Southern Oregon Business Journal - November 2020

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November 2020

Thank you Congressman Greg Walden for your service to Oregon and our Country and thank you for being so nice.

The Journal for Business in Southern Oregon

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 1

SouthernOregonBusiness.com

A Few Words from Jim

Contributors Thank you to everyone that contributed or let me interview you for this edition.

Congressman Greg Walden Helen Funk Rob Holmbeck Lindsey Trautman Cynthia Scherr Susan Hearn Nick Alexander Sandra Slattery Janet Fratella Josh Lehner Jessica Nelson Terry Brown Gail Krumenauer Julie Matthews Colleen Padilla

I’m not a fan of politics. I registered independent a few years ago after feeling that both parties were spewing fear and hate about each other. I became disenfranchised.

I ran for Ashland School Board once. I lost by the widest margin recorded in history. Ok, that isn’t true, but it felt like it. It was humbling.

I hesitated putting this cover out. I have very good friends that will “hate” the cover and will question why I put “him” on the cover. They won’t read my article and they won’t join me in saying thank you to Greg for his decades of service, and that bothers me.

I wanted to wait until the election was over to get this issue out. Well it’s over, but we still don’t know who our president will be next year. I wanted to wait until it was over because I didn’t want any of the stories in the journal to come across as trying to get you to vote one way or the other.

I’m not taking sides. I love people. Read my stories. They are mostly about people. Local Heroes. Risk Takers. Entrepreneurs. Community Leaders.

Fighters. Doers. Helpers. Change Agents. Good People.

This is what we need more in the world. People that care and are smart and are charismatic and strong and nice.

I love nice people.

My friend Pam Marsh is mentioned in this issue. She is smart, strong willed, passionate and you know what else? She is nice.

She was running for reelection and thankfully she won.

Founder Greg Henderson ghenderson703@gmail.com Greg started the Southern Oregon Business Journal in 2015 and retired in 2020.

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It doesn’t matter to me what party you belong to. It matters to me that you run for office, and if you win, you will lead with your heart, your values and the values of the community you serve and deep down, you are a nice person, and if you don’t you won’t get my vote again, regardless of your party affiliation.

Jim Teece Publisher of the Southern Oregon Business Journal Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com

SouthernOregonBusiness.com

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November 2020 - Table of Contents

Inside This Issue Thank you Congressman Greg Walden for your service to our state and for being so nice. p4 The Staff at the Jackson County Expo are some of the unsung heroes in the Almeda Fire. p8 Willamette Community Bank to Merge With People’s Bank of Commerce p12 People's Bank posts results for 3rd quarter. p14 Looking Forward by Jim Teece p17 Ashland community launches new site to attract the next generation of workers and employers to town p18 Southern Oregon University Launches New Esports Management Minor p24 Zoom Towns Are Real p26 Employer Costs for Employee Compensation in the U.S. p28

Cover photo of Congressman Greg Walden provided by his office

Recent large fires fed by forest management issues and climate change. p30 Disparate Impact: COVID-19 Job Losses by Sector and Gender in Oregon p32 New Manufacturing Plant to Open in Klamath Falls p36

Find the latest news on SouthernOregonBusiness.com

SOREDI Seeks Applications from Rural Entrepreneurs and Companies for its 2020 Southern Oregon Rural Startup Challenge p38 Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 3

PEOPLE

Thank you Congressman Greg Walden for your service to our state and for being so nice.

By Jim Teece Publisher of the Southern Oregon Business Journal Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com

I

sat down, virtually via Zoom, with Congressman Greg Walden, a year to the day after he declared that he would not seek re-election to thank him for his service and ask him a few questions about what it has been like for him during the last year in office.

Greg serves as the only Republican serving the state of Oregon federally and that's a good thing.

We have Republicans and Democrats in our state and it's good that we have both parties represented at the federal level.

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I made the decision to do this article back when the other Greg, Greg Henderson, retired from the Southern Oregon Business Journal and I did a thank you Greg issue. I thought about Congressman Greg Walden and wanted to do at least an article.

During these times, when we are so polarized as a nation and are trained to hate and distrust all politicians, especially the ones from the other side, I worry about the future. I hope that people from both sides of the aisle read this and can appreciate the kind, business minded person that ran for office decades ago and won and has spent the largest part of his life, serving and running every two years and winning, so that he could continue to serve again and again.

"It doesn't cost you anymore to be nice", speaker John Boehner used to say, Greg shared with me during our conversation.

The word nice is how I would describe Greg.

I want our leaders to be smart, charismatic, strong, passionate and very nice, just like Greg.

There will be many stories told about him and his career, now that he is retiring. I wanted this one to be different.

--I first met Greg when he was running for congress back in 1998. It was a blistering hot day at the Jackson County Fair and I was running the Technology Pavilion as an all day, everyday volunteer. We

chatted a bit and his nice demeanor came through. I appreciated his willingness to meet with "the people" at the county fair and I voted for him.

So did a lot of other people. He won.

I ran into him two years later, again at the county fair. This time he was sitting in the air conditioned VIP room, drinking a cold water and taking a breather. He was reading and I re-introduced myself and we shook hands. I thanked him for his service and that year I voted for him again.

Our relationship was like this for years and years.

One day, I was in Washington DC as a keynote speaker at a conference and I had a free day so I made appointments with Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and Congressmen Greg Walden's offices. Senator Wyden was unavailable, but I met with his staffer and told him to thank Senator Wyden for his service and to keep doing a great job for Oregon.

Next, I headed to Greg Walden's office and met with his staffer and told him the same thing and he asked if I would like to tell Greg in person. I was excited to be escorted to the steps at the capital after a personal behind the scenes tour, to meet

personally with Congressman Walden. He came out between votes and said hello.

I thanked Greg for his service and we shook hands and his staffer took a photo. We laughed as we remembered all those handshakes at all those county fairs over the years. I remember getting that photo in the mail a few weeks later and feeling proud to be an American. I'm just a small business person, in a small town in Oregon standing on the steps of our nation's capital with an elected official and it was cool. I framed the photo and it still sits on my desk at the office, reminding me that good, kind, smart people do serve in DC regardless of what we are told to believe.

Greg's dad served our state in the Oregon Legislature for 3 terms, so Greg grew up around politicians and politics. He and his wife, Mylene, bought his dad's radio station and grew it to five stations over the 22 years they ran it. They were the owners and operators, just like Dena and I. He and his wife did everything from sales, reading the weather and the news, to hiring people. They ended up selling the radio stations when Greg went to DC, so that he could focus on his new career, but everything he learned about owning a business

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 5

Thank you Greg (Continued)

would carry forward with him as he served. Greg joked with me that the only thing he didn't do was climb towers.

Small business owners risk it all to chase a dream. 50% of them fail in the first 4 years, according to a statistic for a different article in the journal.

They face competition and regulation on top of everything they do. Greg remembered his challenges and when given a chance, he worked hard in DC to change policy or create policy to make it easier and more fair for all small business owners. He shared with me how much he appreciates the small business owner for taking risks while care of their employees and their community.

One small business industry that was emerging in Oregon was small craft brewing. Greg and Peter DeFazio started the Oregon Small Brewers Caucus in 2007 and the brewers came to DC once a year and hosted a gathering to let the law makers sample Oregon Beer and share with them the issues they faced as they tried to grow a new industry.

Greg also served on a bank board and hospital board and he remembered how he realized that the regulation he felt as a small business owner of radio stations paled in comparison to the amount of regulation banks and hospitals face everyday.

If you look at a map of the Oregon District 2 that Greg represents you would notice that it's a huge district that spans most of the state. He worked hard to hold as many "town halls" as he could, at least once in each county, once a year. He would share what he was working on and give the citizens in each county a chance to share what they wanted him to work on.

Year after year, county after county, he did this. He once had 3,000 in attendance in Bend but most were small intimate gatherings of business leaders and chamber

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executives, ranchers and farmers. Attendance was in direct correlation to what they were fired up about.

Oregon is changing Sadly some people are leaving Oregon to Idaho and Nevada, because they want to be around other like minded people. Greg worries about this and told me that "Oregon should always be comfortable, we should be inclusive and multicultural, we should be all those things"

The cynicism of America's young voters There is something about the 30 something voter. They are more cynical about politics.

Social platform algorithms divide us. News channels are now like music formats. Radio stations have to have different kinds of music for different kinds of folks, to be successful.

That is happening with news.

They talk to their followers with the same beliefs. This further divides us.

Trump becomes president I asked Greg what that was like in 2016, and he told me that it wasn't supposed to happen.

They didn't see it happening and were just as surprised as everyone else when they found out.

Trump and Bernie Sanders were the same model of candidate. Disruptive to the status quo. The voters wanted to disrupt politics as usual.

He has served under presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump and has good memories of them all.

Each were different styles of leaders and each had their good points and bad points.

He told me that President Trump is a businessman and wants to get things done. He doesn't care what side of the aisle you're on, he just wants to get things done. One story Greg shared with me was of Greg mentioning something about federal regulation preventing good forest management in Eastern Oregon and President Trump said follow me into the Oval Office and let's get this taken care of. At this point, Greg had to remind President Trump that there were channels to go through first. That decisive

power was something that DC isn't used to.

American ingenuity in how we tackle the problem was visible throughout the crisis. Instead of the same blue masks the rest of the world used, we sewed our own. One woman in Klamath Falls made 10,000 masks.

Covid Greg made the announcement to not run for reelection in 2019, exactly 1 year from our interview date, and thought he would travel the state one last time while in office, visiting with every county and reminiscing about all the they got done together in his years in office. He thought he would shake hands with his friends and say goodbye in person.

We advanced 10 years of technology adoption into one.

We learned a lot and the lawmakers will have to come across the aisle to work on these supply chain issues.

But then COVID happened and everything changed. He installed zoom on his own laptop and taught himself to hold meetings remotely from his home in Hood River.

The lawmakers realized how what they thought was preparedness was not really going to work when an entire country had to go into lockdown. The supply chains were broken. Drugs come from China and India and India got most of their drugs from China.

PPE was coming from Italy. As the world locked down, the supply chains broke.

I asked Greg, if any good will come from our COVID experience and he said that there is plenty of good.

What's Next?

He and his wife bought eBikes and are dusting off the pickup and travel trailer and want to use their kayaks on lakes as they travel the country and relax.

Home will always be in Hood River and they look forward to the next chapter in life.

Hopefully when COVID is behind us and we can all meet again in person, Greg and his wife will end up at the Jackson County Fair where I'll still be an all day, everyday volunteer and we will shake hands and I can say "thank you for your service and thank you for being so nice" one last time, in person.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 7

LOCAL HEROES

By Jim Teece Publisher of the Southern Oregon Business Journal Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com

The Sta at the Jackson County Expo are some of the unsung heroes in the Almeda Fire.

W

Helen Funk, Jackson County Expo Director and her small but mighty team of heroes (Rob Holmbeck, Ali Leffler and Debbie Stringer)

hen Helen Funk arrived at the expo on September 8, she knew it was mowing day. Since COVID shutdown the expo in March, she had laid off maintenance staff and the job of grounds upkeep fell to her.

She learned how to safely drive the tractor and mow the lawns.

As she was mowing, she wondered to herself, about this new life. She worked hard to turn the Jackson County Expo and County Fair around and

here she was mowing the lawn because COVID had shut down the facility she worked so hard to save. The place was empty.

Minimal staff. No energy. No excitement. A dwindling bank account. She looked up to the heavens and asked for a sign.

She received the first text of what would become hundreds that day. There was a fire burning in Ashland. She worried about her board member that lived there, checked the location and after

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seeing that it wasn't close to where he lived, and went back to her task at hand. It was only when the first sheriff vehicle showed up and dropped off the first family evacuated and rushed back to get more did she realize that this was going to be a long day.

Debbie Stringer was working in the front office part time. She split her time with another department in the county since the expo was shut down due to COVID since March. As she was

getting caught up on filing, when the phone started to ring. People wanted to know

few things when he saw the mass of people being dropped off and chaos start to build. He called his wife and told her that he wasn't sure what was going on, but it was going to be a long day.

Ali Leffler was on vacation at the coast. She and her husband, Scott, heard about the fires and Ali sent a text to Helen that she was on her way and would be there as soon as she could.

where to bring horses being evacuated by the fire. Then more calls came in, the animal shelter was being evacuated.

This is when she knew it was going to be a long day.

Rob Holmbeck was on his day off. Since March he was mostly working for the parks department but kept things at his pre-covid job, at the expo, percolating in the background.

He decided to go into the fairgrounds office to drop off a training DVD and check on a

These 4 people are the heart and soul of the Jackson County expo.

They aren't staff, as much as they are aligned doers with hearts of gold. On this day and the days that followed they showed what they were made of and why they are among the heroes in Jackson County during the Almeda Fire.

Because the Expo is a designated emergency shelter in the county, and COVID shut the expo to all activities, there was an overflow hospital setup in one of the buildings. It had cots and supplies in case there was an outbreak and more space was needed for quarantine in the valley. The overflow never happened but the mobile hospital was ready

to go and on the day of the fire it sat empty.

There was also a duplicate of the hospital in storage, ready to be deployed. It never got unboxed.

This team knows how to handle stress.

They do it every year for the county fair. They work insane hours for 10+ days getting ready for, running and then cleaning up after the county's largest event.

This knowledge and practice is what made them the perfect team for what happened.

Rob knew about the spare hospital and directed his parks department team and the CP City Public Works team, to duplicate the hospital that was up, in another building. They needed it because bus loads of seniors from a burned down senior care center were being brought in.

Debbie, a caring, strong willed, extremely well organized front office manager, took care of the animal evacuations. Mr. Miller, a FFA advisor, led the charge to stand up all the animal pens.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 9

Expo Heroes (Continued)

Ali and her husband got to the expo and immediately started helping. Ali took care of people and Scott took care of stuff. He drove forklifts and helped setup equipment.

People were starting to show up to drop off clothes and food and supplies. Ali took charge and started coordinating this effort.

The county incident commander, John Vial, quietly rallied the troops. Hundreds of volunteers and every department of the county was quickly onsite.

They had 2,000 evacuees sleeping in tents, cots, in their cars and on the ground that first night. When the red cross showed up a few days later, they remarked about not only how organized it was but also how calm it was.

The whole event tends to blur for Helen, but there are a few stories about other amazing people that stepped in to volunteer in big ways.

Oregon State Representative Pam Marsh, showed up with no fan fair and rolled up her sleeves to help. She asked Helen what was needed and Helen told her that people need DMV access to get driver

licenses and ID. People were evacuated with no chance to run back in to get wallets and purses. The DMV was shut down due to COVID and Pam got one opened up and transportation to and from the DMV office to the expo to help people get their ID. Pam also got pharmacies to show up to help with meds that were left behind as well.

Alan Deboer, retired state representative, came to Helen and asked what she needed.

She needed transport so Alan, who owns several car dealerships in town, sent two passenger vans with drivers, to the expo for 10 hours a day for two weeks to drive people to the store or wherever they needed to go.

The youth leaders in the LDS church showed up and were task masters. Their first major task was a phone takeover.

They answered every call and gave out information as people were calling the expo to find other people or to find out what to do.

Brandon Carlson, who normally runs the sound and lights for all the events at the expo, showed up with his wife and they did everything they could to help.

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The list goes on and on.

People and companies from all over the pacific northwest showed up with food, water, forklifts and refrigerated tractor trailers.

There is more to the story. The expo was nearly evacuated on the second day, when someone started a fire on the greenway near Central Point and it burned uncontrollably for several scary hours. The Obenchain fire that continued to burn for several days nearby brought in several livestock animals that needed to be evacuated throughout the weeks.

Helen and her team didn't sleep more than a couple hours a night for the first week or two. They worked day and night to ensure that the expo experience of everyone there was the best it could be.

They do this every year during the county fair and hundreds of other events throughout the year, and they just did it again, during their first and hopefully last emergency.

The next page contains photo’s from Rob’s Phone - He took photos everyday and shared with me stories of people and companies that came from all over the pacific northwest to help., with supplies, volunteers and love.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 11

COMMUNITY BANKING

By Press Release peoplesbank.bank

Willamette Community Bank to Merge With People’s Bank of Commerce

Highlights of the Announced Transaction •

Pro forma assets of approximately $710 million

•

4th largest bank headquartered in Oregon, ranked by pro forma assets

•

Enhances geographic presence along I-5 corridor

P

eople’s Bank of Commerce Willamette Valley which provides customers and supportive (OTCPK: PBCO) (“PBCO” or further growth opportunities and shareholders. People’s Bank of the “Company”), and increases geographic Commerce is the perfect fit for us Willamette Community Bank diversification. The combined and I am excited about what we (OTCPK: WMCB), headquartered bank will have greater resources will achieve together.” in Albany, Oregon, announced to invest in technology and be the signing of a definitive Joan Reukauf, President and agreement whereby Chief Executive Officer of Willamette Community Bank Willamette Community We are excited about this opportunity will merge with and into Bank added, “The to bring together two banking People’s Bank of Commerce.

Willamette Community franchises with similar philosophies to Bank team looks forward to joining People’s Bank of As of September 30, 2020, on create a larger, stronger community Commerce to create a a pro forma basis, the bank in the state of Oregon larger combined bank combined company would which will be better have approximately $710 positioned to meet the million in total assets and better positioned to provide needs of our customers and would operate nine branches in customers with superior service, communities and provide greater Southern Oregon and Willamette improve operational efficiencies opportunities for our employees.

Valley markets. and create strong returns for our We also believe this combination shareholders and our provides appealing operational “We are excited about this communities.” scale and improved trading opportunity to bring together two liquidity for our stockholders.” banking franchises with similar Kerry Johnson, Chairman of philosophies to create a larger, Willamette Community Bank said, The Boards of People’s Bank of stronger community bank in the “On behalf of the Willamette Commerce and Willamette state of Oregon” said Ken Community Bank board of Community Bank unanimously Trautman, CEO of People’s Bank directors, I want to express our approved the transaction, which is of Commerce. Trautman enthusiasm for this merger and subject to, among other continued, “This is a logical our appreciation for our conditions, approval by the combination to expand into the dedicated employees, faithful

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shareholders of People’s Bank of Commerce and Willamette Community Bank, regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021.

The aggregate merger consideration consists of approximately 1.2 million shares of People’s Bank of Commerce and $1.5 million in cash. Based on the closing stock price of $10.85 on November 4, 2020 for People’s Bank of Commerce, the aggregate value of the merger consideration was approximately $14.9 million, or $8.02 per share.

The value of the merger consideration will change based on the stock price of People’s Bank of Commerce. On a per share basis, the value of the merger consideration can be calculated based on an exchange ratio of 0.6665 shares of People’s Bank of Commerce, plus cash of $0.785 in exchange for each share of Willamette Community Bank.

Subject to aggregate consideration limitations and potential pro-rata adjustment, Willamette Community Bank shareholders will be offered the choice of receiving: i) 100% stock consideration, ii) 100% cash consideration or iii) the per share mix described above. On a pro forma basis upon closing, the Willamette Community Bank shareholders will own approximately 26% of

outstanding People’s Bank of Commerce shares.

Upon closing, Joan Reukauf will serve as Area President and Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of People’s Bank of Commerce.

Three current members of Willamette Community Bank’s board of directors will join the board of directors of People’s Bank of Commerce. After closing, Willamette Community Bank’s three branches will continue to operate under the name Willamette Community Bank, a division of People’s Bank of Commerce.

Willamette Community Bank has three branches in Albany, Salem and Lebanon, Oregon.

As of September 30, 2020, Willamette Community Bank had $210 million in total assets, $147 million in gross loans held for investment and $181 million in total deposits.

People’s Bank of Commerce has six branches throughout Southern Oregon with their headquarters in Medford, Oregon.

As of September 30, 2020, People’s Bank of Commerce had $500 million in total assets, $356 million in gross loans held for investment and $432 million in total deposits.

Advisors D.A. Davidson & Co. served as financial advisor to People’s Bank of Commerce and Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP served as legal counsel. Piper Sandler & Co. served as financial advisor to Willamette Community Bank and Buchalter APC served as legal counsel.

About People’s Bank of Commerce Founded in 1998, People’s Bank of Commerce is the only locally owned and managed community bank in Southern Oregon.

People’s Bank of Commerce is a full service bank headquartered in Medford, Oregon with branches in Medford, Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass and Klamath Falls. People’s Bank of Commerce’s stock trades on the over-the-counter market under the symbol PBCO. Additional information about the Bank is available in the investor section of the bank’s website at: www.peoplesbank.bank.

About Willamette Community Bank Founded in 2003, Willamette Community Bank is a full service bank headquartered in Albany, Oregon and serves customers from three offices located in Albany, Lebanon, and Salem.

Willamette Community Bank’s stock trades on the over-thecounter market under the symbol WMCB. More information can be found at www.willamettecommunitybank.c om.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 13

COMMUNITY BANKING

By Press Release peoplesbank.bank

P

People's Bank posts results for 3rd quarter.

• Pre-tax income increased 56% eople’s Bank of good, consistent non-interest • Mortgage lending income up by Commerce (OTCBB: income, even considering the 308% PBCO) announced today pandemic shutdown in April • Non-interest Income increased its financial results for the third and May of this year. The 44% quarter and year-to-date 2020.

Paycheck Protection Program • Non-interest Expense The bank reported net income (PPP) processing fee income increased 1% of $1,937,000 or $0.55 per also contributed to a very basic and diluted share for the strong first nine months of CEO’s Comments third quarter of 2020, 2020. Total loan growth, compared to net income of excluding PPP loans, has been “Over five years ago the bank $947,000 or $0.30 per share in very soft through the 3rd created a strategic plan that the same quarter of 2019. quarter of 2020, while deposits focused on the development Earnings for the first nine are up 37%, some of which can of non-interest income that months of 2020 totaled also be attributed to PPP,” would stabilize the bank’s $4,433,000 or $1.28 per share stated Ken Trautman, People’s compared to $2,719,000 Bank CEO. or $0.89 per share during For the quarter ending September 30, the first three quarters of “Last year I said that 2019 2020, non-interest income was $3.1 2019. Earnings per share had been a year of change for the trailing 12 months for the bank, which million compared to $1.70 million in ending September 30, included a core processing the same quarter one year earlier.

2020 were $1.71 per share conversion as well as staff compared to $1.19 during reductions in our branch the same period one year earnings during periods of low system due to improved earlier. interest rates. Today we are technology and processing Balance sheet September 30, seeing the benefits of that centralization. The year 2020 2020 vs. September 30, 2019: strategy as interest rates are has been a year of adaptation • Total Loans increased 35% again at all-time lows. While as we navigate through the • Total Deposits increased 37% low rates are detrimental to our COVID-19 reality, face • Total Assets increased 37% overall net interest income devastating wildfires and wait • Total Equity increased 31% after provision, up only 1% for a return to normalcy,” over the same period in 2019, added Trautman.

Income statement year-to date they do enhance the income September 30, 2020 vs. potential of our Home Lending “The year’s unique September 30, 2019: Department. The bank’s circumstances of increased fee • Net-interest Income increased factoring company, purchased income due to the pandemic 10% in 2017, is also contributing has enabled the bank and its

14 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020

We’ve been here for you for over 20 years and we’re going to continue to be

.

People’s Bank 3rd Qtr Results (Continued)

employees to substantially contribute to the rebuilding of the Rogue Valley community after the tragic fires which displaced nearly 3,000 families,” commented Trautman.

“Through a donation to the People’s Bank of Commerce Foundation of more than $1.2 million, the bank and its employees are proud to support the newly formed Southern Oregon Housing Initiative. This collaboration of community businesses and partners is diligently working to develop solutions for intermediate and long-term housing for fire victims.”

Provision for Credit Losses The bank’s year-to-date provision for loan and lease losses was $1.2 million compared a provision of $211 thousand during the same period last year. This increase was a hedge against the unknown credit issues that could arise because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In spite of COVID-19, credit quality remains strong with no loans past due over 90 days or on non-accrual at September 30, 2020, consistent with the same time in 2019. At the end of the third quarter 2020, the loan loss reserve for portfolio loans, excluding PPP loans, was 1.56% compared to 1.12% at the end of the third quarter 2019.

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Non-Interest Income For the quarter ending September 30, 2020, non-interest income was $3.1 million compared to $1.70 million in the same quarter one year earlier. For the first three quarters of 2020, non-interest income was significantly higher than the previous year with $7.1 million compared to $4.9 million year-to-date in 2019. The bank’s home lending division generated $3.1 million in non-interest income while Steelhead Finance, the bank’s factoring division, generated $2.8 million during the three quarters of 2020.

Non-Interest Expense For the quarter ending September 30, 2020, non-interest expense was $4.3 million compared to $3.9 million in the same quarter of 2019. Year-to-date non-interest expense totaled $11.6 million through September 30, 2020, compared to $11.4 million in the same period the prior year.

Capital As of September 30, 2020, shareholder’s equity totaled $50.9 million, compared to $38.8 million at September 30, 2019. The bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio was 9.40% at the end of the third quarter 2020, compared to 9.73% one year ago.

Tangible Book value per share was $13.25 on September 30, 2020, compared to $11.23 on September 30, 2019.

Looking Forward

By Jim Teece Southern Oregon Business Journal Publisher

SouthernOregonBusiness.com

I stumbled into a rabbit hole.

Someone sent me a report about how Oregon places next to other states as far as supporting small business and it didn’t do very well.

So I started thinking about how to minimize risk and still start a business in Oregon and franchising became something I started reading about which led me to several interviews with franchisees and franchisors.

So it might be next week, or next month, but you can expect to see a series of stories about franchising as a way to minimize risk if you are so inclined to start a business.

In the December issue, I also plan to introduce to you some of the non-profits my wife and I are involved with and share their stories with hopes that their story will inspire you to give to them or other non-profits at the end of the year.

The January issue will be 100% online. I don’t even know if I’ll layout a “print” version of the journal. This means the ads will change. I have to find ways to give the advertiser and sponsor the visibility they deserve for supporting this side hustle of mine.

Be sure to visit SouthernOregonBusiness.com and sign up for FREE emails.

We don’t spam and we do not sell your email address. We will send you an email at least once a month to let you know that our newest print version is out and available online.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 17

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

By Jim Teece, Susan Hearn, Cynthia Scherr, Sandra Slattery and Nick Alexander.

LiveAndWorkInAshland.com

W

hen the pandemic sent us all working from home, many of the high tech workers in the

Ashland community launches new site to attract the next generation of workers and employers to town

big cities realized that they could work from anywhere and many started looking.

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A group of folks came together in Ashland to create a video series that told the story of living and working remotely

in Ashland with hopes of attracting those workers and in some cases employers that were looking for a better quality of life.

We asked each party in the project to share their thoughts about the project.

Susan Hearn

Non-profit Leader

The idea came in April, 2020 when so many companies were announcing that working from home may continue or be extended for at least a year. I was feeling very fortunate working from home in Ashland while enjoying beautiful trails to hike, and lovely views out my window. My eldest daughter was living in a small

apartment in Capitol Hill, Seattle and feeling very cooped up. The public parks in Seattle were even off limits in the early days of the shut down.

We moved to Ashland when I was 27 years old and have always felt it was the perfect size to raise a family and feel part of a community. Of course I had a selfish motive. Our daughter is 27 now and we would love for her and her fiance to come back to Ashland to build their lives together as young professionals. What would make Ashland even better would be more vibrant young people who would create the community for the next generation.

We have been one of the top 10 towns to retire in for years, but Ashland is also a great place to live when you are young. Let's show off happy young business owners, leaders and professionals sharing why they love living and working in Ashland. I called my friend Cynthia Scherr and we thought of Jim Teece as a wonderful teammate with similar motives of attracting young enthusiastic people to Ashland. We brainstormed about how to make the biggest impact and provide a catalyst for attracting people to Ashland and the Live and Work in Ashland Video Project idea was born. Jim knew Nick Alexander, our talented filmmaker, the Ashland Chamber got involved and we chose youngish Ashlanders to tell their stories. I hope the video series will make people proud to live in Ashland and excited about what the future might bring.

Cynthia Scherr

Scherr Management Consulting

Just like any business needs a succession plan, so do small towns. Ashland has become known as a retirement community, which brings many talented and resourceful people here, but we also need to be a magnet for the next generation. This project is important because we hear from people who chose either

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 19

Live and Work in Ashland (Continued)

to move here or to stay here to raise families and build businesses. To keep our economy vibrant and diverse, as well as to have a reliable tax base to fund our parks, schools and other community qualityof-life investments, we hope to attract people who want to live, work, play and lead in this jewel of a mountain town. It’s a place where everyone makes a difference.

networking with business owners.

My team and I also had fun working with Jim Teece, Susan Hearn and Cynthia Scherr. We worked together from the beginning and carried the project to completion. As the director and editor of the video series, I am proud of our work and eager to make a difference in Ashland’s business community. My team looks forward to more projects with the Chamber and Ashland’s thriving business community.

Jim Teece

Project A, Ashland Home Net, & Southern Oregon Business Journal

Susan Hearn approached Cynthia Scherr with the idea and then they both approached me. Together we came up with the plan, brought the Ashland Chamber of Commerce in to sponsor ½ of the project (the three of us sponsored the rest) and we hired a videographer to interview real ashland citizens that either ran their own businesses or worked remotely and then edit it down into short exciting videos that we hoped would go viral.

My company, Project A, also donated the development of the website and I’m proud of the whole project.

The finished product can be found at liveandworkinashland.com.

Sandra Slattery

Executive Director Ashland Chamber of Commerce

Nick Alexander

Documentary Filmmaker, Business Owner

The Live and Work in Ashland video series was a wonderful collaboration for my video production business, Ashland Chamber of Commerce and local business owners. As a young entrepreneur and graduate of Southern Oregon University, I enjoyed learning about different companies in the Ashland community and

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The Ashland Chamber is proud to have partnered on this video project highlighting many of our business owners showcasing why Ashland is a great place to live and grow your business. The Chamber has been promoting this message for decades and we believe the story is always best told by those who are doing the work day in and day out.

Ashland is continually changing and adapting but what remains constant is the draw we have for creative, talented people who choose to make this community home.

Connecting, collaborating and improving the economy and quality of life.

Sponsors The Southern Oregon Business Journal extends sincere thanks to the following companies for their continued presence as important cogs in the wheels of industry in southern Oregon.

REACH

YOUR TARGET THROUGH

ADS Please check out our advertisers. We appreciate them for supporting the Southern Oregon Business Journal.

People’s Bank page 15

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Thousands of Business People get a chance to see your ad in the monthly Business Journal.

SOU page 25

Send your ad copy to: Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com Jim Teece - Publisher

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Umpqua Broadband page 23

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 21

22 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020

Welcome to Umpqua BroadBand!

High Speed Internet for Rural Douglas County.

Rural homes, farms, ranches and businesses now have an option. We have towers strategically located all over the Umpqua Valley. We have hundreds of happy customers that have made the switch to Umpqua Broadband™, replacing their slow DSL or Exede wireless service. umpquabroadband.com New Office : 845 Mosher, Roseburg, OR 97470 (541) 672-3793 customercare@umpquabroadband.com

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 23

EDUCATION

Southern Oregon University Launches New Esports Management Minor

By Southern Oregon University News sou.edu/academics/esports/

A

minor in esports management? Information about the soon-to-belaunched Esports Hub in SOU’s Student Recreation Center? The university’s new esports website brings all the information about SOU’s trend-setting programs together in one place.

The university is launching both an academic program and a competitive team in esports this fall, becoming one of the first institutions on the West Coast to offer both. Esports is a billion-dollar global enterprise, and SOU’s combination of programs will position students for future employment in the growing industry.

The new website offers details about both the academic and competitive sides of esports at SOU, from course descriptions and faculty profiles to timely information for those

interested in joining the university’s esports teams.

SOU’s academic minor in esports management is one of just a handful that are offered nationally. It is offered through SOU’s Business Program and includes curriculum in business, marketing, digital media and communication. The minor consists of two core courses – Introduction to Esports Management and Contemporary & Ethical Issues in Esports – and four elective courses.

The Esports Hub in SOU’s Student Recreation Center will feature 12 topend computer gaming stations, one of which will be reserved for streaming and esports commentating – known as “shoutcasting.” The hub, which will be open before Thanksgiving, will be used for intercollegiate competitions, intramural gaming and open play for

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all SOU students and SRC members.

The computers are in place and an order of chairs for the facility arrived recently; painting touch-ups, installation of the main video screen and other detail work will occur over the next few weeks.

Esports team tryouts will begin Oct. 26. Students who are interested in joining the SOU team are invited to sign up online.

SOU’s intercollegiate Esports team is expected to compete in the Collegiate Starleague (CSL), which hosted the first collegiate competition in 2009 and has grown to include teams from 1,800 college campuses across North America. The CSL offers leagues under several titles and platforms, for players at all skill levels.

Leadership Begins at Southern Oregon University.

“My time at SOU helped shape my career path, giving me the confidence to pursue a career in the business world.”

Fred Mossler, ’90, first employee of Zappos.com

sou.edu

• 855-470-3377 Southern Oregon Business Journal October 2020 | 25

COVID-19

Zoom Towns Are Real

By Josh Lehner Oregon Office of Economic Analysis

Stories about pandemic migration and working from home abound, even as we are months away from any hard data. This can be a struggle, balancing these anecdotes and speculation when we lack any real evidence. And the issue isn’t that these things are

not happening. They clearly are.

The issue is that Oregon sees hundreds of thousands of people move every single year. What really matters is when any changes are widespread enough to be more than noise.

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To that end, we just don’t know yet. We will get Oregon population estimates from Portland State in December, but need to wait until April for the full set of underlying data tables. And the 2020 ACS data won’t come out until September 2021.

The key question is to the extent we do see pandemic migration, will that be enough to offset the fact few people moved during the shelter in place phase of the cycle, let alone offset the traditional slowdown in migration during recessions? Statewide, our office does not believe so, but our forecast may be too pessimistic given this is not your normal business cycle. Plus regional patterns will always differ from statewide figures.

Our view is further clouded by the fact the DMV is appointment only these days due to social distancing. As such we have lost our traditional real-time migration indicator: surrendered driver licenses. That leaves us looking at things like home sales as a measure of mobility, even as it is hard to disentangle local moves vs out-of-state migration.

Here we see ongoing strength in housing due to the fact higherincome households have been less impacted by the recession to date, interest rates are at record lows, and there is the strong demographic tailwind of Millennials aging into their 30s and 40s.

Even so, all of these factors bring home sales nationally and in some popular metro areas to a point where 2020 will show solid to very strong gains. But there are some places experiencing eye-catching growth. Home sales are up double digits among Conor Sen’s “Zoom Towns” — popular, smaller, scenic areas from which workers can telecommute. Keep in mind that given the ongoing strong demand and pending sales

numbers, the final year-end figures will be up even further across all locations.

UPDATE: The chart has been updated to reflect better Missoula home sales data. The previous chart showed 22% growth which was incorrect. The true number is 9.8% per local MLS statistics. A big thank you to Brint Wahlberg, a Missoula realtor, for spotting the error and correcting the data. My apologies for the error.

One of the key questions earlier this year was whether we would see people double down on existing patterns of migration and places to live, or whether we would see new patterns emerge.

Keep in mind that it is still early in the cycle and the winds may change as it drags on, but early returns indicate we are doubling down.

Now, I want to touch on a couple related issues. The first is inventory, which is down about 40 percent a lot of places in Oregon, and 20 percent nationally.

Normally inventory does not actually restrain sales. The main reason inventory is low is because sales are strong! But this year in some places it may actually be an issue. Take Hood River for example. You can currently count on your fingers the number of homes for sale, even at luxury price points. This extremely lean inventory is problematic for the market. But more generally, lower inventories make it a sellers’ market, and prices appreciate faster.

Second, I think the major increases in luxury homes are distorting some of the overall market figures. Some media articles out of Montana indicate the $1 million+ properties are a hot segment. In Bend, sales have been very strong above $750,000 with pending sales of $1m+ through the roof. Now, it’s hard to say that this means all that much for middle-income families, but it does drag up the average, and even the median home price due to a big compositional shift.

Third, it remains an open question as to what all these home sales actually mean for migration and population growth. Most buyers are usually local. They tend to be either first-time or move-up buyers. However a part of the strength is tied to migration as well. Increases of 10-15% in the Zoom Towns is not due to local demand alone. Although an added question is whether these sales represent true migration and population growth, or simply increased demand for second homes. That distinction may not matter for the housing market, but it does for the local economy.

Bottom Line: The housing market is among the strongest segments of the economy. Ownership is expected to remain strong due to demographics, low interest rates, and the nature of the cycle. Even so, popular, scenic areas have experienced an even greater influx of demand. Zoom Towns appear to be real and pandemicrelated migration looks to be doubling down on existing patterns of growth.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 27

EMPLOYMENT

Employer Costs for Employee Compensation in the U.S.

By Jessica Nelson Oregon Employment Economist

Employer’s total costs for employee compensation include wage and salary earnings, along with multiple categories of benefits. In June 2020, total compensation averaged $38.20 per hour worked among civilian workers in the U.S. Wages and salaries amounted to $26.17 per hour, while benefits totaled $12.04.

Wages and salaries accounted for 69 percent of employees’ total compensation across the civilian workforce, while the other 31 percent came in a variety of benefits.

State and local government employee compensation averaged $52.36 per hour. Benefits account for a larger share of total compensation

for state and local government employees, at 38 percent of total compensation.

Total compensation for private industry workers averaged $35.96, with $25.18 in wages and salaries and $10.79, or 30 percent, in total benefits. Insurance and legally required benefits each accounted for 8 percent of employee compensation. Paid leave made up another 7 percent. Retirement and savings were 4 percent of compensation, and supplemental pay was 3 percent of the total.

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Employee Compensation by Occupation Group Among private industry workers, total compensation was greatest for employees in management and professional occupations. Total employer costs for management and professional compensation reached $61.78 per hour worked in June 2020. Wages and salaries were closing in on $43 per hour on average among these employees, with benefit costs contributing another $19 per hour. Paid leave accounted for a bit more of total compensation among the management and professional

leave for these workers are all very low in comparison.

Union Workers Have Greater Total Compensation For private industry workers represented by unions, wages and salaries reached $29.29 per hour in June 2020, and total benefit costs averaged $20.11 per hour. For nonunion workers, wages and salaries averaged $24.80, while total benefits came in at $9.93 per hour, less than half the total benefit cost for private-sector union workers.

workforce, at 9.5 percent of compensation.

Employees in natural resources, construction, and maintenance occupations averaged $37.25 in total compensation. Benefits totaled $11.97 per hour, 32 percent of total compensation, while wages and salaries averaged $25.28. Legally required benefits, and retirement and savings both accounted for a greater share of total compensation among these workers, while paid leave costs for these employees were lower than the private industry worker average.

The production, transportation, and material moving workforce averaged compensation costs of $29.73 per hour. Total compensation was tilted even more in favor of benefits for these workers, with 34 percent of the total in benefits and 66 percent of compensation in wages and salaries.

Legally required benefits and insurance both account for a greaterthan-average share of total

compensation among these workers, which may be partially due to the dangerous and physically difficult aspects of many of these jobs.

Employer costs to compensate sales and office workers averaged $27.17 per hour worked in June 2020.

Wages and salaries made up 72 percent of total compensation, with the other 28 percent in benefits.

Retirement and savings, and paid leave made up smaller-than-average shares of total compensation for sales and office workers.

Service workers averaged by far the lowest total compensation, at $17.90 per hour worked. These workers had the largest share of their total compensation in the form of wages and salaries, at 75 percent, but the nominal costs of both wages and salaries and total benefits is quite low for these workers compared with other occupation groups. Employer costs for supplemental pay, retirement and savings, and paid

Benefits make up a solid 41 percent of total compensation costs among union workers, contrasted with 29 percent for the nonunion workforce.

Insurance costs per hour for union workers are almost three times the hourly cost for nonunion workers.

Retirement and savings costs also differ sharply, with the cost for union workers ringing in at four times the cost for nonunion workers. Employer costs for union workers were greater than for nonunion workers in every category of benefits.

Across the workforce, more than three out of 10 dollars in employer costs for employee compensation are provided in benefits. When we look at average wage statistics, it’s important to realize that wages don’t tell the entire story. Of course, in many cases benefits are skewed toward already higher-wage forms of work, making the gap in total compensation even larger than wage data can show.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 29

Recent large fires fed by forest management issues and climate change.

OPINION

By Terry Brown Professor Emeritus Wood Science and Engineering Dept.

Oregon State University

T

here is a lot of misinformation about the state of our forests, especially in the intense political climate we are in regarding the causes of the massive forest fires in the West.

Commercial thinning is a method used to open up the tree crowns to light as the trees are growing.

There is usually one, sometimes two, commercial thinning during that time. These trees grow, sometimes over a 40 to 60 year cycle depending on the soil productivity. Some landowners grow trees 80 to 100 years.

Throughout that time, the

Image by skeeze from Pixabay

smaller, less vigorous trees are removed, forest debris does not build up, and in the end, the tree spacing may be 16 feet or more between remaining trees. The result is a healthy forest.

Unfortunately thinning as a tool of the professional forester has occurred far less frequently in recent years.

After the Spotted Owl restrictions essentially stopped all timber harvest on federal lands in the early 1990s. It resulted in a domino effect of reducing active management, revenue to maintain the forest (for thinning, restoration and fuels reduction),

30 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020

mill closures, and having significant negative impacts on rural economies. This has created a situation in Western forests where debris has built up, and dog-haired stands of closely spaced trees are growing.

These trees have become less healthy, fuels increased and forests overall have become much more prone to fire as time goes on. This condition occurs across vast areas of federal forests in Oregon and the West.

The current situation in the West is a perfect storm. Because so much of the timber has burned on Forest Service or BLM (Bureau

of Land Management) lands, it reflects the decades of poor investment, in or a lack of forest management.

It has been a frustration to the few foresters left in the Forest Service and BLM who have not been allowed to practice sound forestry practices that they know are important, due to budget and political constraints.

In many places, forest management positions in these agencies were reduced and replaced with forest recreationrelated positions. There are many Forest Service districts that don’t have anyone left who can lay out a sound management and harvest plan.

Many foresters have predicted what is happening now for years.

The second issue is climate change. As a person who also has a degree in Meteorology, I tend to follow the preponderance of research evidence that global warming is real. There will always be a few scientists with various political agendas that deny global warming, and it is these people that those who are unwilling to accept that climate change is happening, cite to justify their positions.

Currently Biden says the issue is global warming. Trump says it is poor forest management (I would ask why he has not increased funding for better forest management on federal lands during his four years a President.)

The truth it is a combination of both (as well as other factors). For the last 20 years, those who follow climate change in the West have

seen more and more drought conditions and more extreme weather that are normal indicators of global warming.

This has created a situation where the forests are extremely dry, longer fire seasons (by weeks) and because there has not been the investment in sound forest management on federal lands, we have unhealthy, dense forests with a lot of debris on the forest floor.

All it takes is a spark.

Because of the more extreme nature of weather due to global warming, the driving factor of many of the recent wildfires in Oregon was sustained winds of 85 MPH plus for 10 hours straight. This caused the Beachie fire to grow from 500 acres to over 140,000 acres in 24 hours. This is unheard of winds speeds in the history of tracking winds in the Cascades.

I hope this helps people understand what is happening in Western forests. So much of the time people want solutions that are easy and politicians say what will get them votes. The reality is that it is much more complex than that. It is clear that much more funding must be committed to sound forest management practices on our National Forests.

—Terry Brown is Professor Emeritus, Wood Science and Engineering Department, OSU, and Director of the Lumber Quality Institute, LLC.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 31

EMPLOYMENT

Disparate Impact: COVID-19 Job Losses

by Sector and Gender in Oregon

By Gail Krumenauer Oregon State Employment Economist gail.k.krumenauer@oregon.gov

Every recession is unique, with varying impacts on workers in different parts of the economy.

The dot com recession in 2001 hit high-tech harder than other sectors. Construction bore the hardest brunt of job losses during the Great Recession. The COVID-19 recession, now in its eighth month, is showing its own set of disparate impacts in Oregon and nationwide.

In March and April, Oregon’s total nonfarm payroll employment dropped by 271,900, or 13.8 percent. Oregon regained nearly half (45% or 122,100) of the net job loss between May and September. Both the initial spring losses and the rebound in employment looks quite different by sector and across workers of varying demographics.

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Initial Shock by Sector One out of every eight jobs in Oregon was either temporarily or permanently lost in two months’ time. That’s a stunning and unparalleled rate of job loss over such a short period. Three of the state’s service-based sectors lost even larger shares of jobs. Leisure and hospitality – including hotels,

restaurants, and theaters – shed 118,700 jobs in March and April, more than half (-54.8%) of its employment. Other services – which includes automotive repair, barber shops and beauty salons, and parking garages – dropped one out of every five of its 65,800 jobs (-22.3%). Private education services also saw sharp declines

rebound. These establishments have only added back 300 jobs, as instruction remains largely online and initial estimates show lower enrollments. Even with the initial bounce back, these combined sectors remain 73,600 jobs below their February level.

(-6,000 or -16.0%) as schools shuttered in the spring.

While most sectors are rebounding from the initial COVID-19 recession job losses, others are starting to see additional declines as COVID-19 and its economic impacts linger.

The state’s corporate headquarters companies, local government, and manufacturing each had lower rates of job loss

Recovery is underway in each of these sectors. By September, leisure and hospitality and other services each regained more than half their spring job losses. Private education has been slower to

Second Wave of Job Losses

than Oregon overall in March and April.

They’re still on the downward slide though. From May to September, manufacturing lost another 3,400 jobs, for a total decline of 8.2 percent since February. Similarly, local government – roughly half of

which is K-12 and higher education – dropped by 13,600 jobs (-5.9%) in spring, and lost another 3,600 jobs since then.

The largely corporate management of companies sector initially lost 2,200 jobs (-4.3%), and lost another 600 since May, for a total drop of 5.5 percent.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 33

COVID-19 Employment (Continued)

Job Losses in FemaleDominated Sectors The differing makeup of each sector’s workforce, and different impacts of the COVID-19 closures by sector, means workers in some demographic groups are feeling this recession to a greater degree than others so far. Women held the majority of jobs in each of the three sectors with the largest initial losses by share. In 2019, the Census Bureau’s Quarterly Workforce Indicators show women held two out of three jobs in private education services. They accounted for 54 percent of jobs in leisure and hospitality, and 55 percent in other services.

Women also hold two out of three jobs in public education services.

Most public school districts in Oregon remain physically closed, and as detailed by the Office of Economic Analysis, that’s creating negative employment impacts.

Enrollments are down, and online education largely cuts the need for substitute teachers.

Jobs in management of companies were evenly split between men and women in 2019. While manufacturing was and is male-dominated (72% of jobs), the total loss in the femaledominated private sectors listed above has been four times greater to date in this recession.

Women’s Unemployment and Labor Force Outcomes

The disparate impact to sectors where more women have jobs is reflected in unemployment rates.

Since the COVID-19 recession began in Oregon, the unemployment rate for women has consistently been 2 to 3 percentage points higher than for men. In September 2020, the unemployment rate for women was 9.6 percent, compared with 6.7 percent for men.

Unemployment rates only capture those who’ve remained in the labor force. If someone lost or quit a job, and hasn’t actively looked for one in the past four weeks, or isn’t available or able to take a job offered to them, they’re no longer counted as being in the labor force.

In addition to higher unemployment rates, women have also exited the labor force in higher numbers than men.

Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported women left the labor force at four times the rate of men in September 2020.

Oregon has seen a similar trend to the nation, with significantly more women than men departing the labor force, particularly since the summer.

Working parents – and especially working mothers, who often shoulder more at-home care responsibilities and often earn less – are facing increased pressures of juggling child care, young children’s virtual learning,

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and their own jobs, many of which aren’t possible from home. With reduced child care options and continued social distancing, parents are facing these challenges without the usual supports from educational and social programs. A recent NPR article notes, “The pandemic’s female exodus has decidedly turned back the clock by at least a generation, with the share of women in the workforce down to levels not seen since 1988.” In addition, the national outflow of women in the labor force in September was particularly concentrated among Latinas. “As hundreds of thousands of women dropped out of the workforce in September, Latinas led the way, leaving at nearly three times the rate of white women and more than four times the rate of African Americans.”

Education: the Linchpin The COVID-19 closures for health and safety measures have resulted in unparalleled job losses in majority-female sectors. With only partial recovery in these sectors, and the continued closure of many education services establishments, women have seen disproportionate, negative outcomes in unemployment and labor force departures. Other disparate impacts have occurred so far in this recession as well – by geography, and race and ethnicity – which will continue to be researched and published at QualityInfo.org in the coming weeks and months.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

New Manufacturing Plant to Open in Klamath Falls

By Julie Matthews, Project Manager Choose Klamath/ KCEDA www.chooseklamath.com

A

n international company announced Wednesday that it will build a multimillion dollar manufacturing plant in Klamath Falls that will employ about 50 people.

Wilsonart Engineered Services, based in Temple, Tex., manufactures and distributes materials used in furniture, office spaces, countertops and more. It will construct a 95,000-squarefoot building located on 19 acres of private WESGO industrial park land near the Klamath Falls airport.

Construction will begin immediately and the plant is slated to open by July 2021 According to the company, the site “allows for future expansion.”

The facility will include a quickcycle press used to manufacture parts of Wilsonart’s thermallyfused laminate manufacturing lines. That includes cabinet doors, panels and edge band in different designs and textures.

The Klamath County Economic Development Association estimated the development will create 50 direct family-wage jobs, 40 spinoff jobs and invest more than $20 million into Klamath County.

“This corporation selecting Klamath County is a big step forward for our organization and the community at large,” said KCEDA CEO Randy Cox. Cox said the facility represents job growth and an expanded “traded-

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sector enterprise in our region,” which he said are critical to the Klamath County economy.

Klamath County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot noted that he worked closely with KCEDA to help recruit the new development.

DeGroot said they had been working for months to woo the company.

“Our community was able to prove to them, without a doubt, Klamath is the place to be for their operation,” he said.

According to Cox, Business Oregon played a critical role in helping secure the project. It was Business Oregon who first introduced the development opportunity to KCEDA.

New Telecommunications Firm Expanding in Klamath Falls

Klamath Falls, OR (November 5th, 2020) – Today, the Klamath County Economic Development Association (KCEDA) publicly announced that the KRTelecom Group has started new operations in Klamath Falls and is expected to expand substantially in the next few months. Working with partners such as Verizon, Spectrum, and AT&T, KRTelecom offers consulting services to help businesses achieve optimal broadband solutions to data networking. The company leadership represents over 25 years of telecommunications experience and looks to place emphasis on providing cost management services that help companies streamline and enhance their respective processes. KRTelecom has currently hired 6 people but will soon be moving into the 3rd floor of the former Pine Tree Theater, where they expect to grow to 25-30 employees by Spring of 2021.

resources to get where we are today.”

KRTelecom Owner/Manager, Karie Vonder Hulls, spoke about the support she has received from groups such as KCEDA and KCC during her expansion, stating, “We are really excited for our business to get started up in Klamath and look forward to have it continue to grow here. If it weren’t for KCEDA, none of this would be possible. They and KCC really gave us the road map and

Randy Cox, KCEDA’s CEO, discussed the project’s importance to the organization, by commenting, “This is a special project to KCEDA because it is a great marker of how strong our partnership with KCC has grown over recent years. We continue to get better as a region at addressing developers’ workforce training needs by working with KCC to customize higher ed

In early August of 2020, the startup was referred to KCEDA, seeking help with site selection options and workforce development assistance. During this time, KCEDA worked with partners at Klamath Community College (KCC) to identify pathways that could help the company form a reliable talent supply chain for its workforce needs. From there, KCC has involved regional partners such as the East Cascades Workforce Board to establish programming that aligns with the company’s needs, presenting funding resources to help the company significantly lower its training costs. In addition to KCEDA and KCC, Shannon Turner for the Federal Trade Act and Penny Newton of the Oregon Employment Department have served as key agency partners in helping the company accelerate its growth in Klamath.

programming around those needs.” KCEDA Project Manager, Andrew Stork, followed Cox’s remarks by adding, “The company’s decision to grow here demonstrates our market has become more adept at fostering scalable entrepreneurship. For our economy to be its most dynamic, it will need to be a haven for supporting start-ups, and this was a great exercise to help us better accomplish that in the long-term.”

Charles “Chip” Massie, Executive Director of External Programs at KCC, noted that the college has made it a priority to work closely with businesses on talent development, saying, “The community college model has evolved in a way that encourages more direct collaboration between education and industry.

In recent years, KCC has crafted the institution’s structure significantly increase effectiveness in supporting industry needs with our programs. This has made the college very proficient at identifying internal and external tools we can use to help a business like KRTelecom with its workforce needs.”

KRTelecom has recently begun monthly Virtual Hiring Fairs, and starting January 5th, the company will begin conducting a 8-session Sales Development course at KCC.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 37

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

SOREDI Seeks Applications from Rural Entrepreneurs and Companies for its 2020 Southern Oregon Rural Startup Challenge

By Colleen Padilla Executive Director soredi.org

S

OREDI is pleased to announce it is now accepting applications for its inaugural Southern Oregon Rural Startup Challenge, providing up to $60,000 in capital investments by December 31 to rural startups and companies seeking expansion capital.

SOREDI, which has facilitated the Southern Oregon Angel Investment Network for numerous years, has created a seed fund for the Southern Oregon Startup Challenge, at which rural highpotential startups will compete for potentially three $20,000 investments. Prospective applicants based in Jackson or Josephine Counties may go here for additional information and to

apply: https://soredi.org/launch/ m2m/

Economic Development Administration.

This investment opportunity is made possible thanks to the agency’s relationship with the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC), a partnership that was solidified in March 2020 just prior to the pandemic. OTBC is a non-profit incubator based in Beaverton that centers around supporting and championing entrepreneurship. Together, SOREDI and OTBC are implementing this Rural Oregon Startup Challenge endeavor for 3 years, through December 2022.

The initiative is made possible with further support from the Oregon Community Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, and the

Mind to Market (M2M) is the platform for accepting applications from commercial, viable and scalable business ventures. The M2M platform has been a successful venture of Startup Spokane, a pre-seed investment fund for early stage startups with high growth potential based in the Inland Northwest.

Applicants who submit business plans up until November 30, 2020 may be invited to present at a virtual event on Wednesday, December 9. Investors will then choose up to three companies from among those competing at the event for investments to be made no later than December 31, 2020. Subsequent Rural Oregon Startup Challenges will occur in 2021 and 2022.

According to Colleen Padilla, Executive Director, the agency has had to push the dates for this initiative and inaugural event out

38 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020

several times. Padilla states that even with the short and immediate timeline, we are confident that there are great projects in the making! Startups and existing businesses should absolutely seize the opportunity now and apply.

companies will have access to a Virtual Incubation program (VIP), an interactive education program developed by the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC). VIP is an eight-week

program tailor-made for start-up businesses. In additions, collaboration with the OTBC will provide additional connections for local entrepreneurs to statewide support resources.

This new seed fund is in direct response to the recently updated One Rogue Valley Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and specific to innovation. The Southern Oregon Startup challenge will support innovation within existing companies (Strategy 2.2) and expand the availability of startup capital by building on the Southern Oregon Angel Investment Network (Strategy 2.5).

Steve Vincent, SOREDI past president and founder of the Southern Oregon Angel Investment Network, states that he is confident that the initiative will likely yield three $20,000 equity investments for the top 3 companies.

The agency notes that the actual investments in the inaugural Southern Oregon Startup Challenge may be slightly more or less than $20,000 each, depending on the number of investors participating. The Southern Oregon Angel Investment Network’s most recent investment in an Ashland startup was $1.5 million. Four earlier investments averaged approximately $255,000 each.

WHEN EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS, WE’RE HERE TO HELP YOU SAVE. Energy Trust of Oregon offers cash incentives to help make energy-saving equipment upgrades more affordable for your business.

For a limited-time, Energy Trust is offering bonus incentives to Oregon business customers. Visit energytrust.org/commercial/bonuses for more details.

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READY TO SAVE? WE HAVE SOLUTIONS. Visit www.energytrust.org/ExistingBuildings or call 1.866.605.1676.

Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista.

As part of this Southern Oregon Startup Challenge, all submitting 24097_EnergyTrust_June2020_Southern_ORBusJournal_Ad_4-875x7-375_v2.indd 1

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Southern Oregon Business Journal 5350 HWY 66, Ashland, OR. 97520 www.southernoregonbusiness.com

WOW! 81.59% of Oregonians voted in this election. Thank you for voting and making a difference.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 41

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2020 | 42