Southern Oregon Business Journal - November 2021

Proudly Serving Benton, Coos, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln & Linn Counties and Crook, Lake, Harney and Malheur Counties as well. Since 2015

The Journal for Business in Southern Oregon SouthernOregonBusiness.com

November 2021

SUMMER 2021 HIRING AMONG OREGON’S PRIVATE EMPLOYERS - PAGE 20

HEALTH CARE JOB VACANCIES IN SUMMER 2021 - PAGE 22

BUY LOCAL ONLINE Meet 3 Oregon women that own businesses & sell great gifts online Page 35

Sponsored by

A CLOSER LOOK AT OREGON’S MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME - PAGE 24

A Few Words from Jim

The Southern Oregon Business Journal extends sincere thanks to the following companies for sponsoring the journal. Without their support we could not produce a FREE resource for Southern Oregon businesses.

Buy Local Online One of my companies, Project A, is know for helping companies all over the world sell hundreds of millions of dollars of goods online.

Over the years I have adopted Oregon women run businesses and do everything I can to help them succeed. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. If they need an e-commerce platform I provide it. If they need business coaching I give it. If they need help getting the word out, I do it. Why? Because I’m proud of them and want to encourage them to grow and change the world. Anyone on the planet can learn social marketing, create something of value, work really hard and grow a business. We all order online. We all shop on Amazon for presents. I’m asking you to make an effort to buy locally online.

On page 35 I showcase 3 young women owned businesses that sell great gifts online.

Broadband Update The Oregon Connections Conference happened since the last issue and I handed out copies of the special journal to every attendee. It was a huge success. The keynote speaker showed us how we could bring ber to every home in Oregon using the funds that the feds are ghting over right now.

Imagine if everyone home in Oregon, rural and urban, had ber. Wow! It’s exciting to dream about. I’ll be covering broadband in future issues to follow along on the progress.

PLEASE THANK OUR SPONSORS AMERITITLE - PAGE 4 BETTER TOGETHER - PEOPLE’S BANK OF COMMERCE AND WILLAMETTE COMMUNITY BANK PAGE 9 MANAGED HOME NET - PAGE 17 SOU - LEADERSHIP BEGINS HERE SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY PAGE 29

A Passion for Innovation

UMPQUA BROADBAND - PAGE 36

My wife and I were featured in SOU’s annual report so I reprinted it, with permission, in the journal because it’s relevant. We are funding an endowment at the university that will perpetually fund a business plan competition for all students. I’m very excited to see what the students come up with. We must all constantly encourage and inspire the next generations to become leaders and entrepreneurs.

ENERGY TRUST OF OREGON - BACK COVER

Black Friday My team will be hunkered down in bunkers keeping sites and servers running so that the world can shop and save. It’s amazingly stressful. There is zero tolerance for errors. My team is amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving We all have a lot to be thankful for even if our lives are in chaos. Take a deep breath and be sure to thank everyone you work with as well as your family.

Life is short and precious and everyone that is part of your life is apart of your journey. A simple thank you is what most people would love to hear from you.

Founder

Thank you to all my readers and sponsors. I’m humbled by our success and excited to see where this goes.

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

Jim Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com fi

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COVER PHOTO : COMPILED BY JIM TEECE USING PHOTOS FROM EACH WEBSITE SEE PAGE 35 FOR THE ARTICLE - SHOP LOCAL ONLINE

www.SouthernOregonBusiness.com A JOURNAL FOR THE ECONOMICALLY CURIOUS, PROFESSIONALLY INSPIRED AND ACUTELY MOTIVATED

NOVEMBER 2021 - TABLE OF CONTENTS HOUSING - APPRAISALS & BUYERS NOT MEETING EYE-TO-EYE 5 Q3 - ARCIMOTO RELEASES Q3 2021 STAKEHOLDER UPDATE 6 STAY WARM THIS FALL AND WINTER WHILE KEEPING ENERGY COSTS DOWN 7

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY AT THE TALENT GATEWAY PROJECT CELEBRATING TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR FIRE VICTIM FAMILIES WAITING FOR OVER A YEAR TO COME HOME 8 Q3 - PEOPLE'S BANK REPORTS THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS 10-11 SBDC - ACCESSING CAPITAL FOR BUSINESS SURVIVAL 12-13 Q3- LITHIA & DRIVEWAY (LAD) INCREASES REVENUE 70%, EPS 47%, AND ADJUSTED EPS 63%, RECORD THIRD QUARTER PERFORMANCE 14

Talent Gateway Project - Page 8

LITHIA & DRIVEWAY TEAM WITH CITY OF MEDFORD TO SUPPORT LOCAL SPORTS PARK 15 SDBC - SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES CAN CAUSE PAIN 16 INTERVIEW WITH MIKE KING 18-19

EMPLOYMENT SUMMER 2021 HIRING AMONG OREGON’S PRIVATE EMPLOYERS 20-21 HEALTH CARE JOB VACANCIES IN SUMMER 2021 22-23 A CLOSER LOOK AT OREGON’S MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME 24-25 INVITATION TO SPONSOR THE COMMUNITY WEBSITE PARTNERSHIP 26-27 SOU CREATIVE ARTS PROFESSOR ELECTED CHAIR OF OREGON

Robert Arellano, SOU Professor Chairs Oregon Humanities Board - Page 28

HUMANITIES BOARD 28 ZIPLY™ FIBER UNVEILS ITS “SILICON FOREST RING” CONNECTING MAJOR DATA CENTERS IN HILLSBORO AND PORTLAND; ADDS REDUNDANT DARK FIBER PATHS TO SEATTLE 30 ARE THE FEDERAL STIMULUS PAYMENTS TAXED IN OREGON? 31 EMPLOYMENT - HELP WANTED IN OREGON 32 GIVING BACK - A PASSION FOR INNOVATION 34

Giving Back - A Passion for Innovation - Page 34

SHOP LOCAL ONLINE 35 SPONSORS 36

A FIELD FULL OF LESSONS AND GOLD - PAGE 33

SOUTHERNOREGONBUSINESS.COM 37

5350 HWY 66, Ashland, Oregon 97520

Photo by Avi Waxman on Unsplash

HOUSING

By AmeriTitle Blog Post https://www.amerititle.com/2021/10/appraisals-buyers-not-meeting-eye-to-eye/

We’ve all known how busy this real estate market has been – so it should come as no surprise that potential homebuyers aren’t meeting in the middle when it comes to home appraisals.

According to the latest REALTORS® Con dence Index survey, 23% of contracts were delayed because of appraisal issues.

What does this mean for the contracts?

When a home appraisal comes in too low, unfortunately – both parties have to come back to the negotiation table to sort out a new deal. Lenders tend to only offer loan amounts for the appraised value of the

APPRAISALS & BUYERS NOT MEETING EYE-TO-EYE

home; so either the sellers agree to a lower price, or the buyers pay for a portion of their deal out of pocket.

But a hot real estate market usually means buyers have to bid in order to keep up with their offer. Why are home inspections, seemingly, “ruining” this prospect?

Well, to better protect buyers. Home inspectors have a protocol and assessment for valuating a home to help buyers from overpaying. In a hot market (like it’s been), it’s de nitely harder to pinpoint where the value of a home is for the seller and buyer.

However, because buyers are feeling the

need to set themselves apart from others, some are waiving appraisals.

In the survey, about 12% of these stalled transactions were then terminated because of the appraisal issue.

Shawn Telford, Chief Appraiser at CoreLogic, explained to The Wall Street Journal, “I don’t remember any time where the frequency of buyers willing to pay so much more than the market data was this high.”

To stay in the know with real estate, stop

by AmeriTitle’s Blog.

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 5

By Press Release https://www.arcimoto.com/media/pr

Arcimoto Releases Q3 2021 Stakeholder Update

CEO and Founder Mark Frohnmayer discusses Q3 progress, including record vehicle deliveries, Arcimoto's expanding rental market, the new Flatbed, the progress of the ATVM loan application, and the launch of the Ride Of The Arconauts, an ongoing roadshow designed to introduce the Arcimoto family of rightsized EVs to the world.

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rcimoto, Inc.® (NASDAQ: FUV), makers of fun, affordable, and ultra-ef cient electric vehicles for everyday drivers and eets, released its Q3 Stakeholder Update, in which CEO and Founder Mark Frohnmayer discusses record vehicle deliveries, Arcimoto's expanding rental market, the new Flatbed, the progress of the ATVM loan application, and the launch of the Ride Of The Arconauts, an ongoing roadshow designed to introduce the Arcimoto family of rightsized EVs to the world.

Final production numbers will be reported in Arcimoto’s Q3 SEC lings.

ATVM Loan Application: Final draft ATVM loans application targeted for submission to the US Department of Energy in Q4.

Project Prism: Arcimoto made signi cant progress on de ning cost-down programs for all subsystems of both the platform as a whole and individual vehicle models.

Rental and Rideshare: Q3 was the rst full quarter of Arcimoto-owned rental operations in both San Diego and Eugene, and Arcimoto continues to gather useful data to optimize the rental model.

Q3 highlights include:

West Coast Doors: First production doors have been installed on the FUV of an early Evergreen customer, with more installations scheduled for Q4 and beyond.

Record vehicle deliveries: Arcimoto sold through a record 64 customer vehicles, and produced a total of 78 vehicles.

Arcimoto Flatbed: First pilot vehicles were very well-received after use in the eld with local Eugene businesses.

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Q3 PROGRESS

The Ride of the Arconauts: announced new ongoing roadshow designed to introduce the Arcimoto family of rightsized EVs to the world.

The Ride of the Arconauts launches Saturday at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, Calif. Sign up to receive noti cations when the Arconauts will be riding through your area.

For the latest company updates, follow Arcimoto on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Investor information about the company, including press releases, stakeholder webcast replays, and more can be found at http:// arcimoto.com/ir.

About Arcimoto, Inc. Arcimoto (NASDAQ: FUV) develops and manufactures ultra-ef cient and affordable electric vehicles to help the world shift to a sustainable transportation system. Our agship vehicle, the Arcimoto FUV®, is purpose-built for everyday driving and transforms ordinary trips into pure-electric joyrides. Launched in 2021, the all-new Arcimoto Roadster is designed to be the ultimate open-road fun machine and is the purest expression of the Arcimoto Platform.

Stay warm this fall and winter while keeping energy costs down

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ust as we head into fall and winter, energy costs are rising across the country.

According to the Consumer Price Index, energy costs nationally are up 25% from this time last year. That can cut into family budgets and mean less money for holiday shopping.

Energy Trust of Oregon, a nonpro t that helps people cut energy use, has some easy ways Oregon families can use less energy while also keeping their homes warm. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, tips like these could help save an average of $283 or more every year.

“If your home is leaking air, it can feel like you’re ghting an uphill battle to heat your home,” said Scott Leonard, residential spokesperson with Energy Trust. “By taking steps like sealing leaks, adding rugs to cover bare oors and simply opening the blinds, you can save money on your energy bill and keep your family comfortable.”

Here are Energy Trust’s top tips for keeping your home warm while saving money on your energy bill this fall and winter. It’s also a great time to schedule maintenance service. With product shortages and busy contractors, planning ahead will keep you warm. For more energy-saving DIY tips, visit energytrust.org/residential/DIY. Set the temp: At night or when no one is home, save on energy costs by lowering your thermostat to 58-60 degrees. When you’re home, keep the thermostat at 65-68 degrees.

Seal those gaps: Small gaps and cracks in a typical home can add up to the same loss of energy and comfort as leaving a window open year-round. Use caulk or spray foam to seal small holes and cracks and use weather stripping and door sweeps to seal drafty windows and doors.

Take advantage of the sun: Heat your home with help from the sun by leaving window shades or blinds open during the daytime. At night, close the window coverings to help keep the heat in.

Check air lters once a month and schedule maintenance: During the coldest months when your heating system is working its hardest, check your air lter and change it if it looks dirty. A dirty air lter will slow air ow and make the heating system work harder and waste energy. Now’s the time to schedule maintenance service for your heating system. An HVAC specialist can help catch issues before you’re left in the cold.

Find support: If you need assistance with utility bills, check with your utility for options and programs. And the Weatherization Assistance Program is a federally funded program that provides income-quali ed households with home weatherization services. Learn more and see if you qualify at bit.ly/3iDdj8S.

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 7

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By Karen Chase

ENERGY

ALMEDA FIRE RECOVERY

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Talent Gateway Project - Celebrating temporary housing for re victim families waiting for over a year to come home

By Jim Teece

housing relief, which span the entire valley.

And I’m proud of how the leaders in our state, county, city of Talent, and other agencies worked together to make this a reality.

It took a lot longer than any of us thought it would (or should) but it felt good to celebrate another important milestone in the efforts to bring everyone home.

The rain stopped and clouds parted as the speeches were made.

It may look like just another trailer park to you, but to many families that lost their homes over a year ago in the res that ripped through southern Oregon these new trailers represent hope and a way out of the motels.

I was at the Talent Gateway Project ribbon cutting ceremony this weekend and it was… special, exciting and awesome.

I’m proud of the over $1.2 million in donations from the People's Bank of Commerce foundation and employees and all their efforts on re victim

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A lot of people and organizations made this happen and there were many happy Talent families in attendance surveying their new temporary homes.

Thank you to all that made this happen.

I left before the festivities ended, running to the car for another meeting, realizing that I was smiling ear to ear under my mask…

There is much work left to do, but I have to admit, it felt good to celebrate this moment. Very good.

Better Together People’s Bank of Commerce and Willamette Community Bank are pleased to partner together in a merger and continue to deliver exceptional community banking services across Oregon, as well as deliver long-term value to our community.

Now that we are one organization, our customers can bank at any of our nine locations in Southern Oregon and the Willamette Valley.

WILLAMETTE COMMUNITY BANK LOCATIONS

PEOPLE’S BANK LOCATIONS Medford Branches

Klamath Falls Branch

Albany Branch

1528 Biddle Road Medford, OR 97504 541-776-5350

210 Timbermill Drive Klamath Falls, OR 97601 541-273-2717

333 Lyon Street SE Albany, OR 97321 541-926-9000

Grants Pass Branch

Lebanon Branch

1311 East Barnett Road Medford, OR 97504 541-622-6222

509 SE 7th Street Grants Pass, OR 97526 541-955-8005

1495 South Main Lebanon, OR 97355 541-223-7180

Central Point Branch

Ashland Branch

Salem Branch

1017 East Pine Street Central Point, OR 97502 541-665-5262

1500 Siskiyou Boulevard Ashland, OR 97520 541-482-3886

315 Commercial Street SE Suite 110 Salem, OR 97301 503-468-5558

Southern Oregon Business Journal September 2021 | 9

COMMUNITY BANKING

By Press Release https://www.peoplesbank.bank/about/press-release---october-20--2021

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eople’s Bank of Commerce (OTC PINK: PBCO) announced today (October 20,2021) its nancial results for the 3rd quarter of 2021.

Highlights • Third quarter net income of $2,650,000, or $0.53 per diluted share • Year-to-date net income of $8,496,000, or $1.85 per diluted share • Quarterly non-PPP loan growth rate of 14.5% • Third quarter tax equivalent net interest margin of 3.7%, excluding factoring revenue • Steelhead factoring revenue increased 66.2% over Q3 2020 People’s Bank reported quarterly net income of $2,650,000, or $0.53 per diluted share, for the 3rd quarter of 2021 compared to net income of $1,937,000, or $0.53 per diluted share, in the same quarter of 2020. The bank recognized year-to-date net income of $8,496,000 versus $4,433,000 for the nine months of 2020, a 91.6% increase from the prior year. Earnings per share for the trailing 12 months were $2.28 per share, up from $1.69 per share for the same period of 2020, a 34.5% increase.

Third quarter income continued to be positively impacted by PPP fee income

due to pro-ration of the remaining unamortized origination processing fees at payoff with $1,271,000 in PPP fee income recognized during the quarter.

Steelhead Finance also demonstrated solid revenue of $1,785,000 during the quarter, versus $1,074,000 in 3rd quarter 2020.

During the quarter, the bank made a provision for loan losses of $347,000.

The Bank also charged-off two nonaccrual loans totaling $199,000 during the third quarter. As anticipated with the bank’s recent acquisition of Willamette Community Bank (WMCB) in the 1st quarter, the bank was able to achieve higher earnings per share than in previous periods.

During the quarter, deposits increased $37.7 million, or an annualized 21.2% growth rate. On an annual basis, deposits grew by $318.8 million, a 73.8% increase from September 30, 2020. “Of deposit growth achieved in the last 12 months, 43.4% was in noninterest DDA,” commented Joan Reukauf, Chief Operating Of cer.

The deposit growth was due to several factors, including the bank’s acquisition of WMCB in the rst quarter, the bank’s participation in the PPP loan program, and organic growth in all of our deposit markets. “The bank recently completed its system conversion for the Willamette division in September 2021, which is one of the nal steps on the merger that

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People's Bank Reports Third Quarter Earnings took place March 1st of this year,” added Reukauf.

The Bank continued to deploy excess liquidity to the investment portfolio as an alternative to deposits at the Federal Reserve Bank. Through the end of the quarter, the bank increased its investment portfolio by $99.8 million, a 95.8% increase from the prior quarter.

As of September 30th, core portfolio loan growth, excluding PPP, totaled $15.3 million during the 3rd quarter, representing an annualized growth rate of 14.5%. “The bank’s pipeline of approved credits remains strong, while acknowledging there has been increased pressure on loan rates from competitors,” commented Julia Beattie, President.

The bank’s active role in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) beginning in April 2020 resulted in 1,204 PPP loans in Round I, totaling $121.2 million (includes loans funded by WMCB prior to the bank merger with People’s Bank).

At the end of September 2021, 100% of Round I PPP loans had been submitted for forgiveness- only 8 loans remain in the portfolio that are being reviewed for forgiveness, totaling $328,000.

Similarly, the bank funded 629 loans in Round II of the Paycheck Protection Program, representing $48.6 million in

“Mortgage remains a key part of our business strategy, but volume has softened in the 3rd quarter versus the same period last year,” added Trautman. During the quarter, the bank also updated its bargain purchase gain from the WMCB merger, resulting in a reduction to other non-interest income of $317 thousand, needed to partially offset anticipated tax consequences. loans supporting our local businesses.

Through the end of September, 164 loans funded in Round II remained outstanding, totaling $23.2 million.

“Through our employee’s diligence in assisting our customers in submitting applications for forgiveness, 90.6% of total PPP loans were forgiven by the end of 3rd quarter,” commented Beattie.

During the quarter, the bank experienced a decrease in classi ed assets. This was the result of two events- the reduction of Other Real estate Owned, “ORE”, and the chargeoff of two loans previously on nonaccrual with book values totaling $199,000. Total loans past due or on non-accrual were at from the prior quarter.

During the 3rd quarter, the Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL) was updated based on new loan growth achieved during the quarter and updated economic expectations, which were factored into the bank’s analysis.

The bank also took a recovery of $76 thousand on a loan previously charged off in 2011. As of September 30, 2021, the ALLL was 0.94% of portfolio loans

excluding PPP and the unallocated reserve stood at $0.8 million or 18.2% of the allowance.

As of September 30, 2021, the bank’s Tier 1 Leverage Ratio was 8.73% versus 9.40% as of the same date in 2020, with total shareholder equity of $77.5 million. Although the bank has continued to augment capital with earnings, the merger with WMCB and ongoing deposit growth has resulted in the bank’s assets outgrowing capital in the current period.

Third quarter 2021 non-interest income totaled $2.7 million, a decrease of $328 thousand from the 3rd quarter of 2020. During the quarter, Steelhead Finance factoring revenue increased $711 thousand, a 66.2% increase over the same quarter of 2020. Conversely, mortgage income decreased $989 thousand, or a 61.7% decrease from the 3rd quarter of 2020. “Steelhead Finance continued to perform extremely well during the 3rd quarter due to increased trucking activity needed to support consumer demand,” commented Ken Trautman, CEO.

Non-interest expense totaled $5.8 million in the 3rd quarter, down $164 thousand from the 2nd quarter.

Included in non-interest expense is the quarterly accrual of $250,000 for the bank’s $1 million donation to re relief to assist with intermediate and longterm housing needs as our Southern Oregon community rebuilds. This is a non-recurring item for 2021. For the twelve months ending September 30, 2021, excluding one-time merger adjustments, earnings per share would have been $2.43, versus $1.69 for the same period ended September 30, 2020.

About People’s Bank of Commerce 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.

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, commercial bank headquartered in Medford, Oregon with branches in Albany, Medford, Ashland, Central Point, Grants Pass, Klamath Falls, Lebanon, and Salem.

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 11

By Marshall Doak Director, Southern Oregon University SBDC OSBDCN Market Research Institute doakm@sou.edu

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Accessing Capital for Business Survival

Original Image Credit: Martin Zwilling, ‘10 Ways for Startups to Survive the Valley of Death’, Forbes, February 18, 2013. Recreated by Jim Teece

btaining adequate capital investments to grow a business is a huge issue, something all businesses have in common whether they be in a startup phase or have been in existence for many years. It can seem remarkable to many businesses that in a world awash in money that actually getting a little of it to fund startup or expansion costs is so hard to obtain. In fact, starting this article with a statement regarding putting money into a business seems counterintuitive to the desire to pull money out of a company. Increasing your personal wealth is a reason you are in business anyway, right? Let’s look at some dynamics in play to try and explain some early and mid-stage reasons why money ows in the opposite direction from what is desired.

The diagram above is a representation of what is commonly called ‘The Valley of Death’ for startup and young businesses. The important elements are as time progresses (center horizontal line) from an initial start, cumulative pro ts (dark curved line) are negative for a period of time until sustained revenues are realized at a level that supports business operations and generates additional capital above this level.

Many business failures reside within this ‘Valley of Death’. In the popular press, some authors show multiple ‘Valleys of Death’ as successive growth spurts consume additional capital with each growth phase. Understanding that capital access and continuing need for available cash through investments into the business and cash ow generation is critical to

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SBDC

understanding the dynamics successful businesses need to overcome in order to remain competitive or viable.

I’ve found this valley to be a point of transition for businesses from initial sources of capital infusion to capital access from successive providers. Oftentimes, the transition goes from equity, or ownership contributions, to debt or nancing with loans. It is critical to know that in all cases, knowing your needs, capabilities, and reasons for asking for money determines your success in attracting it. Mistaking the fact that thinking capital acquisition is an end point and not the tool for continuous use throughout the business life cycle that it actually is, can be a primary cause of business failure. There are no ‘one-shot’ needs for capital if your business

will be anything more than stagnant prior to failure.

If there is any truth to the statement regarding a constant need for capital (money) for your business, then it makes sense to put yourself into position to be successful in attracting investment capital, working capital and savings from excess earnings. If you are at a level in your business where surplus earnings are not realized and your costs exceed your current earnings, knowing how you are going to correct this is fundamental to being able to achieve it. You will not be successful building your company (volume) and lose money on each transaction. This scenario only accelerates your demise. Better plans are needed than repeating a failed model.

If you are at the point where you are transitioning away from investor capital in exchange for ownership shares, then you are entering a new phase in your business’s development by borrowing money. If you borrow money, you have to pay it back along with the costs involved with renting the money. When you borrow money, you are working with an institution or individual who is betting on the fact that they will be repaid, so that makes them careful with the amount of risk they will accept.

This highlights the fact that you, as entrepreneur, are bearing the full risk for your company’s ability to make good on the promises being made. In addition, you are making personal guarantees to repay the borrowed capital along the terms of the agreement you signed should your company fail to be able to perform to the expectations and promises made.

When you look for capital to borrow, there are many sources of capital that can be available, depending on the circumstances. Amounts, costs of borrowing, repayment terms, the commitment of collateral, the assessment of your character regarding the dedication to repay along with your capability to manage the intricacies of your company all come into play. The company’s demonstration of the ability to repay the loans being offered is critical to the success of the loan commitment being made to the entrepreneur.

Failure to make the case for having adequate investment, collateral and ability to repay are the top three issues needing to be answered in a really solid manner to build con dence in the lender’s mind. The closer you are to having the Small Business Administration back the loan and the closer you are to using commercial banking for your loan source, the closer you are to

needing a formal business plan and great proforma nancial projections demonstrating the ability to repay and making the case for your ability to pull-off the representations made in the plan. The further you are from having an earnings history in many cases means the further you are from obtaining the funding you desire.

When you are looking for money from the commercial banking system, you are asking trained professionals who, in all probability, know more about your business than you do.

Once they look over your current nancial statements, it is certain they will know more about your company’s ability to perform on the loan than you will. Your best defense when working with informed investors or members of the banking community is to be ready to meet their objections to lending you the needed capital. How do you do this?

Start by understanding the ‘7 C’s of Credit’. You can nd this through a search on the internet.

If you have truly gone past asking for money based on your hopes and projections, personality and character, assumed market share and development time projections, it is time to start building solid plans. It will take more than a PowerPoint presentation to convince lenders to put their capital in your hands.

Recognize the time and resources you dedicate to this phase of capital acquisition is well-spent, but also know this is not a fast process. Building a portfolio of documentation and documents is time consuming, but once completed, is easily updated over time for continued use.

Build your nancial projections with care. They will be scrutinized and expect your assumptions to be challenged. The best defense here is to list your assumptions alongside the numbers you present on your projections, so the reader can understand what the projections are actually based on. Once challenged, be prepared to show the documentation of the projections to keep the assumptions from being changed. Your credibility is at stake.

Write your narrative not only to convince the reader of the quality of your company, but to demonstrate your understanding of the intricacies of management and control over the elements of your company. Build con dence on the readers part that you can handle what you are building, whatever form it takes or whomever you hire or whatever skill you are delegating.

Don’t wait until you need money to talk to lenders!!! You are not asking for just a loan, rather you are asking to build a long-term

relationship with a source of stability for your operations, so approach the acquisition of capital as you would approach a great dating prospect. If you are not sure what that means, we will be happy to refer you to someone who can coach you, as our organization only advises businesses on business operations.

Finally, how deeply vested are you in your company? Are you ‘all-in’, or are you wanting other people to fund your business and take the risk? The answer to this question may determine if you are an attractive investment from an investor’s perspective.

In summary, obtaining sustainable nancing for business growth is not a one-time action. There is a ‘Valley of Death’ for businesses to fall into and not reemerge, with some authors making the case that at regular intervals as businesses grow, other valleys are encountered that also can take a business down. Business capital can come from many sources, both internal and external. As time goes on, and especially when the type of capital sought changes from initial investor ownership structure to borrowed capital, the dynamics involved with acquiring capital change. The need to provide quality plans, demonstrate competence in managing organizations, and the deep understanding of why you are asking for money, how much you need and how it will be spent and repaid is fundamental to success in obtaining it. Behind every ask for capital, there needs to be a solid set of reasons for a third-party to lend some to you. Especially if you are asking professional investors/lenders for capital, as they know your business better than you do in many ways. It is up to you to prepare to talk with them on an even basis, which means you need to prepare personally as you prepare your company to represent itself in the best possible manner.

This takes time and effort, but once done, helps a business perform and create wealth every day with much less effort than it did previous to the improvements.

The best possible manner for you to engage in building the critical elements of business structure and management into your operations is through our Small Business Management class. This has just started, and will nish in June 2022. There is still a small window open for you to join and catch-up with the cohort build your business to be able to participate in the capital markets. That small window will be shut in the very near future, so act now to join.

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 13

3RD QUARTER UPDATE

Lithia & Driveway (LAD) Increases Revenue 70%, EPS 47%, And Adjusted EPS 63%, Record Third Quarter Performance

By Press Release https://www.lithiainvestorrelations.com/pressrelease.html

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ithia & Driveway (NYSE: LAD) today (Oct. 20, 2021) reported the highest third quarter revenue and earnings per share in company history.

a 115% increase compared to adjusted net income of $160 million for the same period of 2020.

As shown in the attached non-GAAP reconciliation tables, the 2021 third quarter adjusted results exclude a $1.10 per diluted share net non-core charges related to a non-cash unrealized investment loss, the redemption of senior notes, acquisition expenses, an asset impairment, and insurance reserves. The 2020 third quarter adjusted results exclude a $0.03 per diluted share net non-core charge related to insurance reserves and acquisition expenses.

Third quarter 2021 revenue increased 70% to $6.2 billion from $3.6 billion in the third quarter of 2020.

Third quarter 2021 net income attributable to LAD per diluted share was $10.11, a 47% increase from $6.86 per diluted share reported in the third quarter of 2020. Adjusted third quarter 2021 net income attributable to LAD per diluted share was $11.21, a 63% increase compared to $6.89 per diluted share in the same period of 2020.

Third Quarter-over-Quarter Comparisons and Operating Highlights:

Third quarter 2021 net income was $309 million, a 95% increase compared to net income of $159 million in the same period of 2020. Adjusted third quarter 2021 net income was $342 million,

• •

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Revenues increased 70.4% New vehicle retail revenues increased 53.9%

•

Used vehicle retail revenues increased 90.2% • 36,600 unit sales generated from Lithia ecommerce platforms, 25% of total retail unit sales (excluding Driveway) • Achieved milestone of 1,000 Driveway Shop units • F&I per unit increased 25.8% to $2,074 • Service, body, and parts revenues increased 60.9% • Total vehicle gross pro t per unit increased 32.7% to $6,175 • Adjusted SG&A as a percentage of gross pro t improved by 380 basis points from 59.6% to 55.8% "Our third quarter results demonstrate the dynamism of LAD's model," said Bryan DeBoer, Lithia & Driveway's President and CEO. "We excelled at procuring used vehicles during the challenging environment, enabling us to offer consumers the most diverse inventory available, driving same store volume increases while

For the rst nine months of 2021 revenues increased 80% to $16.5 billion, compared to $9.2 billion in 2020.

Net income attributable to LAD for the rst nine months of 2021 was $26.91 per diluted share, compared to $12.18 per diluted share in 2020, an increase of 121%. Adjusted net income attributable to LAD per diluted share for the rst nine months of 2021 increased 127% to $28.52 from $12.59 in the same period of 2020.

Corporate Development During the quarter, we completed several acquisitions expected to contribute $1.7 billion in annualized revenue, including partnering with Pfaff Automotive to enter Canada, our rst international acquisition, and expanding our United States footprint into new markets.

"Year-to-date we have acquired $6.2 billion in annualized revenue and are pacing ahead of schedule toward our goal of achieving $50 billion in revenue and $50 of earnings per share by 2025," said DeBoer. "The pipeline is robust and we continue to identify accretive deals that strategically expand our network while meeting our disciplined return thresholds.”

Balance Sheet Update We ended the third quarter with approximately $1.7 billion in cash and availability on our revolving lines of credit. In addition, our un nanced real estate could provide additional liquidity of approximately $729 million.

Dividend Payment Our Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.35 per share related to third quarter 2021 nancial results. We expect to pay the dividend

on November 19, 2021 to shareholders of record on November 12, 2021.

About Lithia & Driveway (LAD) LAD is a growth company powered by people and innovation with a plan to pro tably consolidate the largest retail sector in North America. As the leading provider of personal transportation solutions in North America, LAD is among the fastest-growing companies in the Fortune 500 and is currently ranked #231 (#2 on 10-Year EPS Growth, #3 on 10-Year TSR and #12 on 10-year Revenue growth in 2021). By providing a wide array of products and services for the entire vehicle ownership lifecycle through various consumer channels, LAD builds magnetic brand loyalty. Operational excellence is achieved by focusing the business on convenient and transparent consumer experiences supported by proprietary data science to improve market share, consumer loyalty and pro tability. LAD's omnichannel strategy will continue to pragmatically disrupt the industry by leveraging experienced teams, vast owned inventories, technology, and physical network. LAD continues to lead the industry's consolidation, and this combined with Driveway's e-commerce in-home experiences, further accelerates the massive regenerating capital engine. Together, these endeavors create a unique and compelling high-growth strategy that provides transportation solutions wherever, whenever, and however consumers desire.

Sites www.lithia.com www.lithiainvestorrelations.com www.lithiacareers.com www.driveway.com Lithia & Driveway on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LithiaMotors https://www.facebook.com/DrivewayHQ Lithia & Driveway on Twitter https://twitter.com/lithiamotors https://twitter.com/DrivewayHQ

The city of Medford and Lithia & Driveway (NYSE: LAD) announced today they are joining forces in a ve-year partnership for naming-rights opportunities for the multisports complex currently known as U.S. Cellular Community Park.

If approved by the city council, Lithia & Driveway's sponsorship will result in a name change to "Lithia & Driveway Fields" on January 1, 2022.

In addition, the Medford-based automotive retailer's $725,000 donation will annually accelerate ongoing, turf replacement of the park's 15 elds, as well as supply in-kind support from advertising and marketing resources to enhance the park's branding as a regional sports destination.

The city and company will collaborate to develop a new park logo and update the existing park's large signs along Interstate 5, South Paci c Highway, and Lowry Lane to attract the attention of the 18-20 million people who drive by the park every year.

"This is an exciting opportunity to partner with a great community leader in Lithia & Driveway," City Manager Brian Sjothun said. "The partnership will help the City further promote recreational and competitive sports offered for the area and to those who travel to Medford for tournaments and events."

Since 2008, the park has hosted over 550 tournaments and 55,000 games of soccer, softball, and baseball, generating more than $125 million in estimated economic impact to the local economy.

"We're thrilled to play a key role in fostering local and regional sports in the Rogue Valley," said Bryan DeBoer, Lithia & Driveway's President and CEO. "The valley is our home base, and this special sponsorship of the sports elds embodies our Lithia 4Kids efforts to provide opportunities for young people in the communities we serve."

With the sports park sponsorship, Lithia & Driveway continues a tradition of working with the city to support local parks, such as Pear Blossom and Liberty parks in The Commons downtown, and community events, such as the Winter Lights Festival.

"Advancing community engagement is a goal we champion at Lithia," said DeBoer. "Parks bring diverse user groups together where we compete, play, and enjoy the outdoors together."

Founded in 1946, Lithia & Driveway is a Fortune 250 company operating over 280 dealerships in the U.S. and Canada. In 2020, the nation's second-largest auto retailer launched Driveway.com, an e-commerce platform for buying, selling, trading, and nancing cars. It has also launched GreenCars.com, an online resource for consumers to learn the bene ts of sustainable vehicles.

SOURCE Lithia Motors, Inc.

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continuing to increase margins. In addition, Driveway and our store e-commerce offerings are positioned to gain incremental market share as consumers seek out a more transparent and frictionless buying experience.”

Lithia & Driveway Team With City Of Medford To Support Local Sports Park

SUPPLY CHAIN

By Marshall Doak, SOU SBDC Director

Supply Chain Issues Can Cause Pain

Photo by Hanson Lu on Unsplash

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anaging a small business is one of the toughest jobs most people ever take on in life. All of the dif culties large businesses have to deal with are part of the everyday for small businesses also, only small businesses do not typically have the resources available that large ones do to cope with the demands. To maintain the agility and reactivity that small businesses use to remain viable and pro table in today’s chaotic and confusing marketplace, additional attention now needs to be put into managing the supply chain feeding your business. Failure to account for supply chain dif culties can spell doom for an unprepared business. Supply chains are constructed on a ‘pull-through’ dynamic, or, your sales create orders to your suppliers, and their orders travel all the way back to the point of origin for the materials used to fabricate the components you sell retail. With the current chaos in the supply chain, the scale of the problems are so large that small businesses, by themselves, have little ability to control outcomes. When interruptions occur and the supply-chain becomes unbalanced, it can be extremely dif cult to re-establish equilibrium again. Still, there are a few things to consider implementing for success:

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• At this time, you do not have the luxury of managing your business ‘laissez-faire’ or hands-off; active management is called for in all aspects of your operation; ✓ Put the tools in place that will help you manage, starting with using your nancial information to make decisions, such as: ✓ Avoiding ‘out-of-stock’ issues, as you can’t sell what you don’t have in hand;

✓ Communicate up and down your supply chain; ✓ Stay knowledgeable so you can react to upcoming issues in advance; ✓ Be honest with your customers to retain them.

• Take an inventory and keep it current!

• Form strategic partnerships:

✓ Calculate your reorder points and safety stocks to minimize costs and have adequate supplies of goods;

✓ With your suppliers and customers where it makes sense;

✓ Discontinue JIT deliveries if suppliers develop supply-chain delivery problems to you;

✓ With additional vendors to assure continuous supply;

✓ Understand your inventory turn ratios and what that means for your operation; ✓ Increase your cash holdings and obtain a line of credit for emergency use.

• Communication is an increasingly important part of your business, with the time-value of information ow critical to success;

✓ With competitors to pool purchasing;

✓ With distributors to send products to your clients.

We are here to assist you in making the decisions you need to make to stay ahead of the challenges you are experiencing in supply chain management. Contact us for an appointment to work on your supply issues today at: sbdc@sou.edu or 541-552-8300.

Southern Oregon Business Journal October 2021 | 17

INTERVIEW

By Blog Post https://www.1000museums.com/exclusive-interview-with-mike-king/

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eet the artist behind some of your favorite album covers & concert posters. We recently sat down for an interview with graphic artist and poster designer Mike King!

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Mike started his career by making posters for local punk bands in exchange for admission to shows. Designing for over three decades, his portfolio contains work for some of the most renowned musicians & bands in the world, such as Elliott Smith, Jack Johnson, The Shins, Ben Harper, The Decemberists, and many more.

When did you start drawing?

Mike King: I mean I started drawing pretty early, 4 or 5 I think… I have a drawing of batman from when I was like 5 years old and it looks like the Brady Bunch. So yeah, I was always drawing.

I kind of went to hippie school where you pretty much just draw all the time; that’s kinda all I did.

1000Museums: And was it an experiential school or was it a school for the arts…?

Mike King: I think it was an art school because that’s where I gravitated. I don’t think there was a “plan”. I didn’t even know what their plan was.

1000Museums: Kind of more of an open format?

Mike King: Open format and I don’t think we actually got like grades per se. Somehow I graduated from high school (I went there from 4th grade to 12th grade) but I didn’t really ever learn much. Except how to screen print.

1000Museums: So did you spend a lot of time drawing outside of school?

Mike King: Oh yeah. For many years, I thought when I grew up I could draw comic books or something. I was very much into comic books. I read a lot. I’m not a good enough drawer to draw comic books so that didn’t work out for me. There’s a “looseness” that you have to have in your drawings to be good at that sort of thing —I could never quite get over the hurdle of

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18 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021

Interview with Mike King

getting enough movement in. Comics are very much movement-oriented. And I could never get there. It’s like, “oh yeah I can do that anatomy and I can do that ya know— all of the stuff. But it was never alive enough— Maybe if I had gone to school or something maybe I would have learned it, but I never did. I mean I went to high school and that was it. And I never went to art school or anything like that.

Maybe that would have been overcome by some actual training, but I was a “free-range” kid just doing whatever I wanted to do. I wasn’t ever really given any limitations of what I could do, but at the same time I was never given any framework to actually get anything done.

I’m a self-taught artist, which is kind of weird, but people do it.

Tell us about the rst time you sold your art.

Mike King: The rst ones that I made were just because they were bands that I played in and someone had to make the posters so I did that.

representing themselves because that’s what I should be concerned with.

I think it’s great, ya know? I don’t begrudge my place in the world. Thank god I found some way to be productive.

1000Museums: Do most of your clients hear about you based on word of mouth?

Mike King: I think back before—where you could kind of nd anyone if you really wanted to nd them, it was probably more word of mouth. At least in Portland, where I started, I was “that poster guy” or whatever so if there were posters to be made, I oftentimes got to make them and so that’s kind of how it was— being a kind of big sh in a small pond or whatever.

What was your rst poster project?

Mike King: I remember several posters. One was for a park cleanup and I believe that one was because I had already—at that time I was probably 13 or 14—and I believe I had already learned how to screen print so I think that was the rst screen printed poster I ever did.

There were some guys in my high school that had a band and I hung around with them and I did some posters for that so it’s hard to say what the rst one was…

I guess somebody somewhere probably thought “I’m gonna grow up and I’m gonna make posters for rock shows”. I’m sure people think that. There was never a plan to do that and I think I was probably doing it for 10 years before it occurred to me that I was a graphic designer. I would say this: I’ve made more mistakes than plans.

Are there any artists that were inspirational to you?

Mike King: I think in some ways—all artists are inspirational to me, but there’s positive inspiration and negative inspiration and one of the things that actually kind of came to me relatively recently, is that I’m kind of a sponge. I will just go and just suck it all up and some of it may come back in some way or another. And now I’m going to contradict myself— Before I said that I hate so much of everything but I really do love bad art. Like, the things that are just like “this is so wrong”. I’m so enamored with it. Even if the art is terrible, I still wanna see it. I love experiencing it.

Tons of things are major inspirations to me. It’s hard to say what’s a direct inspiration— sometimes it’s just like “oh this shape, this color, this concept”, whatever it is. If you look at my work it tends to be—I don’t really work in a style.

It is kind of all over the place. It’s kind of more of an aesthetic than a style, and a lot of that comes from this kind of dissatisfaction. Kind of always wanting to avoid doing everything the same all the time. Sometimes I grow weary of artists and you look at their stuff and you go “oh yeah; they did that” and you can tell from a mile away that they created that because it’s this identi able color or context or whatever. Like Martin Scorsese said he wanted to be able to make any kind of movie and I would like to make any kind of poster I guess. If you’re making posters for punk bands or country western bands or metal bands, hip hop… there’s all sorts of stylistic range that kind of works within that genre.

So if you want to make all the posters you have to know how to make all the posters…

In the last 20 years, you’ve created over 4000 posters. Is there one that really stands out to you?

Mike King: No. And I don’t love them all.

I always look back and it’s like “oh I could have done this or that…”. I try not to look back too much. The best case scenario is that I’m mostly pleased with something. And I appreciate people who appreciate my work.

It’s important for me personally when I think about The Decemberists or think about Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros—that artwork is present in my mind when I think about the band. It’s weird but cool.

I think that posters for live events sort of offer everybody an opportunity to kind of go someplace where they didn’t have plans to go. With show posters— there hasn’t been much of a revision process so I was able to present people with something that might not have been what they expected, or how they expected it to be presented. Most of the time, that works very well.

1000Museums: Thanks for siting down with us Mike!

Mike King: Thank you.

Explore his artwork here on 1000Museums.com.

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And then I met these guys who were doing concert promotions in a club and I was like “I could make”—actually I went into their of ce and I was trying to get a gig for my band and I saw a guy in the corner struggling to kind of put together this poster and I said, “oh I can do that” because I had done other stuff by then. They said, “can you do this today?” and I said “yeah.”

At the time I was working in a copy shop so I had access to Xerox machines and stuff like that, so I went in, I made the poster, and I brought it back a couple hours later and that’s how I got hired.

And I’ve worked with them now for over 30 years.

Can you walk us through your process?

Mike King: The rst thing I want to develop in that type of relationship is how far they will let me push them— if someone comes to you with an idea well then you have to either incorporate them or gently steer them away from them if they’re crap. Ideally, in a perfect world, I would be unquestioned and do whatever I want to do [laughs] but—an album cover is generally a very drawn out and convoluted process that requires a fair amount of work because there’s a lot of— it’s rare that the album cover depends on one person liking it to make the decision so there could be a lot of revisions.

1000Museums: Do you listen to the music before creating the artwork?

Mike King: Generally I have a rule about this when designing record projects— I don’t listen to them at all. I mean I love a lot of music, I love a lot of different kinds of music, but I hate more music than I love. Which I think is good because if you think everything in the creative world is great then I question your taste. So I try not to get caught up in the actual music beyond simple classi cations… because I nd myself in positions where I sour myself on a project because I don’t like the music—and I think I’m doing my client a disservice. It might hurt their feelings that I’ve never heard it but it would hurt their feelings if it comes out crappy because I didn’t like their band.

Sometimes when I’m presented with new projects I do a lot of research in terms of seeing what the band t-shirts look like, what their products look like, how they are visually

EMPLOYMENT

Summer 2021 Hiring among Oregon’s Private Employers

By Anna Johnson Senior Economic Analyst, Oregon Employment Department anna.l.johnson@employ.oregon.gov

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ach quarter, the Oregon Employment Department surveys private employers from all industries and areas of the state to ask about the job vacancies they are actively trying to ll.

Oregon businesses reported almost 107,000 vacancies in summer 2021. Total job openings increased 9% from the spring and 131% from summer 2020. This is the highest number of job vacancies seen in Oregon since the beginning of this survey in 2013. In spring 2021, the number of

vacancies reached a peak of 97,800 and before that, the high was 66,600 vacancies in summer 2017. The record high level of job vacancies is not unique to Oregon right now. The number of private-sector job openings in the U.S. totaled 8,995,000 in April 2021 and 10,502,000 in July, beating the previous high seen in October 2018 (7,055,000) signi cantly.

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The unemployed-to-vacancy ratio returned to pre-pandemic levels in spring and summer 2021, as the economy continued to recover from the COVID-19 recession. The number of unemployed has declined swiftly since surging in spring 2020 along with layoffs related to the pandemic, both in Oregon and across the United States.

Nationally, unemployment increased by 17 million between January 2020 and April 2020, when the number of unemployed in the U.S. reached 23.1 million. The number

of private-sector job openings in the U.S., as measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, fell by 2.3 million between January 2020 and April 2020, resulting in a ratio of more than ve unemployed people for every job opening. As pandemic spikes and restrictions have eased, by July 2021 job openings in the U.S. rose above 10.5 million and the number of unemployed sank to 9.2 million, resulting in a ratio of 0.9 unemployed people per job opening.

considered dif cult to ll, another record high for this series.

Employers reported vacancies in more than 270 different occupations. The occupations with the most vacancies in summer 2021 were retail salespersons (5,400 vacancies), restaurant cooks (4,800), personal care aides (4,100), truck drivers (2,800), and maids and housekeeping cleaners (2,600).

In Oregon, the ratio shot even higher last spring as the number of unemployed surged. In spring 2020, there were 5.8 unemployed people for every job vacancy, similar to the ratio measured in early 2013 as the state was recovering from the Great Recession. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was very swift, rapidly spreading across the labor market and taking the economy essentially from full employment to deep recession in just a couple of months. By July 2020, the number of unemployed in Oregon had dropped by more than 46,300, leaving 4.2 unemployed Oregonians for every job vacancy in summer 2020. By July 2021, the number of unemployed Oregonians dropped more and the number of job vacancies rose signi cantly, leaving 1.0 unemployed persons per job opening, down from the 2.7 unemployed persons per job opening in winter 2021 and 1.3 in spring 2021.

Most openings in the summer were for fulltime, permanent positions. Education beyond high school was required for 27% of summer vacancies. Health care and social

assistance topped the industry list in summer, with 20,900 vacancies. This has been the sector with the most vacancies for 21 of the past 23 quarters. The leisure and hospitality industry had 16,700 vacancies, with 57% full-time positions and 7% requiring education beyond high school.

Hiring demand was widespread throughout industries and occupations.

Four industries experienced record high vacancies: retail trade (12,000);

manufacturing (12,000); professional, scienti c, and technical services (7,200); and nancial activities (5,200). A majority of employers in every industry reported their vacancies as dif cult to ll. Overall, 78% of vacancies were

The average starting wage reported in summer was $19.99, a slight in ationadjusted decrease from summer 2020.

Total vacancies were up 131% from the level last summer. The number of vacancies offering a starting wage below $15 per hour increased 92%. The number of vacancies offering between $15 and $25 per hour more than doubled (+147%), as did vacancies offering above $25 per hour (+155%).

Summer vacancies were distributed across the state, with the Portland tricounty area accounting for about 38%. Vacancies increased over the year in every region of the state, with the largest gains in Southwestern Oregon and Lane County.

More details about Oregon Job Vacancies are available on QualityInfo.org, on the publications page under Job Vacancy Survey.

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By Anna Johnson Senior Economic Analyst, Oregon Employment Department anna.l.johnson@employ.oregon.gov

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ach quarter, the Oregon Employment Department surveys private employers from all industries and areas of the state to ask about the job vacancies they are actively trying to ll. Oregon businesses reported 107,000 vacancies in summer 2021, a record high.

For this analysis, health care vacancies are narrowed from the broad “health care and social assistance” industry that is typically used. This broad industry reported 20,900 vacancies in the summer of 2021. “Health care” job vacancies in the context of this analysis refers to a vacancy that falls within the health care and social assistance industry and the occupational groups of healthcare practitioners and technical occupations or healthcare support occupations.

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EMPLOYMENT

Health Care Job Vacancies in Summer 2021

Using this designation, there were about 11,300 job vacancies in health care in summer 2021, and 89% (10,000) of these vacancies were considered dif cult to ll by employers.

The health care dif cult-to- ll job vacancies had a higher average wage and were more likely to require previous experience than the not dif cult-to- ll health care job vacancies. Dif cultto- ll health care positions were less likely to be full-time positions, at 70% full time. Dif cult-toll and not-dif cult-to- ll vacancies were almost equally as likely to require education beyond high school and to be permanent positions.

For each dif cult-to- ll vacancy, employers are asked for open-ended responses about their primary challenge lling the opening. Responses are then categorized into 12 common reasons for dif culty. In summer 2021, a lack of applicants and lack of quali ed candidates represented a majority of the primary reason employers cited for dif culty lling vacancies. All other cited reasons, including low wages, lack of training, and unfavorable working conditions, represented only 13% of dif cult-to- ll vacancies. Within the dif cult-to- ll health care vacancies, the occupations with the most dif cult-to- ll vacancies were personal care aides, dental assistants, and nursing assistants. Together these occupations represented 62% of the dif cult-toll health care vacancies.

In summer 2021, 15% of all dif cult-to- ll vacancies mentioned either COVID-19 or unemployment insurance bene ts as a reason for the vacancy being dif cult to ll. In health care, only 3% of the dif cult-to- ll vacancies mentioned COVID-19 or unemployment insurance bene ts.

Many employers referred to a “shortage” of health care workers as the dif cult-to- ll reason. A shortage of workers was a common refrain in the pre-2020 expansion period and is not unique to the pandemic era. The most unique part of the dif cult-to- ll responses is the sheer volume of them. Many employers are hiring for similar positions at the same time, while also dealing with a dangerous pandemic.

Health care jobs in particular are on the frontlines of ghting the effects of the pandemic and may be dealing with a lot of burnout among current staff as well as dif culty attracting new workers.

What is unique to the pandemic era is the record number of quits in the health care industry.

Across the U.S., the number of people quitting jobs in the health care industry surged in July and August 2021, to more than 600,000 per month, from an average of 407,000 per month in 2019. The national quits rate in health care reached 3% in July and August, the highest rates on record dating back to 2011. These gures come from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

While those early losses hit ambulatory services hardest, those jobs returned fairly quickly over the remaining months of 2020, while employment in hospitals continued to drift sideways and nursing and residential care facilities continued to lose jobs. As of September 2021, employment in hospitals was 3.8% below its level in February 2020, just prior to the onset of the pandemic. Ambulatory health care services employed 4.1% fewer jobs than prior to the pandemic, and nursing and residential care facilities had 5.1% fewer jobs.

As the pandemic continues, Oregon’s health care employers are facing many hurdles to lling jobs. Many of the positions that are open require

Outside of the shortterm hiring constraints, health care in Oregon provides great opportunities to workers who get the right training and experience. Many of the state’s high-demand and high-wage jobs are found in the health care industry, and that’s a trend that is expected to continue as the population continues to grow and age. Choosing a career in health care now will lead to continued opportunities in the future.

Employers in all industries and areas across Oregon are reporting dif culty lling the record numbers of job vacancies. Learn more about what employers have said about their dif cult-toll vacancies in responses to the job vacancy survey here.

The health care industry has made signi cant progress recovering jobs lost in the early months of the pandemic. Early job losses in health care were concentrated in ambulatory health services, due to cancellation of nonessential procedures and appointments and closure of many medical and dental clinics in the short-term as they worked to update processes for pandemic safety.

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Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 23 fi

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previous experience and education beyond high school. As employers report record levels of hiring across industries, health care is competing with opportunities across sectors. The training and experience required to meet the needs of the health care industry can take time to translate to a ready workforce.

A Closer Look at Oregon’s Median Household Income

EMPLOYMENT Will Burchard Employment Economist - Oregon Employment Department william.g.burchard@employ.oregon.gov

source shows that Oregon’s median household income isn’t drastically different from the U.S. Having more than one data source can lead to slightly different conclusions about the economy. That’s a good reason to take a closer look at Oregon’s median household income. We need to understand exactly how household income is de ned and which source is the best in certain situations.

A household is all the people who occupy a housing unit, such as a house, an apartment, a mobile home, a group of rooms, or a single room that is a separate living quarters. A household can consist of a single family, a person living alone, two or more families living together, or any other group of people who share living arrangements.

People not living in a housing unit are considered to live in group quarters and are not included in the median household income gures. Examples of group quarters include correctional facilities, nursing homes, mental hospitals, college dorms, military barracks, group homes, missions, or shelters.

Income

Let’s start with de ning median household income.

Then we’ll dig into the numbers.

Median

O

regon’s median household income reached $76,554 in 2019, which is higher than the U.S. median household income of $67,521. Median household income is an important re ection of economic well-being that’s based on the multiple income streams of people who live together. It can be used to compare the income of Oregonians over time, with the rest of the nation and in other states, among different types of households within Oregon, and in different areas of the state.

Median income is the point where half the households earn more and half earn less. If you lined every household up from lowest income to highest income, the median would be the income of the household that’s smack in the center.

Looking at median income instead of average (mean) income is helpful because the measure is less affected by households with extremely high incomes. Income distributions are skewed because they are bound by zero on the low end and essentially unbounded at the high end. The median is a better measure of center in such cases.

Measuring household income isn’t easy. Oregon has only one true median household income, which is unknown, but there are multiple ways to estimate it. This article looks at three sources of median household income estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau because each brings a different strength to the analysis.

Household There are 1,649,352 households in Oregon with an average size of 2.6 people, almost matching the U.S. average household size of 2.7 people.

Not surprisingly, the different sources create different estimates of household income. Each

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Income is the money received on a regular basis in the previous year or past 12 months by household members ages 15 years and over. This is before personal income taxes, social security, union dues, and Medicare deductions are removed.

It does not include noncash bene ts such as food stamps, health bene ts, subsidized housing, or goods produced and consumed on the farm.

Oregon’s Household Income Is Similar to the Nation’s in Most Years Oregon’s median household income has been very close to the U.S. over the past 30 years. There hasn’t been a statistical difference between Oregon and U.S. household incomes in most years. However, Oregon’s job growth has been stronger than the U.S. since 2013, and the average hourly real wage started rising in 2015.

The better job market helped propel Oregon’s median income to $65,451 in 2014-2015, higher than the U.S. median household income of $60,237.

Oregon’s median remained higher than the U.S.

in 2019-2020, coming in at $75,948 compared with the U.S. gure of $68,541.

Historical estimates of median household income are based on the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). Each March, the survey asks a sample of households about their income in the previous year. This is the of cial source for national median household income estimates and is the recommended source for comparing national income with the states. It’s the source of the median household income gures in this article’s opening paragraph. However, the Census Bureau recommends using two-year averages when looking at state-level income trends prior to 2006.

The Census Bureau redesigned the CPS ASEC income questions starting with the 2013 data.

This was done to improve income reporting, increase response rates, reduce reporting errors, and update questions on retirement income and income generated from retirement accounts and all other assets. The redesign created a data series break because data after 2013 is not directly comparable with data before 2013.

Oregon Has the 19th Highest Household Income Oregon’s median household income ranked 19th in 2019 among the states, Washington, D.C, and Puerto Rico. Median household income is higher in neighboring states California and Washington, and lower in Nevada and Idaho.

ACS estimates, the gap between the two is smaller in the ACS estimates. The difference is due to the number of households surveyed and the way the survey is conducted. For example, the ACS asks about income in the past 12 months, while the CPS asks about income in the previous year.

($82,016), and slightly higher than overall when the householder is white and not Hispanic or Latino ($68,593). Household incomes are lower than overall when the household is Black or African American ($47,181), American Indian and Alaska Native ($52,652), or Hispanic or Latino origin of any race ($60,597).

Income in Oregon isn’t drastically higher than the nation like it is in Maryland, Washington D.C., Hawaii, and Alaska, or lower than the nation like it is in Mississippi, Arkansas, and West Virginia.

Household Income Highest in Washington County, Lowest in Wheeler County

The ACS doesn’t have a long historical series like the CPS does. This makes it impossible to use ACS for long-term comparisons of state and U.S. income levels.

There Are Signi cant Income Differences

by Type of Households There are 1,649,352 households in Oregon. One out of four households (397,407) does not have any earnings income. All their income comes from investments (interest, dividends, or net rental income); Social Security; retirement or disability income; public assistance; or other types of income. They do not have earnings from wages or salaries for work performed as an employee, or net income (after expenses) from farm and nonfarm self-employment.

The Census Bureau recommends using American Community Survey (ACS) estimates to compare median household income between states. The ACS surveys a lot more households (about three million nationally) than the CPS (about 100,000 nationally). The ACS’s larger sample size leads to income estimates with smaller margins of error and makes state comparisons more reliable.

Household income varies by age of the householder. It seems to hit a sweet spot where the householder is between the ages of 45 and 64 years and the median is $80,418. That’s slightly higher than the $75,719 median income for households when the householder is age 25 to 44 years. Median household income is just $36,705 when the householder is under 25 years, and it is $50,499 when the householder is 65 years and over. The householder is the adult in the household who owns or rents the housing unit. It can be either person when the house is owned or rented by a married couple.

According to ACS estimates for 2019, Oregon’s median household income was $67,058, which is about the same as the U.S. income of $65,712.

While Oregon’s median household income is higher in both the CPS-based estimates and the

Although the median household income in Oregon is $67,058, there are signi cant differences in income based on the race and ethnicity of the householder. Household income is much higher when the householder is Asian

Median household income ranges from a high of $85,665 in Washington County to a low of $39,874 in Wheeler County. Oregon’s urban counties tend to have higher median household incomes than rural counties.

The gures used in the national comparison of urban and rural household income are based on data collected by the ACS. For income estimates at the county level, the Census Bureau recommends using gures from the Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) program.

These are model-based estimates that combine data from administrative records, population estimates, the decennial census, and the ACS to produce household income estimates for areas with fewer than 65,000 people.

Either Way You Look At It Oregon’s median household income is pretty close to the national median, and is slightly different depending on which estimate we look at. It’s slightly higher when looking at the of cial estimate for national household income, as well as when looking at the source that surveys more households. In some years, these comparisons can differ.

Household income can vary a lot depending on the age, race, and ethnicity of the householder.

Location makes a difference too, as median incomes vary a lot by state and county, and households in urban counties generally have higher incomes than households in rural counties.

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By Brooke Nuckles Gentekos info@communitywebsite.org www.communitywebsite.org

Greetings!

Today you and your business are invited to partner with the Community Website Partnership to connect rural Oregonians and strengthen rural communities through technology.

Our nonpro t organization helps rural communities to be informed and resilient as recently featured in the Southern Oregon Business Journal: https://southernoregonbusiness.com/ community-website-partnershipinforming-inspiring-and-pro motingresilience-in-rural-oregon/.

By embracing diversity and offering specialized technical support and

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Invitation to sponsor the Community Website Partnership

NON-PROFIT

community website design services, Community Website Partnership builds capacity in rural communities to self-organize and strengthen relationships among businesses, nonpro ts and residents working to inform and improve their communities.

With southern Oregon roots, the Community Website Partnership has grown to serve 10 place-based networks, statewide. Partnership teams from Sisters, Jefferson County, Coos County, Bandon, Wild Rivers-Del Norte/ Curry Counties, Siuslaw, Klamath, Applegate Valley, Illinois Valley, and Newport, serve as mentors and leaders in our growing Partnership cohort and together we

are ensuring rural communities have stronger connections, increased methods for communication, and more effective collaboration through participation.

We are asking for your support to help ensure all rural voices are heard through the community websites we serve across the state. Please look at our options of tiered levels of support to see which level best represents the potential for our partnership.

Community Website Partnership will provide Bene ts to your Business through year round recognition that will be viewed by over 180,000 people across rural Oregon who are

collaborate, connect, be informed, and stay resilient.

Community Website Partnership holds two annual events: Spring Celebrating Rural Oregon Online Auction and Fall Virtual Trivia Night.

Your business sponsorship support will ensure all rural voices are heard, and make a difference so that rural Oregonians have better access to vital information.

The 2021 Virtual Trivia Night Fundraiser is Saturday, November 13th at 5PM and is currently being promoted nation-wide and regionally throughout rural Oregon. Dates for the Spring Auction will be determined in early 2022.

Your business can help us reach our goals to improve and adapt our technology as we launch our 2.0 template, increase outreach and engagement of diverse audiences, and support and train rural Oregonians to more effectively

Your generous sponsorship will help us further our mission as we bring diverse people together with a common purpose to provide information, strengthen connections and positively transform communities.

For more information or questions, please contact info@communitywebsite.org or visit www.communitywebsite.org.

Customized Sponsorship: If you do not see the level or recognition for a sponsorship that works for your business, please suggest a

customized amount and our team will be happy to craft an option that is mutually agreed upon.

We look forward to connecting with you to discuss becoming a Business Sponsor!

Please get in touch with our Co Directors, Rhianna Simes M.S.Ed. outreach@communitywebsite.org or Brooke Nuckles Gentekos info@communitywebsite.org Visit www.communitywebsite.org for more about our 501(c)(3) nonpro t organization. Thanks!

Donations made to Community Website Partnership (Tax ID: 85-1566826) are tax deductible: Give securely Online: https:// communitywebsite.org/donate/ or by Mail: Community Website Partnership, P.O. Box 1282, Medford, Oregon 97501.

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potential customers, other local businesses and community members.

HIGHER EDUCATION

By Press Release https://news.sou.edu/2021/10/sou-creative-arts-professor-elected-chair-oregonhumanities-board/

Robert Arellano, a professor in the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, was elected board chair for Oregon Humanities on Oct. 16. As the state af liate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Oregon Humanities’ mission “connects people and communities through conversation, storytelling and participatory programs to inspire understanding and collaborative change.”

southern Oregonians came out to connect with this renowned poet and teacher.”

participated in events we’ve hosted here in the Rogue Valley,” Arellano said.

Bobby, as he’s known to his students and coworkers, will chair a board of 22 volunteer members for the next two years. Beginning in 2016, he served previous terms as chair of two Oregon Humanities subcommittees – programs and communications.

The nonpro t sponsors hundreds of community forums all over Oregon in an average year. Last year, the organization rapidly adapted its “Consider This” conversation series to a remote format called “Connect in Place,” drawing hundreds of online participants from across the state.

Arellano is a founding director of SOU’s Emerging Media and Digital Arts program, and teaches courses in design, production and writing. He has done pioneering work in electronic publishing, and has published graphic-novel editions and ve other novels. He received both his bachelor’s degree and master of ne arts degree from Brown University.

More ways to get involved with Oregon Humanities include free college-credit classes through the Humanity in Perspective program, summer youth courses and award-winning publications, podcasts, and video productions. The organization also offers free subscriptions to its Oregon Humanities Magazine.

“In the summer of 2019, I got to moderate an inperson conversation at Grizzly Peak Winery for Oregon Humanities in partnership with SOU that brought Richard Blanco, President Obama’s inaugural poet laureate, to Ashland,” Arellano said. “Over 200

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SOU creative arts professor elected chair of Oregon Humanities board

“I would not have been able to take on a leadership role at Oregon Humanities without the unequivocal support of my division director, David Humphrey, and SOU Provost Sue Walsh, who have also both

“If there’s one thing you do to learn more about Oregon Humanities, take a minute to subscribe to our magazine,” Arellano said. “We publish stories and photos by people from right here in our community, and it’s delivered free, three times a year to anyone with an Oregon mailing address. It’s just one more bene t to being an Oregonian.”

“SOU gave me the opportunity to grow and to change my life and to help change the lives of other people.”

ANGELICA RUPPE MS ’86

sou.edu • 855-470-3377 Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 29

Ziply™ Fiber Unveils Its “Silicon Forest Ring” Connecting Major Data Centers in Hillsboro and Portland;

Adds Redundant Dark Fiber Paths to Seattle

By Press Release

Photos courtesy Ziply™ Fiber

New high-count ber-optic ring improves capacity, speed, and latency for high-bandwidth commercial industries throughout Oregon Ziply™ Fiber today (October 28, 2021) announced the completion of its new highcount ber-optic ring connecting 11 major data centers in Hillsboro to one another and into downtown Portland, OR. The project, which began in 2020 and which Ziply Fiber nicknamed its Silicon Forest Ring, included the installation of approximately 61 kilometers of 864-count ber-optic cable and 30 kilometers of 1728-count ber-optic cable. The ring enables high-density interconnectivity both amongst data centers and Ziply Fiber’s own facilities in the region, providing more cloud connectivity for businesses in high- bandwidth industries.

“Our goal with this project was to make it so that companies no longer need to worry about their data, where it sits or how it moves around, but rather can focus on what they do best – pursuing their mission and driving results for their business,” said John van Oppen, Vice President, Network, at Ziply Fiber. “Our new Silicon Forest Ring and the direct interconnection that it supports will bene t businesses throughout the region, and will give them the capacity, reliability and redundancy they need.”

Ziply Fiber’s ring is both carrier and data center neutral, offering direct access to the company’s unique long-haul network that offers terabits of

capacity on multiple routes out of the Portland metro area.

Locally, the ring provides ef cient, high-capacity connectivity, and gives businesses the ability to utilize Ziply’s secure dark ber between data centers to meet each business customer’s individual needs.

Ziply Fiber also can offer customers access to its services out of each of the data centers in the ring without being dependent on any particular combination of data centers to deliver those services. This makes Ziply Fiber unique among area ISPs, where services delivered to customers in one data center are neither required or relied upon in another, giving Ziply’s enterprise customers maximum exibility.

Ziply Fiber has coupled the completion of its Silicon Forest Ring with the announcement of multiple new long-haul, diverse transport options up to Seattle, providing increased redundancy and reliability for internet and private traf c between the two cities. Ziply Fiber currently is the only regional provider offering high-capacity wavelength services between Seattle and Portland with full diversity on two separate direct routes. These routes, when combined, offer fully-diverse options that allow customers to build their own rings on our infrastructure that can bypass major regional carrier hotels/colocation centers like those at the Westin in Seattle and Pittock in Portland, giving them more control over the path their data travels and the reliability of their services.

Additionally, the network is interconnected with Ziply Fiber’s extensive ber footprint in the Portland region to offer both lit and dark connectivity options, which allow customers an express path to the region’s most prominent data centers from any location inside Ziply’s ber footprint. This means that whether a business wants Ziply Fiber to manage its internet services or simply provide a dark ber private connectivity option, both are readily available within the Hillsboro and Portland area.

Ziply Fiber is local in the Northwest, headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, and has major of ces in Everett, Washington; Beaverton, Oregon and Hayden, Idaho. Most of Ziply Fiber’s executive team, which consists of former executives from AT&T, CenturyLink, and Wave Broadband, either grew up in the Northwest or have spent the better part of 30 years living here. That local ownership and market familiarity is an important part of the company mindset and culture.

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BROADBAND

Are the federal stimulus payments taxed in Oregon?

By Oregon Department of Revenue

T

he stimulus, of cially called the Economic Impact Payments, are not taxed as income in Oregon. However, the payments may impact the federal tax calculations used on your Oregon income tax return.

Background Oregon is one of six states that has a limited subtraction for federal taxes paid as part of its state income tax calculation. The maximum amount changes every year because it is indexed for in ation. For tax year 2020, Oregon income tax lers can subtract the rst $6,950 ($3,475 for married ling separately) in federal taxes paid from the income on which they pay state income tax.

Economic Impact Payments and the Recovery Rebate Credit When Congress created the Economic Impact Payments, they made them a prepayment of the 2020 federal Recovery

Rebate Credit. Those payments were essentially a reduction of your 2020 federal taxes—received in advance.

What that means under current Oregon law Under current Oregon law, taxpayers’ federal income tax subtraction will be reduced by the combined total of their Economic Impact Payments. This means some Oregon income tax lers may owe state tax on more of their income and, therefore, may have a larger Oregon income tax bill or a reduced refund.

Those who won’t be affected Lower income taxpayers who do not have a federal tax liability will not be affected.

Taxpayers whose federal income tax paid— after subtracting the total of their Economic Impact Payments—is greater than $6,950 ($3,475 for married ling separately) will also not be affected.

It also won’t affect those who didn’t receive Economic Impact Payments or won’t receive the Recovery Rebate Credit as determined by the IRS. Below is a table that shows the effect of the stimulus payments in the calculation of the Oregon federal tax subtraction in four different situations. For more, see our detailed examples.

Additional resources: Internal Revenue Service www.irs.gov Oregon Department of Revenue www.oregon.gov/dor 503-378-4988 or 800-356-4222 questions.dor@oregon.gov

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ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENTS

EMPLOYMENT

Help Wanted in Oregon

By Guy Tauer Regional Economist - Oregon Employment Department guy.r.tauer@employ.oregon.gov

Results from the Summer 2021 Job Vacancy Surve

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32 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021

by Greg Henderson

F

orty years, and then some, ages the old bean truck. It became a part of the family’s life blood when dad bought it in the 60’s to carry 1500 pound boxes of the bean harvest from our farm on Mosby Creek to the cannery in Eugene; a harvest largely accomplished by hardworking kids needing money for school supplies and clothes to wear.

A Field Full of Lessons and Gold

the nal day at the seasons end. Sticky juice ran down smiling chins and through dirty hands rubbed clean on dusty pants with a deserved feeling of accomplishment and a job well done.

As many as 300 bean pickers showed up each season discovering how equal we all were.

Carrying lunches in paper bags, drinking water from the same ve- gallon water cans, using the same smelly toilets, all with new school clothes on our minds.

The month-long August bean harvest generally was a Monday to Friday activity, rain or shine, from 8:00a.m. to 3:00p.m. Perhaps 3:30 or 4:00 depending on the urgency to pick beans before they were over-grown culls. Somebody’s mom was a bean-boss responsible for encouraging the pickers to do their best including picking all the beans without destroying vines or picking beans too small until the following week. It was a learning experience that would last a lifetime.

It’s not wrong to miss those days. The days of sweat and sore muscles, smiles among friends and family, feeling a sense of accomplishment no matter how small. This is providing a sense of purpose for everyone of all ages with dirt under ngernails grasping a check of a few dollars to prove their value and worth.

• These recollections fty years gone stir many thoughts and emotions. How powerful are they? Are they good or potentially harmful in present times? At the time the work was a challenge on some days, but we learned how

Scrub trees now grow through the truck’s wooden deck, the deck where celebration watermelon and cantaloupe were served to those young harvesters of life and learning on

good it felt to actually earn our pay and were motivated by the experience.

• Studies in cognitive dissonance may tell a story of faults in our thinking, pitching our lives in ways we struggle to avoid. The studies can be too academic missing the points of life. Sure we think different things, have varying beliefs and in uences on our lives but the activity of learning stays for retrieving when needed the most, in more dif cult times sometime on the horizon. Valuable lessons that stay with us are purchased by experience, not as much in books or in someone else’s lecture.

Greg Henderson is the retired founder of the Southern Oregon Business Journal. A University of Oregon graduate and a six year U.S. Air Force veteran, he spent nearly 30 years in banking and nance. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications concentrating on some 20 industry sectors. Contact him at ghenderson703@gmail.com

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GIVING BACK Reprinted with permission https://giving.sou.edu/a-passion-for-innovation/

Many Southern Oregonians are familiar with entrepreneurs Dena Matthews and Jim Teece.

They have multiple businesses and maintain a very active role in the community, including enthusiastically supporting SOU. The couple’s recent gift will encourage innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurial thinking. “I love entrepreneurs,” said Jim. “I love the idea of starting a business and finding a path that works for it.”

Their new endowment fund creates a business plan competition hosted by the business school, but open to all SOU students.

Teams of students can compete by creating a business plan for either a for-profit business or non-profit organization. “It’s an opportunity to honestly think about what you are building and how you are going to make it happen,” said Dena. Jim and Dena hope the competition encourages students to come forward with all of their new ideas. “It doesn’t matter if you’re running a hot dog stand or a coastal resort,” said

34 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021

A Passion for Innovation

Jim. “You need to plan how you would run that business.”

SOU has many interdisciplinary programs, and the competition will encourage students from disciplines such as economics or business or communication to form small teams and work through the process of establishing a business or non-profit organization. “We’re excited about that,” said Dena. “It is the flow of ideas across disciplines that’s important, that sparks cool, innovative business ideas.”

For both Dena and Jim, the pandemic highlighted the importance of resiliency in the business community. “One thing COVID did was revalidate to us that we can change and survive in any circumstance,” said Jim. Resilience and courage in the business world is vital, and the couple hopes that students will be fearless when it comes to realizing their business goals. “There seems to be a higher level of anxiety in young people than I recall in earlier generations.

Students should learn that it’s ok to fail, and you learn from it,” said Dena.

The two long-time entrepreneurs own Project A, Ashland HomeNet as well as Rogue Broadband, Southern Oregon Business Journal, and a number of other smaller entities. Jim has served on the SOU Foundation Board of Trustees for more than 20 years, he has taught classes at the business school, and helps students in the EMDA program.

“It’s not hard to give,” said Dena. “Over the years, when we didn’t have the financial means, we gave our time. There are so many ways to make an impact.”

Dena and Jim support a number of organizations in the Rogue Valley, and this is their first major gift to SOU. “We are all about supporting the business community, which in turn supports the entire community,” said Jim. “We knew we wanted to do something for SOU, and we are finally at a place where we can give at this capacity,” he added.

Foundation FY21 Annual Report

Buy Local : Online

BUY LOCAL

By Jim Teece

This year I’m encouraging you to order all your gifts online, but do it from a local company instead of Amazon.

It’s convenient, fun and you will be helping a great local artist or craftsperson and entrepreneur.

Be a local hero and follow them on social, share their site with your friends and buy a gift for someone else from them online.

Here are a couple of Oregon based, one woman run companies that I love, to make it easy for you.

AloBee Jewelry alobeejewelry.com - Handmade in Ashland by Kriya. AloBee Jewelry is made up of one of kind pieces that allow you to express your unique self.

No piece will be the same as the one before it, which makes AloBee so special.

Kakes By Kenz KakesByKenz.com - Kenz is a mom with little ones and she bakes from her home in the Albany area, custom cakes and cookies for any occasion. They look amazing and taste too good. I have had many. bsm.kustom.kreations shop-bsm.myshopify.com/ - Every single pair of shoes and piece of jewelry is handmade and painted by Brailey Shaye Murray. That means each individual stroke, stitch and bead is a one woman show.

Every piece is made with care.

What local companies do you like to order from online? Leave a comment at the bottom of this article on the site and let’s build a big list and commit to ordering as much as we can online from local entrepreneurs this year.

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 35

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 845 SE Mosher Ave, Roseburg, OR 97470 (541) 672-3793 customercare@umpquabroadband.com

36 | Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021

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.

A WINEMAKER NEEDS PATIENCE, VISION AND LOTS OF ENERGY. IT’S VITAL THAT ENERGY BE USED EFFICIENTLY. Making wine is a tricky business. Each vintage brings its own challenges; there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s similar to how Energy Trust approached an energy efficiency plan for our winery.

It was tailored to us and how we work. Now we run better. You can, too.

Find out how at EnergyTrust.org/for-business.

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

Managed Home Net

Page 17

People’s Bank - Page 9

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

Energy Trust of Oregon

Back Cover

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

Amerititle - Page 4

Umpqua Broadband

Page 36

SOU - Page 29

Southern Oregon Business Journal November 2021 | 37

Please SUPPORT YOUR JOURNAL. If you want to continue seeing news about Southern Oregon Businesses and Oregon News that will impact all of our businesses then please support us.

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.

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38 | Southern Oregon Business Journal January 2021

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

A WINEMAKER NEEDS PATIENCE, VISION AND LOTS OF ENERGY. IT’S VITAL THAT ENERGY BE USED EFFICIENTLY. Making wine is a tricky business. Each vintage brings its own challenges; there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. It’s similar to how Energy Trust approached an energy efficiency plan for our winery.

It was tailored to us and how we work. Now we run better. You can, too.

Find out how at EnergyTrust.org/for-business.

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

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Southern Oregon Business Journal May 2021 | 39