The INDEPENDENT, December 7, 2011
Page 5
Business Notes
Waste Management named one of
top military friendly employers
G.I. Jobs has named Waste
Management a 2012 Top 100
Military Friendly Employer. This
is the third year in a row that
Waste Management has been
honored with the designation.
G.I. Jobs is a publication
dedicated to providing re-
sources for veterans, who are
transitioning from the military to
civilian life, in mapping out a
career path. The 100 listed em-
ployers are selected from a
pool of approximately 5,000
companies with minimum an-
nual revenues of $500 million.
Companies are judged on
the results of a survey that as-
sesses a company’s long-term
commitment to hiring former
military, recruiting and hiring ef-
forts and results, policies for
Reserve/Guard
members
called to active duty, and the
presence of special recruitment
military programs, veteran
community involvement and
outreach. Only about two per-
cent of the companies consid-
ered make the list.
“Waste Management is priv-
ileged to employ more than
3,600 men and women who are
either veterans or still actively
serving in the military,” said
CEO and President David
Steiner. “That’s about one in
every 12 of our employees. We
appreciate all veterans’ contri-
butions to their country, and we
believe that our military and
veteran recruiting activities are
an important part of showing
our gratitude to all those who
contribute to our country’s se-
curity. It’s a great honor to be
named a top military-friendly
employer for the third year in a
row.”
To see the full G.I. Jobs list
of employers who support mili-
tary hiring, and for more infor-
mation on resources available
to veterans, go to http://www.
gijobs.com/ .
Kimberly Ragsdale has
joined the staff at the Vernonia
Veterinary Clinic, having start-
ed work in mid-September. She
has had pets all her life and
was working at Creatures Pet
Shop when she was encour-
aged to apply at Vernonia Vet-
erinary Clinic.
Ragsdale enjoys the interac-
tion with the people who bring
their pets in for care, and likes
being involved and staying
busy. She admits to initially be-
ing out of her comfort zone in
handling unknown animals in a
veterinary setting, but that was
Columbia County’s season-
ally adjusted unemployment
rate was 10.9 percent in Octo-
ber essentially unchanged from
the previous month (10.7%) but
lower than the year before
(12.1%). The rate was above
the statewide rate (9.5%) and
the national rate (9.0%). Total
employment climbed by 53 to
22,348 and the number of un-
employed people rose by 114
to 2,516. Total employment this
October was 573 more than
one year before and there were
188 fewer people unemployed
this year.
Knowlton is the
new 911 admin.
From page 1
dards and Training (DPSST),
and is a graduate of the Ore-
gon Executive Development In-
stitute.
Knowlton also served the
community of Vernonia for 14
years as a member of the Ver-
nonia Volunteer Ambulance As-
sociation as an EMT. Knowlton
lives in Vernonia with his wife
Susan and has four grown chil-
dren.
outweighed by her enjoyment
at learning new things.
Like her mother and her
grandmother, Ragsdale gradu-
ated from Vernonia High
School, having moved here 22
years ago. She lives in Vernon-
ia with her husband and two
teenage sons.
Watch for her big smile the
next time you stop in to Ver-
nonia Veterinary Clinic at 700
Weed Avenue. The clinic is
open 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on
Mondays, Wednesdays and
Fridays. Call 503-429-1612 for
appointments.
Kimberly Ragsdale
Google thinks newspapers offer value
Editor’s Note: Lorne Ray’s by-
line was inadvertently omitted
when this article was published
November 16. The Indepen-
dent has chosen to republish
the article with credit properly
attributed.
by Lorne Ray
October jobless
ODFW art stamp
rate up a bit
contest announced
The Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) has
announced an art contest to
benefit its new Habitat Conser-
vation Stamp. The winning
artist will receive $3000 and his
or her artwork will be used to
produce a stamp and other pro-
motional items. Deadline for
entries is 5:00 p.m. on Febru-
ary 29.
Artwork must feature one of
the fish or wildlife species iden-
tified in the Oregon Conserva-
tion Strategy, in its respective
Strategy habitat. There are 256
native species and 11 habitats
called out in the Strategy,
which is available on ODFW’s
website.
See the ODFW website for a
copy of the announcement,
rules
and
entry
form,
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/con
servationstrategy/habitat_con
servation_stamp.asp
The contest winner will be
chosen by a panel comprised
of a Fish and Wildlife Commis-
sioner and four citizens to be
selected by Roy Elicker, ODFW
Director. Artwork will be avail-
able for public viewing.
Ragsdale joins Vernonia Veterinary staff
It appears that advertising
has gone full circle finally. The
Internet connected us with the
world but disconnected us from
our target audience in local
markets. Even Google agrees!
If you are not taking advantage
of local print advertising for
your business you are missing
huge opportunities, right now.
Business owners focused
on translating an advertising
campaign into greater profit
need to ask themselves:
“Where are my target buyers?
What is the best medium to
reach them? And can I afford to
launch an effective campaign
using this medium?”
During a panel discussion
recently at the Newspaper As-
sociation of America’s annual
convention in New York, Goo-
gle Print Ads Director Tom
Phillips commented “We think
there’s all kinds of value there
that’s really untapped,’’ Phillips
said of the print editions of
newspapers. “We actually think
it’s an underappreciated medi-
um.”
Phillips argued that it’s mis-
leading to compare the number
of readers of a print paper to
the number of unique visitors at
a paper’s Web site. “Readers
of the [print edition] are reading
that newspaper 20 minutes
every day,” he said. “Not cover
to cover, but they’re reading a
lot of pages. [That represents]
a lot of impressions, a lot of
news, a lot of information flows,
a lot of marketer exposures.”
If you are a business think-
ing of advertising in The Inde-
pendent do a little market re-
search for yourself. There are
three easy research tech-
niques: First, ask people that
you know in town if they read
The Independent and whether
they read the entire paper. Sec-
ond, call some of the advertis-
ers you see in The Indepen-
dent and ask them how it’s go-
ing for them. Third, go to any of
the coffee shops or restaurants
in town where The Indepen-
dent is distributed and watch
people read the paper.
This is not rocket science, it
is just good common sense. If
you want to target the audience
for your business, the local pa-
per is a perfect medium. Be pa-
tient and make sure your ad
copy focuses on benefits and
features. Last and most impor-
tant, have a consistent pres-
ence where people see your
brand on a regular basis and
build local brand equity. More
in the next issue on “brand eq-
uity”.