Enterprise Magazine Fall 2022

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employee with the right

ADVERTISER

Aldrich

Bank of the Pacific

Collections

College

Citizens Bank

City of Salem

Coldwell Banker

Covanta Marion

Datavision

Dalke Construction Co.

EnergyTrust of Oregon

Freres Lumber

Grand Hotel of Salem

Green Acres Landscape

Huggins Insurance

MAPS Credit Union 14

Multi/Tech Engineering Services 18 Nathan Good Architects 19 Oregon Community Foundation

Powell Banz Valuation

Power Fleet Commercial Sales

Rich Duncan Construction

Salem Contractors Exchange 17 Salem Convention Center

Front Cover Salem Electric 19

Santiam Hospital

Select Impressions

Sherman Sherman Johnnie & Hoyt, LLP 15

SVN Commercial Advisors

SwiftCare Medical Clinic

White Oak Construction

Executive Council

Chair

Mike Keane

Shareholder and Managing Officer, Garrett Hemann Robertson

Vice-Chair

Kate Schwarzler

Owner, Indy Commons

Treasurer

Ryan Allbritton

SVP, Chief Banking Officer, Willamette Valley Bank

Past Chair

Michael Fowler

CEO, CabDoor

Board of Directors

Curt Arthur

Managing Director, SVN Commercial Advisors

Ricardo Baez

President, Don Pancho

Authentic Mexican Foods, Inc.

Roxanne Beltz

City Councilor, City of Monmouth

Chuck Bennett Mayor, City of Salem

Becky Berger

Owner and CEO, Berger International

Lindsay Berschauer County Commissioner, Yamhill County

Alan Blood General Manager, Garmin AT, Inc.

David Briggs Trial Lawyer, Partner, Saalfeld Griggs PC

Patricia Callihan Bowman

Owner/Career Coach, Express Employment Professionals

Tom Christensen

CFO, Oregon Fruit Products

Cathy Clark Mayor, City of Keizer

Richard Day

Owner/Manager, Advantage Holdings LLC

Brent DeHart

President, Salem Aviation

Rich Duncan President, Rich Duncan Construction, Inc.

Tony Eaquinto

Southern Regional Manager, Portland General Electric

Juli Foscoli

Secretary / Treasurer, South Town Glass

Theresa Haskins

Senior Business Development Manager, Portland General Electric

Stephen Heckert

Farm Operations Specialist, Crosby Hops

Steve Horning

VP, Business Relationship Manager, People's Bank

Jessica Howard

President/CEO, Chemeketa Community College

626

SEDCOR Staff

Erik Andersson

Daryl Knox

CPA, Partner, Aldrich Group

Timothy Murphy

VP of Business Operations, DCI

Scott Snyder

General Manager, The Grand Hotel in Salem

Keith Staley City Manager, City of Salem

Colm Willis

County Commissioner, Marion County Board of Commissioners

Jenni Kistler

Director

Mark Hoyt

Partner, Sherman Sherman Johnnie & Hoyt, LLP

Jamie Johnk

Economic Development Director, City of Woodburn

Shane Kelley

Business Banking Relationship Manager, Key Bank

Jennifer Larsen Morrow President, Creative Company, Inc.

Rod Lucas Owner, Turner Lumber, Inc.

Kim Parker-Llerenas

Executive Director, Willamette Workforce Partnership

James Parr

Chief Financial Officer, Salem Health

Craig Pope

County Commissioner, Polk County

Jim Rasmussen

President/CEO, Modern Building Systems

Mark Raum

VP, Commercial Banking Officer, Columbia Bank

Connor Reiten

Government Affairs, NW Natural

David Rheinholdt

Board President, Latino Business Alliance

Samantha Ridderbusch Director, Government & Regulatory Affairs, Comcast

Rick Rogers

Mayor, City of Newberg

Tony Schacher

General Manager, Salem Electric

Liz Schaecher

Program Coordinator, Oregon Aglink

Dan Ulven

President, The Ulven Companies

Cooper Whitman

Regional Business Manager, Pacific Power

Michael Wynschenk

CEO, Hunter Communications

Nick Harville

Business Retention

Alex Paraskevas

Economic Development

Polk County

Innovation

Abisha Stone Economic Development

Michael Miller

Marketing and Communications

The Wild World of Workforce

Unprecedented is an often-overused word. But the current labor market, well, unprecedented. What are the issues? What can be done?

That last year or so has been a wild ride in the world of workforce for local employers. In March of 2021, I showed up for a breakfast meeting at a local restaurant to see a handwritten sign in the window announcing it was closed due to a lack of employees. Then I noticed more and more businesses were cutting back on hours due to workforce shortages. Soon after, the promise of signing bonuses began to be promoted by restaurants and other employers desperate to find workers. Adding ongoing supply chain issues and impacts from inflation, and … well, you get the picture: It’s tough out there.

Erik Andersson SEDCOR President

I do have to remind myself that this is neither a recent nor short-term issue. In the “before days,” pre-pandemic, SEDCOR hosted one of our Business Forums on the topic of workforce, highlighting employers successfully using innovative and non-traditional solutions to their workforce challenges. Three years and a pandemic later, employers need to be more innovative than ever to attract and retain workers.

Especially challenging is that so many of the factors impacting workforce availability are out of the control of employers. A lack of affordable housing in your community means an out-of-town worker who might have moved into the area to accept a new job, now cannot easily find a place for their family to land. Or, the issue could be childcare, transportation, broadband capacity, or all these issues operating together at once. And probably a few we’re not even aware of.

Our team at SEDCOR has been listening intently to our industry partners and is already finding creative solutions to some of these not-so-simple problems.

In this issue, we explore how our partners are innovating their way to a better, more economically secure future by successfully navigating through a variety of short- and long-term workforce obstacles. Plus, you’ll get a look at potential jobs in the blockchain economy – there’s a lot more to it than just cryptocurrency! And we introduce readers to two innovative companies building incredible hardware and software: one to save lives in the air, the other to close the opportunity gap by helping kids learn to code.

The SEDCOR team is inspired every day by what we see happening in communities around the region. I want Enterprise to amplify this work and give readers a stronger sense of hope after reading each story. We want to share stories about some of the most resilient and innovative people, businesses and organizations in the Willamette Valley. Those who are doing the mostly unseen work of solving difficult problems and building a better future for the communities we live in.

City of Salem Awarded Small Community Air Service Development Program to Support Commercial Air Initiative

The City of Salem was awarded $850,000 through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) to initiate regional commercial air service at the Salem Airport.

SCASDP funding is designed to help small communities attract and expand passenger airline service. These funds will be leveraged with private sector contributions as a healthy Minimum Revenue Guarantee (MRG) in the incentive package to secure commercial air service from Salem to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

“Commercial air service is the jet fuel needed to create a diversified and vibrant regional economy— providing smart and strategic economic development solutions around affordable and accessible travel options, talent and investment recruitment, carbon footprint reduction and so much more,” Angie Onyewuchi, Travel Salem CEO, states. “This critical grant funding moves us closer to launching our first flights and provides a direct connection between Oregon's spectacular wine country and the world. The SCASDP funds are a key component of our incentive package for the airlines who want to Fly Salem!”

Currently, Salem is the largest of only five state capitals in the

country that do not yet have

commercial air service. Travel Salem, along with Volaire Consulting, Salem Chamber of Commerce and other community leaders have been working on this initiative for more than four years. With the help of this SCASDP grant award, commercial air service to Salem could launch within the next 12 months.

“The federal transportation grant award recognizes the holistic need of the regional economy to have affordable flight options accessing hubs to the East and South of our state, while also reducing the number of cars forced to commute North to PDX for air travel,” Tom Hoffert, Salem Chamber of Commerce CEO, said.

As the second largest city in Oregon, Salem has piqued the interest of multiple airlines that are looking to expand into new markets. Discussions are ongoing as the City of Salem and its stakeholders work diligently to bring this economic development opportunity to the region.

Salem Area Businesses Recognized By Travel Salem at Tourism Industry Awards Luncheon

Travel Salem announced the recipients of this year’s Most Oregon Part of Oregon (MOPO) awards at the annual “MOPO” Awards Luncheon, held Thursday, May 12th, at the Salem Convention Center.

The “MOPO” awards recognize tourism industry partners who went above and beyond in 2020-2021 to increase the economic impact of visitors. The award recipients are a few of the region’s superstars—helping to guide the industry through a challenging couple of years in order to make Salem and the Mid-Willamette Valley the Most Oregon Part of Oregon. This year, Travel Salem recognized eleven business partners for their outstanding commitment to the tourism industry:

• The “Most Dedicated” award was presented to Hazel Patton for her commitment to preserving Salem’s history, showcasing its beauty, and helping to create a rich, welcoming destination through every project she has been a part of— including Salem’s Riverfront Carousel, the OSH Museum of Mental Health and her work with microshelters for the homeless.

• The “Most Brewlicious” award was awarded to Parallel 45 Brewery for their innovative adaptation to producing “crowlers” (sealed singular cans on demand) during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic.

• Don Froylan Creamery received the “Most Authentic” award for their in-house, hand-crafted artisan cheese made from 11,000 gallons of raw milk each week and for creating an authentic visitor experience.

• The “Most Resilient” award was presented to the Santiam Canyon River Territory for their remarkable leadership and resilience in the aftermath of the 2020 wildfires. Dignitaries from Marion County, the City of Detroit, the City of Gates, and Mill City were present to accept awards on behalf of their communities.

• The “Most Impactful” award was awarded to IRONMAN 70.3 Oregon for not only attracting 2,300 athletes in 2020, but also bringing in more than 7,000 spectators from across the globe to experience the Salem area while infusing $10,065,000 in economic impact to the region.

• The Willamette Heritage Center received the “Most Connected” award for their ability to connect generations through preserva tion, interpretation, and innovative events such as Magic at the Mill, Sheep to Shawl and the “Zooming Back to History” online presentations.

• The “Most Collaborative” award was presented to Taproot Lounge & Café for their innovative partnerships and commitment to support and assist neighbors in times of need.

• The “Most Oregon Part of Oregon” award went to the Salem lodging community for creating the Salem Tourism Promotion Area (STPA). Their collective vision injected funding to increase tourism marketing, sales, and development efforts which has driven increased visitation to the area, along with increased visitor expenditures.

Lyons, Ore.-based Freres Lumber Co., now doing business as Freres Engineered Wood, is celebrating its centennial year, marking a century of transformative growth and positive impact on the wood products industry, clients, employees, and its surrounding communities. Freres celebrates this monumental milestone by unveiling its new brand and logo which commemorate Freres’ longstanding history while reflecting its commitment to innovation and advancements as it looks forward to the next 100 years.

“The humble beginnings of one man’s dream to start a small sawmill has evolved over the past 100 years into a booming, modern business,” says Rob Freres, President of Freres. “Today, Freres is an innovative leader in the mass timber industry, committed to leading sustainability practices and supporting our community. We have developed a new brand and logo intended to reflect our roots in tradition while capturing our vision for the future.”

Throughout 2022, Freres will celebrate its centennial across the communities it serves through its philanthropic and community efforts, employee celebrations and industry events. Having achieved tremendous growth and impact over the past century, Freres remains dedicated to its core values of continued innovation, protecting and supporting healthy forests, giving back to, and supporting, local Santiam Canyon communities, and hard work and resiliency. “It is hard to articulate the impact Freres has had on the Santiam Canyon and surrounding communities,” comments Fred Girod, Oregon State Senator. “They have provided multi-generational family wage jobs, served as community partners in efforts to improve our way of life and have always stepped up when help was needed. Freres’ long history serves as a shining example of what a family run business should be.”

Freres is one of the oldest family-owned and operated

businesses in Oregon, specializing in bringing high-quality wood products to market, manufacturing veneer, lumber, and plywood and structural composite lumber.

“The Freres family business is a bright light in the North Santiam Canyon,” adds Kevin Cameron, Marion County Commissioner, a Detroit resident and wildfire survivor.

“Supporting the efforts to build the Detroit Community Center and City Hall after the wildfires tore through the canyon is just one example of many in which Freres continues to give back and make a difference in the rural communities of Marion County.”

While steeped in tradition, Freres has a history of incorpo rating cutting-edge technologies to transform and modernize construction practices. In 2017, Freres engineered a monumental new finished wood product: Mass Ply Panels (MPP). The MPP line now includes panels for floors, walls and ceilings, beams and columns, and industrial mats. Like other industry paradigm shifts, MPP is changing building practices.

The company, formerly Freres Lumber Co., Inc., began in 1922 when T.G. Freres started a sawmill in Oregon’s Santiam Canyon. Now, across six wood products facilities, and three operations, Freres Engineered Wood Products, Freres Timber and Evergreen BioPower LCC, the company employs nearly 500 people and produces finished plywood, lumber, veneer and structural composite lumber, MPP, biochar, and operates a cogeneration facility that supplies renewable power for the area. Originally printed in PanelWorld.

Audrey Baily Named Director of Community Education

Oregon State Credit Union today announced the promotion of Audrey Bailey to director of community education. In her new position, she is responsible for bringing financial education to students and adults in communities throughout Oregon.

Audrey will be a key player in efforts to deliver timely, relevant financial education to the community, said Peter Walker, vice-president of organizational development.

“Financial health is critical to broader health and well-being, and Audrey will be a passionate champion for financial inclusion and empowerment throughout our field of membership.”

Bailey joined the credit union in June 2021 as a financial services consultant. Previous to that she worked as a trainer for Portland State University’s Intensive English Language Program, and then as an ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor for Oregon State University in Corvallis.

Bailey describes her role as more than just teaching specific information and practical steps. “Learners bring a wealth of life experience and personal concerns with them to the classroom, and that needs to be honored. My role is to ensure they feel the content I’m providing is relevant to their concerns.”

One of Bailey’s goals is to reinforce the credit union’s existing

QUOTES

relationships with community partners and educators, Walker said. “As we move beyond many of the pandemic restrictions we have seen in recent years, Audrey will take the lead in finding new ways to support them and expand our reach.”

Bailey added, “I also see a need for more personal finance education for parents and caregivers who want to teach their kids about finances, but aren’t sure how to start. I feel so fortunate to work for an organization that truly lives its value of ‘education’ by ensuring the Community Education Director position exists.”

— Abisha Stone, SEDCOR

“As always, we show up and listen to our industry partners in order to understand the problems they're facing. When it comes to workforce, the message from industry is pretty clear: to attract and retain workers, they are willing to invest in some creative solutions, even in places they haven't traditionally invested. Right now, there are some exciting projects that deal with the lack of housing and childcare. In Yamhill County, those are Project Oasis and the Newberg Workforce Housing Consortium. These projects are still in early stages, but they do demonstrate industry's commitment to solving problems with real investments.”

“We are already witnessing the start of an interesting trend of tech work being integrated into some fields not traditionally known for tech. Manufacturing, farming, food processing, and other industries may very well be the epicenter of tech development, automation, and machine learning. We recently completed a project with the Technology Association of Oregon showing the growth of STEM jobs in our region's Ag Supply Chain. The number of STEM jobs in this sector is already impressive. I can only see it growing.”

— Alex Paraskevas, SEDCOR

“A lot of the industry partners I speak with are struggling to find and keep workers. In the short term, they are working on programs to train up their employees so they can add value, earn more, and increase retention. In the long term, they are developing and implementing automation. For example, Freres Engineered Wood has already invested millions in robotic systems for their MPP facility. They are out front with this kind of innovation, but I can see a lot of other businesses following their lead and introducing automation into their processes.”

— Nick Harville, SEDCOR

Audrey Baily

Maps Credit Union Opens New High Street Branch and Professional Center

Mid-Willamette Valley residents and businesses seeking a banking experience that anticipates their needs, offers relevant solutions and looks out for their overall financial well-being –all under one roof – can look no further than the newly opened Maps Credit Union High Street Branch and Professional Center located at 465 Division Street in Salem.

The High Street Branch is a recent addition to Maps Credit Union’s ten branches serving residents of Marion and Polk Counties. The High Street Branch pairs traditional banking services with the Maps Professional Center where customers receive personalized access to services through Universal Consultants.

“The goal of the High Street Branch and Professional Center is to provide more in-depth value for Maps customers. It was conceived as a place to build relationships with members and

get to know how we can best support their financial well-being,” said Jordan Young, Director of Sales and Service.

Universal Consultants are equipped to complete transac tions or visit with members wherever it is most comfortable — whether it is a couch, chair or desk. From anywhere in the branch, Universal Consultants can assist members with anything from opening an account, making a deposit or connecting a borrower with a mortgage loan officer.

This one-stop-shop approach means customers can handle any and every financial need in one visit. At the Professional Center, members have access to specialists in a variety of services such as home and commercial loans, personal and commercial insurance, business services, wealth management and private banking. It is also home to Maps Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Maps Credit Union.

Visitors are also encouraged to grab coffee or a snack at the The Dot, the Professional Center coffee shop, where proceeds go right back into the community through the Maps Community Foundation.

Youth Wage Reimbursement Grant Open to Businesses

by Dean Craig, Business Services Director, Willamette Workforce Partnerships

After learning of a program Linn County was offering, Marion County Commissioners approached Willamette Workforce Partnership (WWP) about managing $50k for a Summer Youth Employment Grant in June of 2021. With very short notice, this grant program launched and within a couple of months we had granted the majority of the funds.

Early in 2022, our office became aware of a grant opportunity to fund Youth Work Activities. We applied for $200k to replicate the program we had managed the previous year with Marion County and expand it to all four of the counties we serve. We received notice of winning the grant and immediately made plans to launch the program, region-wide, during the first

full week of April 2022. Within 24 hours, we had our first application.

The process for businesses to apply is very simple; the application is located on our website, willwp.org.

Once the application is received, it will be reviewed and accepted or returned for clarification. Once all is settled, Dean Craig, Director of Business Services at WWP, will schedule a time to come to each business and make certain they are comfortable, and the job is suitable for youth. At this visit, the reimbursement is arranged, and requests are submitted after each payroll cycle and the WWP Fiscal department processes payment.

Learn how empty hotels became transitional homes.

When wild res burned over 4,000 homes across the state, Oregonians formed the public-private Project Turnkey Partnership to address both emergency shelter and long-term housing needs. It worked. Tremendously.

So well that the Oregon Legislature allocated $50 million for a second round of funding in 2022. OCF convenes generous, community-minded people like these to help address Oregon’s most urgent and long-term needs.

Visit oregoncf.org/neighborly to learn, connect and get inspired.

When Workforce Gets Weird

The traded sector is facing an unprecedentedly tight labor market. This is after an unprecedented pandemic with unprecedented supply chain disruptions and unprecedented swings in demand. (Sensing a pattern?) Yet, industry partners have pivoted quickly, made adaptation second-nature, and found creative ways to find, train, and retain talented workers.

Not The Right Ratio

Describe the current labor market in one word.

Tight.

According to Pat O’Connell, the regional economist for the Oregon Employment Department, the current labor market is the tightest since World War II. “Right now, the ratio of employer to employee is about 2 to 1,” he says. “Or another way to say it: for every job seeker, there are two jobs open. That’s not the most ideal ratio.”

Professional pundits and casual economic onlookers are still quick to pin these kinds of statistics on the COVID-19 pandemic and our roller-coaster recovery from it. On paper, Oregon and our particular region seems to have mostly recovered. According to O’Connell, 94% of Oregon jobs lost during the pandemic have been regained; 92% were recovered in Salem.

Even though many of the jobs have returned, much has changed since Spring of 2020. Work culture has shifted. New obstacles have emerged.

Kim Parker-Llerenas, Executive Director of Willamette Workforce Partnership has a front row seat to those obstacles, especially the shrinking workforce participation numbers. “The most obvious reason we don’t have more workers is that we just have fewer people. As more baby boomers retired, their kids had fewer kids and those kids are waiting longer to have kids.” ParkerLlerenas sees the other two major challenges as housing and childcare.

“During the pandemic, a lot of parents got to stay home with their kids. And they enjoyed it. So, I think many families decided to tighten their belts, adjust their budgets, and try to make their lives work on a singleearner income.”

Retention Through Culture

In nearly all the conversation surrounding workforce, another word (besides “tight” and “unprecedented”) comes up.

Culture.

“When job seekers have as much power as they do right now, they can start making demands,” says Parker-Llerenas. “Demands we often hear about are a positive work culture and lots of flexibility. Of course, there will always be some industries where work-from-home is an impossibility, but workers in information, data, tech, and other sectors want to have the freedom to work on their schedule. And, we’re finding, efficiency does not really seem to drop within those arrangements.”

Kal Anderson, General Manager at MAK Metals in Dallas says his businesses has been able to find and retain good employees because of the culture of his business.

“A lot of our new hires come to us through word-of-mouth recommendation from current employees,” says Anderson. “Even when we lose people to other shops who can afford to pay a little more, many come back. They say, ‘It wasn’t worth those few extra bucks to not be treated like a person.’”

Anderson says he has come to terms with the revolving-door nature of his industry and does not fault any employee for moving on to better pay. But he says he can keep good workers for longer since good workers actually want to stick around.

Reshoring Work. Reshoring Knowledge. COVID-19 has (and continues to) demonstrate the potential drawbacks of a globalized supply chain. Projects have been delayed. Manufacturers are forced to engage in bidding wars for parts. And everything has become more expensive.

This has caused many local business leaders and entrepreneurs to pursue reshoring as a way to counteract the offshoring of the last half-century or so. Reshoring, the calculus goes, will strengthen the local economy and build a more resilient supply chain that is less dependent on shipping lanes and foreign government policy.

But what happens when you’re not just reshoring equipment but also having to reshore knowledge?

The team at Fibrevolution is trying to return the once-thriving flax

fiber industry to the Willamette Valley. “Before the introduction of synthetic materials like polyester, Oregon was one of the biggest growers and processors of flax for fiber in the world,” says Shannon Welsh, Co-founder and Managing Director at Fibrevolution. “I believe we can bring it back. Unfortunately, anyone with local knowledge of processing the material is no longer with us.”

Shannon has been in contact with flax producers in Europe, but many are not overly enthusiastic to share their trade secrets. “We are trying to enter into a small industry; they understandably perceive us as competition.”

Welsh says her team has the knowledge to grow and process flax in small quantities, but boutique batches cannot build up a whole industry. “We need to find a way to import the industry knowledge to produce at scale.”

Much like Fibrevolution’s goals, Adam Rack and Keenan O’Hern at Revino Bottles, a start-up in the heart of Yamhill County’s wine region, want to bring back another once-thriving Willamette Valley industry: bottle cleaning. “Before the world got turned on to single-use plastics,” says Rack, “almost all beverage bottles

were used, returned, cleaned, and used again. We want to bring that back, starting with the wine industry.”

As with all new industries, this reshoring effort starts with equipment. For these purposes, the team at Revino chose the Genesi washer model from Akomag, a machine built and shipped from Italy. “Once installed, we’ll be the only company using this equipment in the United States,” says O’Hern. “Most machines can clean only one kind of bottle. We chose this machine because it can clean nearly every kind of glass liquid container. And, for a region with so many beverage businesses—from beer to wine to milk to kombucha—that gives us a lot of flexibility and ways to grow.”

Since Rack and O’Hern will be the only ones in the country running this machine, they will have to become the domestic experts. “We’ll be going to Italy to learn every part of the machine,” says Rack. They will then import the knowledge and pass it along to their workforce.

Even more than operating machinery, Revino will need to hire communicators who can teach consumers to give back their

CityofSalem.net has a NEW

system at Freres Engineered Wood in Lyons.

A student at the Salem-Keizer Career Technical Education Center learns 3D design and video game production.

bottles instead of chucking them in the recycling bin. “As relatively good as our recycling system is in Oregon, the best thing for the beverage market and for the planet is to simply give the bottle back.”

Rapid Change Makes For Rapid Changes

“We’ve been saying this for a long time, but technology—especially automation—is going to have a big impact on the future of labor,” says Kim Parker-Llerenas.

According to a survey by McKinsey and Company…

31% of businesses have fully automated at least one function. A 2020 global survey of business leaders from a wide cross-section of industries conducted by McKinsey & Co. found that 66% were piloting solutions to automate at least one business process, up from 57% two years earlier.

As robotics equipment becomes more accessible and artificial intelligence improves, this trend towards automation will no doubt continue. Parker-Llerenas does not see this trend as the end of work, but more so indicating a significant shift towards new and different kinds of work.

Katya Mendez, Ambassador at the Salem-Keizer Career Technical Education Center says they will be able to train the next generation of workers, no matter what new job titles emerge, by listening closely to industry leaders. “Industry has a better view of the future than almost anyone,” says Mendez. “Our team is always bringing them to the table through our Advisory Committees so we can adapt our training to their needs.”

As more unprecedented change comes, Mendez believes the workforce of the future will be prepared.

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How To Build Your Career in Blockchain

Blockchain could possibly be one of the most revolu tionary technologies to be developed in our lifetime. It has the potential to change the way the world exchanges value, protects assets, tracks goods across supply chains, and executes contracts; that’s just a small sample of the current use cases!

the world of

confusing to most,

to

how does someone begin their journey and move from blockchain-curious to a blockchain expert?

Where Are the Jobs?

If one spent any time on Instagram, they could easily be mistaken that the only way to make money in blockchain is by day-trading one of the thousands of cryptocurrencies currently in existence or by trying to digitally flip NFT (non-fungible tokens) artwork to high school kids.

But, according to Jeff Gaus, the CEO of Portland’s Provenance Chain Network, many major firms are already building impressive teams of blockchain professionals. “The blockchain ecosystem is already much bigger than most people realize,” says Gaus. “Obviously, there are the highly technical jobs like programmers, developers, and cryptographers. There are also many blockchain jobs in financial services, both within established institutions and the decentralized finance, or DeFi, space. Then, there is a lot of blockchain expertise being utilized in gaming and in virtual and augmented reality.

Start on YouTube

According to Gaus, the best way to start a blockchain career is by scouring YouTube. “YouTube is full of educational content on blockchain, Bitcoin, smart contracts, and more. There, you can get the basics and then move on to more advanced subjects.

that, just read whatever you can get your hands on.”

some deep dives and tumbling down numerous rabbit holes, formalized education could be the logical next step. In fact, in 2018, Portland State University launched one of the first blockchain certification programs in the country. Gaus says this program is currently the standard bearer for blockchain education. The University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada also hosts a blockchain research center doing similarly excellent

need help with the tree?

What Should We Revolutionize Next?

It took considerable time for individuals, businesses, organizations, and government to adopt the internet into their regular lives. Today, we can hardly do any work without it. According to Gaus, blockchain adoption today is where internet adoption was around 1998. “At that time, it was hard to tell where the use of the internet would have the most value. Most of us remember the huge market correction that happened in 2000-2001, or what we call the Dot Com Bubble. Our current crypto winter, I think, is very similar. There is a lot of noise, but there are many solid applications that will definitely break through.”

For many, applications of blockchain like Bitcoin have already upended and reorientated the way they think about money. Smart contracts are helping build systems of trust between parties outside of legacy institutions. Video game companies are revolutionizing the idea of personal ownership of digital assets.

For their part, Provenance Chain Network is developing a system of full, end-to-end traceability and transparency in worldwide supply chains. By using it, businesses build trust through incorruptible information. “For example,” says Gaus, “a customer we can call Conscious Kim could scan a barcode and immediately know the information about any product that is important to her.” Customers like Conscious Kim never have to take the company’s word for it. They don’t have to trust the business, just the protocol.

Gaus says few consumers know (or even care about) the inner workings of the internet; they just want it to work and reap the benefits of the technology. “As more businesses and institutions adopt blockchain and as more applications for the technology are discovered and perfected, it will simply run in the background of our lives and, hopefully, make us all better off.”

Learn more about Provenance Chain Network at www.theprovenancechain.com

How

Adding a new employee to your business can be an exciting and stressful time. How will they fit in? How can I get them up to speed and performing as quickly as possible?

employee

Brandon Steinman, Business Advisor

Whether you are adding your very first employee or your 100th, this article contains some useful information for making sure you bring on a new employee successfully.

Onboarding, which is the process of training someone to do a job they have not done, really begins before your employee accepts your job offer. After the interview process, background checks, and other hiring contingencies, your new employee will really appreciate a well thought out plan about what they are going to do for your organization. Planning is key, since most employees will make the decision to leave an organization within the first few weeks on the job. So, what makes up a good onboarding plan?

A good onboarding plan will introduce your employee to the organization, the team, the work site, and the job expectations and action plan. Before your employee arrives make sure to have a workspace ready for them. If there are any tools, software, computer access, or anything else they need before they can start work, make sure to have that ordered ahead of time. If you have other employees, make them aware of the bringing on of a new employee and encourage them to be part of the onboarding process. Everyone involved should make the work environment a welcoming one, encouraging the new person to learn and ask questions.

The first day of a new employee’s career at your company is vitally important, so consider having a highly scripted day for your new employee. What will they do hour by hour for that

first day that is reasonable and interesting? Plan out who will greet your employee. Show them the work space or site, have a lunch catered, go on a worksite tour, or some thing to make the first day feel special. First impressions really matter, even if they are not going to retain all of the information you share with them on the first day.

Plan to demonstrate to your new employee the organization, share the history of the organization and mission. If applicable, introduce the team to your new hire. Get to know them and share what important role they will be serving the organization. Show your new hire the worksite, where their desk or workbench is, and the all-important location of the rest room. These are great ways to have your employee become familiar with work in your organization.

The most critical part of the plan is sharing the expectations of performing the job. Plan ahead in the instruction of how someone will know how to complete the tasks and duties of the job that they have been hired for. What processes must they learn? How do they accept to new or projects? Where does the work go when they have completed their tasks? An action plan will help with structuring the onboarding work assignments.

A good action plan is like a work statement that allows for regular check ins with the employee. Write down with your new hire what they will accomplish over the first 30, 60, and 90 days on the job. Schedule tag ups with your new hire to review the action plan regularly, so that if there are challenges that arise, they can be solved quickly. A good action plan will help your new hire feel like they are on track for performing, have a voice in the expectations of the job, and have a venue to communicate with you regularly about how their work experience.

A great onboarding experience can lead to happier, more productive employees sooner, and keep them around longer.

What Is Future Ready Oregon?

During the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers considered, and passed, an initiative that had been in the works for months – Future Ready Oregon. This legislation invests $200 million into a variety of workforce efforts around the state. Future Ready Oregon was initiated by the Governor in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is focused on addressing inequities in the workforce statewide.

colleges, community based organizations focusing on the targeted populations, and youth programs. Nearly half of the investment will fund innovative education and training programs in the key sectors of health care, manufacturing, and technology.

Locally, Willamette Workforce Partnership has already received and contracted out the first allocation of Future Ready Oregon funds. The $1.3M has been disbursed to community-based organizations and training institutions to deliver training for the skills needed in occupations that earn $17.00/hour or more.

Kim Parker-Llenas, Executive Director, Willamette Workforce Partnership

The $200 million will be distributed to organizations to provide opportunities to those most negatively impacted by the pandemic – women, people who live in rural communities, people of color, individuals experiencing poverty, and others with historic barriers to employment. The law focuses on funding local workforce boards, registered apprenticeship programs, career pathways at community

This funding is supporting projects that address occupational skills training in high demand jobs. Contractors are training individuals to become emergency medical technicians, community health workers, truck drivers, civil construction workers, pilots, and traffic controllers/flaggers.

Subscribe to the Willamette Workforce Partnership newsletter to hear more about Future Ready Oregon as the initiative is implemented over the coming months! Visit www.wwp.org.

The Back- to- Basics Challenge in a Tight Labor Market

How do we hire more workers, retain valuable employees and train others for the future?

by Commissioner Mary Starrett

“The Great Quit” is hitting employers nationwide. Oregon is no exception and here in Yamhill County we have the added challenge of straddling the rural-urban divide when it comes to recruiting and retaining work force. How do we compete with neighboring counties who can pay their employees more?

Across public and private sectors, employers are stymied by labor shortage challenges. Here in Mid -Willamette Valley Yamhill County we’re working on addressing those challenges through retention, recruitment, and training.

Prepare a workforce for the future. There’s a much-needed shift from the ‘college for all’ emphasis that resulted in high student debt, relatively low college graduation rates (only 59 % of enrolled college students graduate in 6 years) to promoting learning experiences that offer students more exposure to the trades.

In Yamhill County, we recognize the value of investing in younger workers by training them for in- demand, high -paying careers.

Sheridan School District’s Career Technical Education Center, the Barbara Roberts Career Training Center, is one such project currently underway in our West Valley. Funding from the County and State will pave the way for programs to teach construction trades, firefighter training, ag business, diesel mechanics, hospitality, tourism, and truck driving.

Recruit and retain highly qualified employees for local government positions.

Surveys tell us the top two reasons people apply for state and local government roles are job security and benefits. Here in Yamhill County, we pride ourselves on offering both for qualified applicants. Younger workers seem to be placing a lot more emphasis, however, on career advancement and continued training, in addition to salary and benefits packages. More workers are opting for the quality-of -life considerations our County offers as well. We have a diverse manufacturing sector, world class wine and ag industries as well as lots of recreational opportunities.

Career Advancement through Continuing Education

Yamhill County has continued its practice of promoting valuable employees from within and offering continuing education oppor tunities. Work choices seem to be driven by opportunities to ‘make a difference’ or ‘meaningful public service’ for Millennial and/ or Gen-Z workers. Local governments can offer an abundance of job opportunities that fit those descriptions. The challenge is effectively marketing those jobs to a limited work force.

Even before COVID, policies began to impact staffing levels, city and county governments started to notice that growing numbers of Baby Boomers were opting to retire. Some estimates show over

1.5 million more people retired in November 2021 than would have been expected to retire pre-COVID adding further to hiring woes. Our county has seen a number of retirements of well-qualified, longtime employees over the last two years.

The High Cost of Staffing Shortages

Many small businesses have been forced to raise their prices to address wage increases they’ve offered in order to stay competitive in the labor market as well as to address inflation.

Government employers can certainly raise taxes and fees, and we know they do so with regularity, but here in Yamhill County we have been strident in holding the line in order to keep from further burdening the taxpayers in keeping with our long-standing practice of ‘saving for a rainy day’ and prioritizing ‘needs’ over ‘wants’.

With a record 9.3 million vacant jobs in the U.S. as of April, signing or hiring bonuses have now become the carrot employers hope will lure potential employees in. Local governments have found themselves competing with each other as well as with the private sector and bonuses have become expected, but that practice is not without pitfalls.

Union contracts, bonuses for one department and not all departments have proven to be tricky to navigate. However, that option will be limited at the end of September when Oregon law will make it more restrictive and expensive to offer hiring bonuses unless comparable employees are given the same amount of money.

Staff shortages are hard on current employees who bear the brunt of vacant positions by being burdened with larger workloads and more pressure on the job.

There’s no easy answer for addressing the dilemma of workforce shortages but we’re seeing that paying people not to work and increasing taxation on the people who are working isn’t working. With increased foreclosures predicted and a deepening recession looming, local government and private sector employers might see their job vacancies vanish as more unemployed seek jobs.

In the meantime, Yamhill County is a great place to work and we’re hiring county-wide!

Partners in Your Success

Handling

Challenges Through Policy in Marion County

We have a lot of workforce challenges right now here in Marion County. There are many more employers that want to hire people than there are folks looking for work. This is a positive thing for employees in the area, because we have seen wages rise, especially at the lower end of the wage range. However, we would also like to see employers be able to have the number employees they need to produce the goods and services that they want to produce and that the market is demanding. Right now, we have a bit of an imbalance in that respect, as employers struggle to find employees who want to work.

We have had a struggle coming out of COVID-19 because the federal government basically paid people to stay home. And it seems like we have hangover from that experience that we may be able to help correct with some good policy decisions at the state level.

A couple of ways that Marion County has been working to support local employers during the current employee shortage is by working to accelerate opportunities and involvement of young people in the workforce. We’ve done this by supporting trade-focused organizations for youths like the Career Technical Education Center (CTEC), and with the Youth Wage Grant program, which covers $5 per hour of a youth’s wage if they are a first-time worker at a local

small business. The goal is to incentivize these businesses to give a young worker a chance to gain valuable experience, and it brings youths into the workforce.

We are constantly thinking about what the future of the economy will look like in Marion County. What does it look like to ensure residents have the opportunities they need to be able to maintain a good home, a family wage job, and a secure retirement? For us, it means maintaining a robust employment situation across all of the industries represented in our county.

We have many agricultural and forestry jobs here, we have a growing sector for manufacturing and tech jobs, the need for construction and trade work has increased, and we are obviously a major hub for government employment with the State, County, and City of Salem all headquartered here. We need to continue to hone an environment where people can be prepared and empowered to embrace these oppor tunities, and we equally need to ensure our local businesses are supported in providing these family wage jobs. That’s something we’re passionate about and will continue to focus on as county commissioners.

the

Workforce Obstacles in Polk County

Jeremy Gordon, Polk County Commissioner

Life and markets are still in the process of stabilizing after the most economically and socially disruptive global event since the Great Depression. The aftershocks of the pandemic continue to reshuffle our workforce, confounding economists and employers alike. The hope in mid-2021, that workers would simply return to their jobs causing a V-shaped recovery proved overly optimistic and underestimated the extent and breadth of reallocation within almost every sphere of our economy. As private and public sector employers scramble to attract and retain workers, we ought to look at both short and long term strategies to match our needs as employers with the needs and aspirations of current and future workers. One of these longer term strategies to consider is to adequately fund post-secondary competency based education (CBE) programs, which I will touch upon later.

The slow return to work for many elicited a range of reactions; from the dismissive and resentful accusations of worker laziness and over-pampering, to cheers that the golden age of union and worker power would reemerge. Both assessments miss a very simple fact; the pandemic nudged individual workers, either forcefully or gently, to rethink their futures and careers.

The great resignation ought to be dubbed the great reallo cation--employers and workers are still trying to match up with the others’ expectations and needs. In order to hasten this stabilization, employers have been creating incentives for workers to apply and for workers to stay. I never thought I would see the day when McDonald's would start offering tuition reimbursement, but here we are.

In Polk County, our short term strategies involved a couple of focus areas. First, our Family and Community Outreach Department started a high quality employee childcare program. This service was started in direct response to pandemic-related pressures on workers and their families and is paying dividends in both recruitment and retention of employees. This is not a free service so long-term sustain ability is very likely.

Additionally, Polk County was awarded a $1.6 million grant from the Oregon Health Authority to attract and retain critical behavioral health staff, therapists, and case managers. Demand for behavioral health workers has never been greater and we had to act quickly in order to maintain the high levels of service our residents expect.

While these short term recruitment and retention strategies are necessary, I would like to propose that Oregon give a harder look at a workforce solution

I helped implement at the University of Wisconsin.

Competency based education (CBE) at the post-secondary level can accomplish a number of workforce goals: broader representation of marginalized populations in the workforce, streamlining degree pathways in critical sectors desperate for workers, and making degree attainment from high regarded institutions more affordable and accessible for working, non-traditional students.

CBE allows students to enroll and learn on their own timelines while demonstrating competency for skills and knowledge they already possess and focusing their energies efficiently on skills and knowledge they are lacking. In Wisconsin, the state government made a significant investment in this model to satisfy workforce needs in nursing and health sciences, information science, and technical communication. As a flagship public university entering into this market, my colleagues and I were able to achieve accreditation, state authorization in many out-of-state markets, and allow students to use financial aid to achieve their CBE degree (the biggest hurdle by far).

The good news in Oregon is that HB 3289 tasked the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to report to the legislature about opportunities and barriers to CBE implementation in the University system. However, imple mentation will require more than a periodic feasibility report. It will require up-front investment from the State to incentivize students to enroll on scholarship, faculty to develop curriculum, and University IT staff and Registrars to build the infrastructure. This model can also be implemented to train and advance machinists, engineers, electricians, and workers in other fields.

While the pain of workforce deficits is difficult in the short term, it forces us to conjure opportunities to reshape how we can swiftly recalibrate workforce needs with student and worker aspirations.

Fly The Safer Skies

Well-trained pilots can navigate singleengine planes through some very dangerous situations. But flight has never been a risk-free endeavor, even for the highly skilled pilots in the most well-maintained aircraft. Garmin has developed a suite of technology to make flight as safe as possible.

By Michael Dallas Miller

The Obstacle

Pilots of small planes receive an impressive amount of training. It takes months of intensive training to earn a pilot’s license. According to Alan Blood, General Manager of Garmin’s Salem headquarters, “In order to fly, you must prove you can handle a wide range of dangerous situations. But even with all of that training, some unforeseen situations do occur. Engines could fail. Pilots could encounter a health emergency in the air.”

For over a decade, Garmin’s team has been developing and integrating an all-in-one safety system under the name Autonomi™.

Blood says, “The goal of this system is to give pilots and passengers the best chance at a safe landing when something unavoidable occurs.”

The Opportunity

Autonomi is the integration of five technologies.

• Autoland: Takes complete control of the flight to land the airplane in an emergency where the pilot is unable to fly.

• Electronic Stability and Protection (Garmin ESP™): Assists pilots to maintain safe, stable flight by monitoring the aircraft’s flight condition to help prevent loss of control.

• Emergency Descent Mode: At high altitudes, pilots and passengers need supplemental oxygen or a pressurized cabin to survive. If those systems fail, emergency descent mode seeks to protect occupants by descending to lower altitudes where these devices aren’t required.

• Smart Rudder Bias: Identifies the affected engine and provides control inputs to help give the pilot time to stabilize the aircraft, so they can fly to a suitable airport for emergency landing.

• Smart Glide™: Provides assistance, helps the pilot efficiently navigate to an airport in range and, with a compatible autopilot, can even fly the aircraft en route, allowing the pilot to focus on key tasks essential to this emergency operation.

Garmin's Lead Systems Engineer for the project paints some scenarios where these technologies would work together.

“Let’s say, for instance, a pilot becomes unconscious. In this case, the Electronic Stability and Protection would maintain stability of the aircraft while the passenger activates Autoland. The system would then communicate with Air Traffic Control, navigate to a suitable airport and safely land the airplane. Or, in a less severe situation, an engine fails but the pilot is fine. As you can imagine, this is very stressful for the pilot. Once the pilot activates Smart Glide, the system will automatically navigate to the closest airport and adjust aircraft speed to give the aircraft the best chance to glide the farthest.”

The Vision

Much of the software and hardware for Automoni have been developed and are currently being built at Garmin's Salem facility, where enormous cargo jets and private aircraft can be seen taking off and landing from the west-facing windows.

“Having almost our entire development team here makes a big difference,” says Blood. “It allows us to make a great product. But it also allows to continually improve. Our software teams can walk across the hall and chat with our hardware teams. Problems can get solved. New, exciting features can be quickly developed and implemented.”

Blood and his team are obviously proud of Automoni and the potential it has to save lives. It is equally obvious they are looking forward to the next challenge.

In 2020, Garmin Autoland was awarded the prestigious Collier Trophy by the National Aeronautic Association. You can learn more about Autonomi at discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi

The Power of Code in More Hands

Brad Johnston, a former Bay-area tech employee and current Yamhill County resident, has built a $200 tablet computer to close the coding education gap and give underserved communities a better chance to compete in the economy of the future.

By Michael Dallas Miller

The Obstacle

The story of the future will be written in code.

Coding already has become one of the most valuable skills for prospective employees. And even if a worker doesn’t code for their day-to-day duties, periphery work requires at least a base-level proficiency and understanding of common software languages. As more low-skilled jobs are being automated, the intelligent machines doing our dirty work will need to be designed, built, maintained, and updated by those who have learned to code.

While working as a data analyst in Silicon Valley, Brad Johnston noticed more technology being introduced in the classroom, brought about mostly by the introduction of standardized tests done on computers. Unfortunately, low-income students struggled to adapt. “My mother and sister both teach in public schools in low-income areas,” says Johnston. “They both noticed the same trend: very smart kids who did well on pen-and-paper tests struggled when moved to a computer.” Johnston surmised that these kids struggled simply because they did not have this technology in their homes. They grasped the concepts but were thrown off by the medium.

“If coding could lead to good-paying jobs, kids from low-income families would need access to the necessary technology.”

For Johnston, this meant hardware.

Brad Johnston

The Opportunity

“Right now, there are over 30,000 educational apps in any app store,” says Johnston. “The problem is not having enough content. It is that gaining access to this content requires a working computer and high-speed internet.”

To solve the “working computer” part of that problem, Johnston designed a tablet computer he could sell

for $200, branded as the Tanoshi. The small computer is made especially for kids, has a detachable keyboard, and is preloaded with age-appropriate educational content. Parents can easily set safety protocols and the computer collects no personal data. Plus, it runs on the Android operating system, which means if kids do have access to the internet, they can easily download more educational apps with their parent’s permission.

“We quickly sold out of our first order of computers. We immediately reinvested the profits into more machines,” says Johnston with his trademark enthusiasm. “Now, we need more investors to get behind the product and the mission. Yes, someday, I would like to sell the company and see it grow. But I

want to make sure the mission is carried on as well.”

For Johnston and his team, the Tanoshi is not just about building an affordable computer for kids. It is about creating opportuni ties for those who are currently being left behind. “When I was working and living in Silicon Valley, I knew of wealthy schools with very impressive coding programs. And just miles away, I knew there were very intelligent kids who had the talent to code, they just needed the access.”

The Vision

Today, fewer than half of all high school students have had any instruction on coding. These numbers drop significantly for females and low-income students.

“Like I said, my mother was a teacher; we weren’t rich when I was growing up,” recalls Johnston. “But, thankfully, I got exposed to computers and software languages and was able to turn that exposure into a good career. I believe there are many more kids like me, who, if given the opportunity, would create some incredible things with their coding skills.”

Learn more about Tanoshi computers at tanoshikidscomputers.com

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looking to “upskill”