Pro- gram included in the recent $2 trillion stimulus package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Paycheck Protec- tion Program allows small businesses and nonprof- its — those with fewer than 500 employees — to bor- row up to 2.5 times their monthly payroll in order to pay employees, rent and other fi xed operational costs through June 30. Businesses in the hos- pitality industry, including restaurant chains, can con- sider each separate location its own “business.” According to the Small Business Administration, “The loan will be fully for- given if the funds are used for payroll costs, inter- est on mortgages, rent, and utilities” if at least 75% of the forgiven was used on payroll. The amount of the loan that is forgiven will be reduced if, during the two- month period of the loan, full-time employee head- counts decline or wages decrease. The loan has a maturity of two years and an inter- est rate of 0.5% with pay- ments deferred for the fi rst six months. The SBA is waiving its normal requirements for col- lateral and will not charge any fees. Small businesses in Umatilla County now have another resource for some economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Umatilla County Board of Commission- ers redirected the $68,000 remaining in its economic development grant fund on April 1 into an emergency relief grant fund for small businesses suffering during the outbreak. “We’re trying to get it spread out to as many peo- ple as we can to help, but also help them take advan- tage of other current fund- ing that’s starting to become available,” said Gail Nel- son, economic development coordinator with the county. Applications open on April 7 and are due by April 21. They can be found at www.umatilla- county.net/grants. Appli- Staff photo by Jade McDowell A sign in the window of Neighborhood Books and Gifts in downtown Hermiston announces it is closed during the pandemic. “WE WANT TO DIRECTLY CONTACT ALL OF OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO TALK TO THEIR BANKING PARTNERS.” Mark Morgan, assistant city manager “This is a huge Federal spending bill which sounds too good to be true, and is therefore sure to generate a large degree of disbelief from businesses, and unfor- tunately give rise to a large sub-industry of scammers,” Mark Morgan, assistant city manager, said in a statement. “That’s why we want to directly contact all of our local businesses and encour- age them to talk to their banking partners.” According to a news release, city staff whose normal job duties have been affected by COVID-19 clo- sures, such as parks and rec- reation staff and librarians, helped the chamber make the calls. They encouraged busi- ness owners to contact their bank immediately to dis- cuss applying for the pro- gram, which began tak- ing applications on Friday. The release states that while many fi nancial institutions are working to become eli- gible to assist in the PPP, as of last week the only certifi ed banks with phys- ical branches located in Hermiston are Ban- ner Bank, Columbia State Bank, Umpqua Bank and U.S. Bank. Businesses that bank with other institutions should check with them on their eligibility. They will not ask busi- nesses for bank account numbers or other sensitive information, and business owners should be aware of scammers posing as the Small Business Adminis- tration who may ask for such information over the phone. Instead, businesses should deal directly with their lender in applying for the loan. Morgan said a “huge thanks” is owed to the offi ces of Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, as well as Representative Greg Walden for helping local businesses have access to the opportunity. On a statewide level, businesses are encouraged to visit oregon4biz.gov to see what aid may be avail- able to help with COVID- 19 impacts. cants must be a business in Umatilla County with 25 or fewer employees that can show a direct impact from COVID-19 and can show they have applied for at least one other source of relief funding. The Umatilla County Economic Development Grants Committee coor- dinates the quarterly grant program, which is funded by the Oregon Lottery and distributed to small busi- nesses to stimulate eco- nomic development, pro- mote tourism and support community development in the county. Now, the committee will help coordinate the dis- tribution of $1,000 grants to small businesses that are struggling due to the pandemic, using a lottery system. The idea is for busi- nesses to utilize these grants in addition to incom- ing help from the $2 trillion stimulus package coming from the federal govern- ment later in April. “I still would hope that we give careful atten- tion to what kind of busi- nesses, sole proprietor or otherwise, that might have been overlooked in the help packages,” Uma- tilla County Commissioner George Murdock said. Umatilla County Com- missioner John Shafer emphasized businesses from each community in the county will be eligible. “The biggest thing I wanted to make sure was everyone in the county had access to it,” he said. Nelson said the num- ber of relief grants distrib- uted to each community in the county will be tied to the percentage of the population that commu- nity represents, which is the same as the usual eco- nomic development grant program. There’s no place like home to slow the spread of the coronavirus. PET OF THE W EEK Millie is very timid and needs to have a few meets with any potential adopter. She is approx 1 1/2 years old, spayed, microchipped & vaccinated. She is house and leash trained, hates a crate, afraid of cats, does need another dog to play with in the household. Has separation anxiety, so someone needs to be home most of the day with her. Social distancing is the most eff ective tool we have for slowing the spread of the coronavirus. And that means staying home, if you can. Work from home. Play at home. Stay at home. If you must go out, keep your social distance— MILLIE Mark Sargent, DVM • Brent Barton, DVM Eugenio Mannucci, DVM, cVMA • Jana von Borstel, DVM, cVMA Small and Large Animal Care Mon: 8-6 Tue - Fri: 8-5 Sat: 8-12 Emergency Service 541.567.1138 MEET 80489 Hwy 395 N Hermiston www.oregontrailvet.com Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, animal shelters need our help more than ever. Please donate to your local shelter, or offer to foster an animal in need. If interested please go to fuzzballrescue.com and fill out an application. If you are not able to adopt, but would like to foster or donate, visit fuzzballrescue.com or you can mail in donations to Fuzz Ball Animal Rescue, PO Box 580, Hermiston, OR 97838 six feet, or two arm-lengths apart. Young. Elderly. In between. It’s going to take every one of us. If home really is where the heart is, listen to yours and do the life-saving thing. Visit Coronavirus.gov for the latest tips and information from the CDC. #AloneTogether TOGETHER, WE CAN HELP SLOW THE SPREAD.
