Season fuels fire business
It was tragic but not surprising that the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in Northern California Aug. 5 were working for a company based in Oregon. more >
Wyden’s forest plan hopes to bridge extremes
Sen. Ron Wyden has proposed a strategy to break free from what he labels the “dysfunctional and dangerous” management of federal forestlands in Oregon and clear the way for doubling the timber harvest. more >
Ohio group wins oil and gas rights near Madras
Under the watchful eye of a regional conservation group, an out-of-state energy company hopes to be drilling for natural gas southeast of Madras by year’s end. more >
Salmon season sunk by total closure
In a move that surprised no one, a federal panel in April completely shut down this year’s commercial ocean Chinook salmon season, and placed massive limits on the Coho catch. more >
Bend guitar-maker makes environmental commitment
Breedlove Guitar Co. will plant trees through-out the Northwest to compensate for those chop-ped down for its guitars. The type of trees to be planted, known as “tone” woods (such as California walnut and red spruce), won’t be ready for at least 100 years. more >
End of the line for salmon fisherman?
Start with a basic fact: Oregon’s coastal commercial salmon industry is not dead, nor will it — probably — ever be. But define “industry.” 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.
