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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 2020)
BUSINESS Wednesday, august 12, 2020 HeRMIstOnHeRaLd.COM • A7 Unions address trade-related job losses in Oregon By JADE MCDOWELL neWs edItOR A new analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Labor shows Oregon has lost the most jobs per capita to trade and offshoring, accord- ing to the nonprofit Trade Justice Education Fund. The report uses num- bers from Trade Adjustment Assistance, a federal pro- gram that provides assistance to workers who lost their jobs as a direct result of the job being moved overseas or the product they produce being replaced by imports from other countries. A total of 11,396 job losses in Ore- gon from 2017 to 2019 were certified as “trade-related job losses” by the TAA. Jon Irvine, the workforce liaison for the Oregon AFL- CIO union, said he had his own experience with Trade Adjustment Assistance after being laid off in 2008. “It was an incredible pro- A sign along Hermiston’s Highland Avenue advertises for licensed electricians. Though Oregon has lost jobs to trade and offshoring, there are still shortages in some specialized trade jobs. Staff photo by Kathy Aney gram at the time for me,” he said. Irvin said the TAA allowed him to get into a nursing pro- gram after his high-skill job was cut and it didn’t look like it was coming back. He said it was “ridicu- lous,” however, to see work- ers such as machinists in high-skill jobs continually lose their jobs and go back onto the TAA rolls again before going through the training for another company. “Nothing replaces good, solid manufacturing jobs right here in the state of Ore- gon,” he said. One of those people who has been a TAA recipient multiple times is Nathan Aldrich, a former machinist who was laid off with “hun- dreds” of other people due to offshoring. He went back to school with the help of the TAA and worked for Boeing before recently losing his job again to offshoring. “I got some experience with manufacturing and a Chamber puts up land for sale By JADE MCDOWELL neWs edItOR The Hermiston Chamber of Commerce is hoping for some new neighbors. In 2019 chamber pur- chased a 2-acre parcel of property on the south- east corner of South High- way 395 and East Evelyn Avenue, across from New Hope Community Church, to build a new business cen- ter. The center will include offices for the chamber and rooms for workforce devel- opment activities. Chamber CEO Kim- berly Rill said the designs that the chamber board have approved do not need the entire 2 acres, and so the chamber is putting two par- cels of the property up for sale. The chamber was awarded $1 million by the Oregon Legislature in 2018 to build a new work- force development space. The original plan was to fundraise additional dol- lars locally, but Rill said in March when Hermis- ton’s economy was hit hard trade, but it is definitely suf- fering,” he said of those industries. Umatilla County resi- dents have had their own experiences with trade-re- lated job losses. According to the Trade Justice Educa- tion Fund’s report, 33 people who lost their jobs at Herm- iston Foods were certified by the TAA as trade-related job losses in 2017, along with 219 jobs at Sykes Enterprises Incorporated. Hermiston Foods was a vegetable-processing plant owned by NORPAC, which closed the Hermiston facil- ity and laid off 199 seasonal and full-time workers. Sykes Enterprises runs call centers around the world that offer customer services for a vari- ety of companies, but closed its call center in Milton-Free- water in 2018. Hillary Haden, represent- ing the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, said the TAA numbers undercount the true Staffing agency to hold drive-thru job fair By JADE MCDOWELL neWs edItOR Staff photo by Jade McDowell The Hermiston Chamber of Commerce is putting part of the 2 acres it purchased for its new building up for sale to help pay for the project. by COVID-19 the board decided that “a year like 2020” wasn’t an appropriate time to be asking their mem- bers for donations for the building. Instead, the cham- ber plans to use the money from the sale of the par- cels along with the money from the Legislature to build the Hermiston Chamber of Commerce Business Center, and cut back on some costs for now. She said how soon they can start construction depends on how long it takes to sell the other parcels. “It’s exciting, but also challenging and nerve-wracking,” she said of trying to build a business center during a pandemic. Rill said anyone who purchases one of the par- cels will benefit from work the chamber has already done to make the land shov- el-ready, including getting it rezoned from residential to commercial. “It’s a unique piece of property,” she said. Express Employment Professionals will be hold- ing a drive-thru job fair on Thursday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of its offices at 120 E. Hurl- burt Ave. in Hermiston. Owner Kristin Connell said as of Monday, Aug. 10, they had 55 jobs that needed filling, but many companies had given her a low estimate to get started and could actually use more workers if they were available. “We have so many jobs available we’re doing any- thing we can to get people in those jobs,” she said. She said anyone who is interested should bring their employment history and I-9 documentation to show they can work. Jobs currently available include manufacturing, warehous- New information available for PPP loan forgiveness Businesses that received a Paycheck Protection Pro- gram loan now have more information available on how they can go about seek- ing forgiveness of that loan. The businesses may receive forgiveness for all or part of their loans if they used the money as pre- scribed by the rules of the program, which was one of the main components of the federal stimulus package known as the CARES Act. The Small Business Administration recently released a 10-page Fre- quently Asked Ques- tions document online to help business owners nav- igate the process at sba. gov/document/support-fre- quently-asked-ques- tions-ppp-loan-forgiveness. According to the doc- ument, if a borrower sub- mits a forgiveness applica- tion within 10 months of the period their loan covered, they will not be required to make any payments on the loan until the SBA sends the lender the money for the portion of the loan that has been forgiven. If the loan is completely forgiven, the borrower won’t have to ever pay anything. If the loan is only partially forgiven or the application for forgiveness is denied, the borrower will have to repay the loan before the date of maturity outlined in their agreement. The SBA launched its portal for loan forgiveness on Monday, Aug. 10, but many banks are awaiting additional guidance and tak- ing time to prepare before processing application. Hermiston-area busi- nesses can seek help from their lender, the Blue Moun- tain Community College Small Business Develop- ment Center (541-278- 5833) or the Umatilla Elec- tric Cooperative’s Business Resource Center in Hermis- ton (541-289-3000). Staff photo by Jade McDowell Express Employment Professionals will hold a drive-thru job fair on Thursday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ing, food processing, con- struction and cleaning. “We can literally screen a person today and have them working tomorrow,” she said. Visitors to the job fair will receive a $5 gift certifi- cate to Obie’s and a branded item, such as hand sanitizer from Express. Connell said the company’s $75 refer- As the economy contin- ues to shift due to the pan- demic, Umatilla Electric Cooperative is reminding area entrepreneurs of its revolving loan fund. According to a news release, the purposes of the fund are to help estab- lish a new business, expand an existing business, cre- ate employment opportu- nities, save existing jobs or develop community projects. Loans are available for between $5,000 and $360,000, and projects must have a minimum of 20% of their funding from other sources. There is a $500 appli- cation fee, an annual 1% servicing fee on the bal- ance and a 3.25% inter- est rate. Collateral and the length of the loan period are negotiable. “Eligible projects for loans can include any busi- ness venture, governmen- tal public body, or entities involved in a community or economic development project that promotes job creation and/or provides FARM EQUIPMENT www.BonneysAg.com needed community services that benefit rural areas,” the email from UEC states. “Uses of UEC’s Revolving Loan Fund proceeds may be for land, fixed assets, machinery, and equipment, or working capital needs. Working capital loans will only be considered in con- junction with the purchase of other assets, as previ- ously specified.” For more information, contact the Umatilla Elec- tric Cooperative Busi- ness Resource Center at uecbrc@gmail.com or 541-289-3000. Dr. Dave Drotzmann and Dr. Kollan Arritt would like to welcome a new associate, a graduate from Indiana University practicing full scope optometry, specializing in Pediatrics. 1160 W. Elm Ave., Hermiston • 541-567-6623 • www.lvseyedoc.com MILITARY DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE RUGGED, RELIABLE, RED... AND THAT’S NO BULL!!! ral bonus will also apply if visitors to the job fair share who referred them there. For people who can’t make it to the drive-thru job fair, Connell said the office is closed to walk-in traffic but people can still contact Express over the phone at 541-567-1123 or fill out paperwork online at expresspros.com. Revolving loan fund available for businesses HeRMIstOn HeRaLd By JADE MCDOWELL neWs edItOR corporate tax rate on profits made overseas than they do on profits made at home. It also criticized the trade deal with China that the United States signed in January for “neglecting to even men- tion, let alone address, the abysmal labor rights, forced labor, weak environmental standards and related causes of job offshoring to China,” and instead helping compa- nies feel safer moving jobs overseas by increasing pro- tections for their intellectual property. The report provides a list of policy recommendations, including enforcing a ban on products made by forced labor, allowing collective bargaining and other joint labor activities across bor- ders, requiring public notice when companies offshore jobs, and requiring other countries to agree to stron- ger labor and environmental laws in order to access lucra- tive markets in the U.S. number of people who lost their jobs for trade or off- shoring reasons, because they depend on someone to proactively fill out an appli- cation to be enrolled in the program, and only certain types of jobs qualify. How- ever, she said Oregon’s TAA numbers in the past three years have been “particularly concerning.” “The most troubling trend uncovered in our analysis is that trade-related job loss has been on the rise in recent years,” she said. “Oregon experienced a 113% increase in trade-related job loss in the past three years compared to the previous three years.” She said those losses have been felt in industries from steel to semiconductors. The report from the Trade Justice Education fund criti- cized the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for providing incen- tive for companies to move jobs overseas by allowing them to pay a much lower UP TO 4000 CASH REBATE $ $ AND 4.49% FOR UP TO 84 MOS.
