Share this article! Newport keeps NOAA After the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its decision to move its marine center from Seattle to Newport, competing ports tried to stop the move and claimed that the Newport site was in a floodplain. But NOAA is sticking with its decision to relocate to Newport, bringing 175 … Read more
Newport keeps NOAA
After the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced its decision to move its marine center from Seattle to Newport, competing ports tried to stop the move and claimed that the Newport site was in a floodplain.
But NOAA is sticking with its decision to relocate to Newport, bringing 175 jobs to the region along with it.
The Port of Bellingham and the owners of the current site of the marine center filed formal complaints with the Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, complaining that the Newport site is in a floodplain, and that this wasn’t duly considered by NOAA. The GAO sided with Bellingham and asked the government to review its decision.
NOAA did so, and arrived at the same conclusion, to the delight of port officials and lawmakers from Oregon.
Read the full story at The Register-Guard.
Toyota moves forward
Toyota sales are up in the Portland area while 52% of sticky accelerators have been repaired, while 40% of Toyotas with floor-mat issues have also been fixed.
Toyota sales in the region from Jan. 1 to March 22 were also up 91% over the same period last year, despite sales being halted earlier this year to handle the recalls.
Don Esmond, Toyota Division senior vice president, spent the day in Portland thanking dealers, checking in on the their progress with recalls and answering questions.
“Did we stumble? Yes, but we didn’t fall flat on our face,” Esmond said. “Now it’s the time where we need to get back to business.”
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
Minority contract confusion
Under a change in disadvantaged business enterprise rules, contractors will only receive minority-participation credit for work performed under the specific codes in which they are certified.
But contractors were confused by letters from Business Oregon that explained the change.
The change doesn’t mean that firms will lose their DBE status. But that’s the message contractors received in letters from Business Oregon, the state office responsible for certification.
ODOT officials now say at least one letter was incorrect, and that Business Oregon will be sending another to clear up the confusion.
Read the full story at the Daily Journal of Commerce.
The grass might be greener
When Oregonians voted in January to approve tax increases on businesses and high-earners, many viewed it as a blow to retaining Oregon businesses and attracting new ones.
Now states like Idaho, Montana and Ohio are working to recruit businesspeople frustrated by Oregon’s tax situation.
“Oregon’s economy is already on the wrong side of the tracks,” said Roy Tucker, managing partner of the Perkins Coie law firm in Portland. “The last thing we need is one more reason for entrepreneurs to decide not to do business here.”
Measures 66 and 67 “established battle lines that did not need to be drawn,” added Portland venture investor David Chen. “The damage is not monetary in terms of the increased taxes. The far greater damage is in how it disenfranchised business.”
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
Facelift for an icon
The famous “Made in Oregon” sign in Portland’s Old Town will soon read “Portland Oregon” under its new ownership by the city.
The latest proposal will end a year-long debate over the sign’s ownership and lettering.
The change is the latest – and possibly final – proposal involving the landmark sign at the west end of the Burnside Bridge on Northwest Couch Street. In the past year, proposals for lettering on the sign have included representing the University of Oregon (which renovated the White Stag Building as its Portland facility) with the green-and-yellow colors, and keeping the “Made in Oregon/Old Town” lights intact.
Representatives of Ramsay Signs Inc. of Portland, which has owned the White Stag sign for more than six decades, met with city planners Tuesday morning to begin a process of changing the sign’s lettering to read “Portland Oregon.”
Read the full story at the Portland Tribune.
