BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021
The
Hermiston
Chamber of
Commerce
has purchased
the former
Pioneer Title
building
at 630 S
Highway 395.
Jade McDowell/Hermiston Herald
Hermiston Chamber
moving to new building
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
The Hermiston Chamber
of Commerce is moving to a
larger building.
The chamber announced
on Friday, April 2, that it has
purchased the former Pio-
neer Title building at 630 S.
Highway 395, across from
the Rodeway Inn. Cham-
ber staff will move into the
building after remodeling is
complete.
New Chamber CEO
Kristina Olivas said in the
news release that the build-
ing, which is larger than the
chamber’s current offi ces,
will be a “multifunctional”
space available for commu-
nity use.
“It’s an exciting time
for our community and our
Chamber, and we are step-
ping forward to respond to
our growing member and
community needs,” she said.
For about two decades,
the chamber was located
in the Hermiston Commu-
nity Center, which chamber
staff managed under a con-
tract with the city of Hermis-
ton. But in January 2018 the
city ended its contract with
the chamber and moved its
own parks and recreation
offi ces into the center. The
chamber then moved into a
small offi ce space at the Cor-
nerstone Plaza across from
Safeway.
Three months later, the
chamber received a $1 mil-
lion allocation from the state
to build a new workforce
development center and
offi ces. It purchased prop-
erty for the new building on
the corner of South High-
way 395 and Evelyn Ave-
nue, across from New Hope
Community Church and has
drafted plans for the new
building. But the $1 mil-
lion won’t completely cover
the cost of the new build-
ing, according to the news
release, and the fundraising
drive planned for 2020 was
put on hold during the pan-
demic in recognition of the
struggles local businesses
were facing.
Chamber
President
Annette Kirkpatrick said
longterm plans to build
the center on Evelyn Ave-
nue haven’t changed. But
while the chamber waits on
the new building, the for-
mer Pioneer Title building
will help staff start provid-
ing workforce training and
meeting space now. Kirkpat-
rick said the state gave the
chamber permission to use
part of its $1 million grant
to purchase the Pioneer Title
building.
“We are excited that we
can now provide the work-
force training and meeting
space that was key to receiv-
ing our $1 million state
grant,” she said. “This facil-
ity will help meet that need.”
As the chamber prepares
for fundraising eff orts, it has
also subdivided the 2.4 acre
lot on Evelyn Avenue to cre-
ate two additional commer-
cial lots it hopes to sell to
generate more funding for
the project. According to
the news release, once the
new building is complete,
the chamber will also sell
the Pioneer Title building to
generate additional funds.
For more information
on the Chamber’s building
projects, contact Olivas at
541-567-6151.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
Snack Shack opens in Umatilla
By JADE MCDOWELL
NEWS EDITOR
A new Umatilla busi-
ness will hold its grand
opening on Saturday, April
10.
Courtney Talbot, owner
of the Snack Shack, said
the business had a soft
opening on March 1, but
will host its grand open-
ing celebration on Satur-
day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.,
complete with free hot
dogs and sodas, live music
and prize drawings.
The Snack Shack is
located at 131 Sixth St.,
near the bridge over the
Umatilla River. The build-
ing previously served as
various convenience stores
throughout the years.
Talbot said the new
business sells convenience
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
The Snack Shack in Umatilla will hold its grand opening on
Saturday, April 10, 2021.
store items, but their inven-
tory also includes items
like fi shing gear, and she
serves hot breakfast every
morning with breakfast
burritos and sandwiches.
She said although the
store has only been open
a month, many people —
teenagers in particular —
already know the staff as
they have become “Tik-
Tok famous.” The store’s
account on the social
media app, which allows
users to post short videos
to music, already has more
than 71,000 followers and
741,500 likes from chron-
icling the opening process.
“The crew has had a lot
of fun with it,” she said.
Talbot grew up in Herm-
iston before moving away
from the area, and said
when she and her husband
moved back to the area,
her husband was originally
planning on opening a boat
repair shop. Instead, they
stumbled upon the oppor-
tunity to take over the
convenience store build-
ing, which Talbot called a
“happy accident.”
She has previously
worked as a bartender and
as a real estate agent, and
said a lot of those same
people skills and sales
skills apply to running a
business.
“It’s been a fun learning
experience,” she said.
Easterday pleads guilty to fraud
By DON JENKINS AND GEORGE PLAVEN
CAPITAL PRESS
Washington ranch co-owner Cody
Easterday defrauded Tyson Foods
of $233 million and another com-
pany of $11 million by selling more
than 200,000 head of cattle that only
existed on invoices, according to a
plea agreement unsealed on Thursday,
April 1.
Easterday, former manager of the
Easterday Ranches feedlot in Pasco,
Washington, pleaded guilty Wednes-
day, March 31, to one count of felony
wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in
prison.
He also faces civil charges fi led
March 31 by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission for allegedly
reporting false or misleading infor-
mation to the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange.
Easterday, 49, entered the plea to
the criminal charge in U.S. District
Court for Eastern Washington. Fed-
eral Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima
accepted the plea and set sentencing
for Aug. 4. According to the plea deal,
prosecutors agreed not to bring addi-
tional charges.
“For years Cody Easterday perpe-
trated a fraud scheme on a massive
scale, increasing the cost of producing
food for American families,” Acting
Assistant Attorney General Nicholas
L. McQuaid of the Justice Department
Criminal Division said in a statement.
Eff orts by the Capital Press to
reach Cody Easterday or his attorney,
Carl Oreskovich, were unsuccessful
on April 1.
The CFTC alleges Cody Easterday
violated the Commodity Exchange
Act by reporting false or misleading
information about the ranch’s cattle
inventory, purchases and sales to the
CME, the world’s largest fi nancial
derivatives exchange.
The false statements were made in
2017 and 2018 to avoid scrutiny and
discipline, according to the CFTC
complaint.
Easterday allegedly ran up more
than $200 million in losses over 10
years from speculative trading in the
cattle and corn futures markets. To
meet margin calls, Easterday allegedly
defrauded one of the feedlot’s biggest
business partners of more than $233
million, according to the complaint.
The complaint does not name the
producer, and a CFTC spokeswoman
said the commission could not iden-
tify the producer.
The complaint says the producer is
based in South Dakota and operates
a beef processing plant in Pasco and
is “part of a family of companies that
together constitute one of the largest
food suppliers in the world,” a profi le
that fi ts Tyson Fresh Meats, which is
based in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.
Easterday Ranches fi led for bank-
ruptcy in February, and Cody Easter-
day resigned as an offi cer of the busi-
ness, according to court records.
Cody Easterday’s son, Cole East-
erday, said other family members still
plan to reopen Oregon’s second-larg-
est dairy near Boardman and that his
father is not involved in the project.
Cole Easterday and his brothers,
Clay and Cutter, own Easterday Dairy
LLC. The company formed in early
2019 after the family purchased the
former Lost Valley Farm for $66.7
million.
In a statement, Cole Easterday said
his father is not in management or
control of the dairy enterprise.
Easterday Dairy LLC has applied
for a new Confi ned Animal Feeding
Operation, or CAFO, permit from
the Oregon Department of Agricul-
ture and Department of Environmen-
tal Quality to operate the farm with
28,300 cattle.
“I cannot comment on the situa-
tion with Easterday Ranches, as nei-
ther my brothers or I are involved in
that operation,” Cole Easterday said.
“Easterday Dairy LLC will con-
tinue to comply with our current per-
mit, and will continue with our CAFO
application. We are looking forward
to the operation and success of our
dairy.”
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