BUSINESS
Wednesday, OctOber 21, 2020
HerMIstOnHeraLd.cOM • A7
Accounting firm starts
construction on new offices
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edItOr
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
Customers check out at Smitty’s Ace Hardware in Hermiston
in November 2019.
ACE Hardware coming
to Boardman
By JADE MCDOWELL
neWs edItOr
Ace
Hardware
is
expanding to Boardman.
Tammy and Randy
Smith, who own Smitty’s
ACE Hardware and Smit-
ty’s Outpost in Hermiston,
announced they have pur-
chased the former Board-
man Hardware building at
202 N.W. First St. and are
planning to open an Ace
Hardware at the location.
“We are doing a remodel
and adding square footage
so we won’t be opening
right away,” Tammy Smith
said.
She said they hope to
open in February 2021 if
all goes well.
Smith said they are
excited to be part of the
Boardman community, and
feel there is a need for a
store there.
Like the Hermiston
store, it will offer a wide
variety of power tools,
lawn care equipment and
other hardware, but she
said they will also add a
couple of “niche markets”
for Boardman.
That includes RV parts
and a fishing and boating
department, in light of the
RV park and marina.
“It will be a little bit
different (than the Herm-
iston store),” Smith said.
“We want to cater to the
community.”
She
said
people
seem excited about the
announcement, and some
people
have
already
reached out and asked to
set up a business charge
account with the new store.
Construction is under-
way for a new office build-
ing for Barnett & Moro.
The new offices will
be located at the corner of
Highway 395 and South-
east Fourth Street in Herm-
iston, across the highway
from Safeway.
Owner Dennis Barnett
said the new, larger space
will give the firm room to
continue its growth.
“The building we’re in
now is a little tight for us,”
he said.
Barnett & Moro cur-
rently has 14 accountants
on staff, and Barnett said it
will need to grow 16 or 17
in the next year and a half.
The original firm began
in the 1950s, and was pur-
chased Barnett and Jerry
Moro in 1984. They built
their current offices —
located at 495 E. Main St.
— the next year.
The site of the new firm
has high traffic visibil-
ity, but Barnett said it sat
vacant for so long in part
because of some site access
issues that the firm has
been able to solve. He said
the building under con-
struction will be a “beau-
tiful brick building,” and
on the triangular portion of
Jade McDowell/Hermiston Herald
Machines move dirt around the lot at the corner of Highway 395 and Southeast Fourth Street
in Hermiston that will be home to a new office building for Barnett & Moro.
“WE’RE GOING TO BE BUILDING A PLAZA THERE
THAT WE THINK WILL BE VERY PRESENTABLE
FOR THE COMMUNITY.”
Owner Dennis Barnett
the property where Fourth
Street and 395 connect at
an angle, they plan to build
a plaza of flags.
“We’re going to be
building a plaza there that
we think will be very pre-
sentable for the commu-
nity,” he said.
Construction is expected
to finish about Sept. 1,
2021, Barnett said.
Barnett & Moro’s certi-
fied public accountants pro-
vide services that include
personal tax assistance,
business financial services
and auditing.
Oregonians to receive $5 million from unclaimed property program
By PHIL HAWKINS
OreGOn caPItaL bUreaU
If you receive a letter
in October stating you will
receive a check from the
state of Oregon in Novem-
ber, don’t throw it out —
it’s not a scam.
Qualifying current and
former Oregonians will
begin receiving notifica-
tions from the state that
they will be mailed checks
in November ranging from
between $50 and $2,500.
The funds are part of
a historic distribution of
unclaimed funds through
the unclaimed property
program, which is disburs-
ing approximately $5 mil-
lion this fall.
The checks are funds —
referred to as unclaimed
property — that have been
reported to the state by
companies and organiza-
tions that do business with
Oregonians and have been
unable to return the money
to the correct owner.
Common examples of
unclaimed property include
uncashed checks, forgot-
ten bank accounts, secu-
rity deposits, tax refunds,
credit balances, investment
accounts, payroll checks,
refunds and more.
Typically, people need
to file a claim with the
unclaimed property pro-
gram to receive the funds
they are owed. However,
given the unprecedented
financial uncertainties and
difficulties many are fac-
ing, the state has deter-
mined, for the first time
ever, the funds will be
directly mailed to the cor-
rect owner.
The unclaimed property
program holds more than
$700 million in unclaimed
funds for three million
owners.
To recover funds not dis-
tributed this fall, property
owners can file a claim at
unclaimed.oregon.gov.
The Unclaimed Property
Program advises people
who receive letters about
the forthcoming checks
to wait for the checks to
arrive, as filing a claim may
delay processing by 6 to 7
months.
Questions
about
unclaimed funds can be
directed to the Oregon
Unclaimed Property Pro-
gram by email (claims@
dsl.state.or.us) or phone
at
503-986–5251
or
503-986-5200.
81600 Highway 395 North
Hermiston, OR 97838
BONNEYSAG.COM
www.BonneysAg.com
541-922-1213