NEWS
Wednesday, september 8, 2021
HermIstOnHeraLd.COm • A3
Where are the workers?
Workers in short
supply amid of
explosive job growth
Editor’s Note
Today is part one of a
series of articles by EO
Media Group to publish over
the next five weeks, looking
at the issue of the lack of
workers for jobs in Central
and Eastern Oregon; why
workers are not returning to
previous-held jobs; and how
businesses functioning with-
out being fully staffed.
By SUZANNE ROIG
tHe bULLetIn
With record job growth in
Oregon, Whitney Keatman
never imagined she would
have problems finding work-
ers for her Scott Street location
of Sparrow Bakery in Bend.
And she didn’t. It was
getting them to stay that has
plagued her long time Bend
business.
In the past year Keatman, a
co-owner, made 117 job offers
and most were accepted. But
after just three months, only
about 42 workers remained.
The bakery needed a min-
imum of 20 workers at the
Scott Street location and by
the end of this summer there
were six.
So last week, she made a
hard decision: She will close
the bakery at the Old Iron
Works Arts District.
“We’ve been struggling for
seven years with moments of
success,” Keatman said. “Over
the years we’ve had on again
and off again good managers.
When you don’t have the right
management, you have a hard
time retaining workers.
“It’s common for people to
come and begin training and
then get another job offer that
competes with wages,” Keat-
man said. “There’s no alle-
giance. It’s a competitive mar-
ket for employers.”
Hard time
During a year of record job
growth in Oregon, employers
like Keatman have had the
hardest time finding workers
to fill positions. Companies,
particularly in the leisure and
hospitality industries, across
the state are scrambling to find
workers.
The hospitality, hotel,
restaurant and tourism-related
industries added 6% more jobs
this year, economists say. Hir-
ing is more competitive than
ever as employers raise wages,
offer signing bonuses, refer-
ral bonuses, improved bene-
fits, even subsidies for hous-
ing. But those incentives also
have to compete against fed-
eral unemployment bene-
fits, an increase in household
income from federal stimulus
funds and retirements.
Just ask Robin Clement,
co-owner of Monkless Belgian
Ales in Bend. Clement and her
husband opened their pub just
four months before the pan-
demic shut it down to reduce
the spread of COVID-19.
Fast forward to July when
tourism season in Central Ore-
gon hits a high note and the
state is reopening as COVID-
19 cases wane, the Clements
are scrambling to get enough
workers to keep the brew pub
open six days a week.
In an interview with an
out-of-town worker recently
seeking a lead prep cook posi-
tion, Clement said she made an
offer on the spot to the worker.
The applicant dined with his
family for dinner that night.
But the next day, he told
herClement he took another
position. because it The job
he took offered slightly more
money and a leadership role,
something the small pub
couldn’t offer, Clement she
said.
“It was really disappoint-
ing, but par for the course.
He was one of the few inter-
views that I set up who actu-
ally showed,” Clement said.
“2020 was a cake walk com-
pared to 2021.
“Customers have little
grace. Their patience is thin.
It’s been hard dealing with
expectations.”
Tough spot
Only 32,500 eligible work-
ers statewide are sitting out the
labor market waiting for the
pandemic to lift, who may
have health concerns or child
care issues, said Gail Kru-
menauer, Oregon Employ-
ment Department economist.
And another 12,000 workers
statewide, who had been in the
leisure and hospitality indus-
try, now are working in the
transportation/warehousing
and delivery sector because
of higher wages and bene-
fits, Krumenauer said. The
average wage for leisure and
hospitality in Oregon is about
$14 an hour but in transpor-
tation/warehousing it’s $18 to
$20 an hour.
“That’s a tough spot to be
in. The hiring is 1-1/2 times
greater than we’ve ever seen,”
Krumenauer said. “This spring
we had 98,000 job vacancies,
that’s a lot of what is fueling
the worker shortage.
“That’s a perfect storm: a
lot of things happening all at
once and it makes it hard for
employers. Everyone’s hir-
ing. “
Layer these events on top of
one another and mix in pent up
demand for buying and travel-
ing and the demand on goods
and services increases, which
in turn increases demand on
the need for more workers,
Krumenauer said.
“Expanded benefits helped
families in Central Oregon
and nationwide keep food
on the table and a roof over
their heads when workers lost
their jobs through no fault of
their own during this public
health pandemic,” U.S. Sen.
Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said
in an email. “Research has
repeatedly debunked the balo-
ney that benefits discouraged
work.
“What’s clear in my con-
versations with Oregonians all
over our state is that the lack
of child care, housing costs,
the unique challenges of ser-
Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin
Robin Clement and her husband, co-owners of Monkless
Belgian Ales in Bend, opened the pub just four months before
the pandemic shut it down to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
vice industry work and other
factors are what’s really keep-
ing many people from return-
ing to the workplace.”
Going down
The unemployment rate in
July was 5.6% in Deschutes
County, lower than the dou-
ble-digit rates at the height
of pandemic-related closures,
but still above February 2020
when it was 3.3.%, according
to the Oregon Employment
Department monthly unem-
ployment figures. Crook and
Jefferson counties too have
seen their unemployment lev-
els return to near normal lev-
els in the months following the
business closures imposed to
slow the spread of the virus.
Crook County’s unem-
ployment rate was 7% in July,
compared to 4.4% in February
2020. And Jefferson County’s
unemployment rate was 6.5%
in July, compared to 4.1% in
February 2020.
In Eastern Oregon, Baker
County’s unemployment rate
was 5.4% in July 2021, com-
pared to 8.7% the prior July.
Union County’s unemploy-
ment rate was 5.8% in July
2021, down from 9.4% the
prior July. Wallowa Coun-
ty’s unemployment rate was
5.4% in July, compared to
8.3% the previous year and
Umatilla County was 5.5% in
July 2021, down from 7.3% in
July 2020.
Statewide the unemploy-
ment rate was 5.2% in July,
just slightly below the national
unemployment rate of 5.4%.
“There’s no doubt that (the
federal boost of the unemploy-
ment insurance) is constrain-
ing the supply of labor,” said
Damon Runberg, Oregon
Employment Department
regional economist. “But I
don’t think it is to a signifi-
cant degree.
“The labor market will
likely ease some as we move
into the fall, but that will be
more a reflection of a reduction
in job vacancies rather than a
massive influx of workers who
lost their federal unemploy-
ment insurance benefits.”
Hermiston parks boss retires; city attorney is next
years, and Sept. 30 marks his
last day on the job. He said
he is reaching an age that is
right for retirement.
“I’m 75,” Luisi said.
“You’re not going to live
forever.”
Though he will continue
to practice law, he is giving
By ERICK PETERSON
edItOr/senIOr repOrter
Latin music and happy
chatter filled Hermiston’s Har-
kenrider Senior Activity Cen-
ter on Sept. 1, as folks gave a
joyful send off to Larry Fet-
ter, Hermiston’s long-serving
parks and recreation director.
Fetter retired last week.
People often ask him if his
life in the parks and recreation
department resembles the
zany, antic-fueled TV show,
“Parks and Recreation.”
“There’s some interesting
analogies,” he said.
During his tenure, people
came to him with new ideas.
When someone asks for a
dodgeball league, for exam-
ple, he is nonplussed. Sure, he
thinks. Why not?
He has seen trends come
and go. Right now, fam-
ily physical fitness activities
are popular. He has helped
organize obstacle courses, a
recent children’s triathlon and
the bathtub races at the city’s
Melon Fest.
“Things like that make this
job very interesting,” he said.
When he started his career
in 1984, he began a parks and
recreation program in Colville,
Washington. Youth soccer
and basketball were big. A
100-mile-long ride around the
area also was popular. There
were brew-making events.
Here in Hermiston, Festi-
val Street activities, tree light-
ings and firework shows have
become mainstays. People
expect them, and his depart-
ment hosts them frequently.
One event can draw 5,000 to
6,000 people.
up his city job, which should
free him up for other pursuits.
Smith said Luisi has a
great amount of institutional
knowledge because of his
experience and that will be
difficult to replace. The city
has begun interviewing a can-
didate for the position, and
the city council has the final
say on who gets the job.
Luisi said he has no input
into the hiring process,
though he hopes the city will
hire a person with good expe-
rience. The new city attorney,
he said, also should care for
this town.
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald
The family of
Hermiston Parks and Recreation Director Larry Fetter talks
with guests on Sept. 1, 2021, during a retirement party in his
honor at the Harkenrider Senior Activity Center in Hermiston.
Fetter has served as Herm-
iston’s parks and rec director
for 10 years. He said he was
proud to have been the director
during the third iteration of the
Funland Playground at the foot
of the Hermiston Butte. Fetter
said he has heard from people
visiting from out of town who
will stay for up to three days
just for the playground.
He also said the city will
need to manage it well. Fun-
land Playground reopened
July 4 following a commu-
nity effort to rebuild the site
after a fire burned it down in
2019. A fire in 2001 burned
down the original playground,
which the city built in 1996.
He called the destruction
of the previous playground
“heart-wrenching.” If the com-
pletion of the new playground
was a highlight of his tenure,
the ruin of the old one was a
low. Ruled as arson, the fire
pained Fetter and many peo-
ple in the community.
In anticipation of his retire-
ment, he and his depart-
ment created a park’s plan
update, which the city council
adopted. This sets the develop-
RICHARD BONDURANT
Would like to give a
ment plan for parks in Herm-
iston for the next 10 years.
The plan includes a wellness
center with an indoor aquatic
area and a trail expansion,
making a 10-mile loop.
Hermiston City Man-
ager Byron Smith said Fet-
ter accomplished much in
this role and credited him
with making “a great vision
for the park’s department, for
recreation programs.”
The city is hiring to replace
Fetter and in the meantime
appointed recreation manager
Brandon Artz as the parks
interim director.
“I’m very excited about
that,” Artz said. “I’m taking
more of a leadership role and
filling in some big shoes now
that Larry is leaving.”
Artz also has some plans.
He said Hermiston is below
the national average when
it comes to park acreage, so
he would like to develop new
parks.
The city also is going to
say goodbye to its longtime
attorney, Gary Luisi.
Luisi has served as Herm-
iston’s city attorney for 23
GREAT BIG
THANK YOU
To the following:
Hermiston Police Department
Umatilla County Officials
First Christian Church Family
Guardian Angel Home Staff
Family, friends and all the other volunteers
that helped us locate our husband,
father and uncle.
Again, to all a GREAT BIG
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
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