Weather delays fruit crop
Unseasonably cold weather in early June has pushed back harvest for much of Oregon’s valuable fruit crop. The delay means local fruit will be in markets later than anticipated. more >
Ag prices climb
Farmers have reaped some benefit from costlier global commodities. In 2007, the index of Oregon prices received by farmers for all products grew 12% over 2006 and 27% over 2003. more >
Oregon acreage turns to grapes
More and more acreage around the state is converting to vineyards, and it’s changing the face of agriculture, land values and the environment. more >
Demand and the dollar help spike wheat prices
After a rough 12-year slog with more drought than profit, Oregon wheat growers are finally back in the black, thanks to record wheat prices that are not expected to drop any time soon. more >
Q&A with wine pioneer Susan Sokol Blosser
EARLY THIS YEAR, Susan Sokol Blosser announced she was turning over control of Sokol Blosser Winery, the Willamette Valley establishment she founded and has helmed since 1991, to her children. more >
Next: Building a better broccoli...
The desirability of a long neck is well established: swans, Audrey Hepburn, bottled beer. Now along comes the humble, nutritious broccoli with the same ambition. more >
Outlets upswing Despite their far-flung locations, outlet malls are thriving in a down retail market.
The comeback How Flir came back from the brink of bankruptcy to become a $4.3 billion company that has left its competition in the dust.
Economist John Mitchell: The end of the way we were The past few months have been marked by surging gas and food prices, plummeting auto sales, a continued housing implosion and Russia acting like the old days.
Funds for toxic cleanup uncertain This summer a national group proclaimed a victory of sorts in Portland’s perpetual struggle to clean up contaminated industrial land along the Willamette River.
Urban-rural wage gap is steady The often-cited widening gap between urban and rural wages actually has remained unchanged over the past decade, while both urban and rural wages are slipping compared to their counterparts nationwide.
Oregon banks continue slide In the March issue of Oregon Business we quoted the Beatles in regard to the recent fortunes of Oregon-headquartered banks: “It’s getting better all the time (can’t get much worse).”
Q&A with Paddle Palace CEO n 1971, at the age of 15, Judy Bochenski joined a team of “ping pong diplomats” on a trip to China that helped pave the way for President Nixon’s breakthrough state visit a year later.
State slams FERC’s LNG approval In mid September, federal officials approved a controversial liquid natural gas project located on the Columbia River and in doing so set the stage for a potential legal battle between the state of Oregon and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Tactics: The operative It was in Washington, D.C., in the mid-1980s where Lisa Grove — today a political strategist and pollster but back then a fresh, idealistic Lewis & Clark graduate — learned a key commandment of the political game, and one that would later shape the success of her Portland-based political consulting firm.
Should executives share the pain of pay cuts? If corporate ethicist David Layzell had his way, all public companies would institute performance-based executive pay programs like Monaco Coach recently did.
Don’t cut marketing when things get slow It’s fiscally tempting to scale back the marketing budget of your business in lean times, even though doing so may only cause more pain.
Next: The GlideCycle In the world of odd-looking exercise contraptions, the GlideCycle fits somewhere between Suzanne Somers’ ThighMaster and your favorite treadmill at the gym.
The path to excellence The early September day couldn’t have been more beautiful and the Portland Art Museum was just as spectacular, a fitting setting for the creative work going on at our first annual 100 Best Conference.
