April 26, 2010 01:45 pm
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After a comedy routine by Whit Deschner that kept the crowd in
stitches, Jimmy Chan’s restaurant was named Business of the Year and
Jeff Nelson was named Volunteer of the Year Thursday night at the
annual Historic Baker City Inc. awards.
“Whit Deschner was hysterical. He kept us all laughing. He warmed
the crowed up. He was a highlight of the evening,” said Ann Mehaffy,
HBC executive director.
Other HBC awards included the Community Partnerships Award presented
to the Baker Economic Resource Alliance; the Physical Improvements
Award went to Larry and Rosemary Abell for their work on The Pythian
Castle; the Downtown Success Story Award went to Dick and Marge Haynes
of the Short Term Gallery; and the Stepping Up to the Plate Award went
to Terry and Dan McQuisten, owners of the Eltrym Theatre.
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April 12, 2010 01:00 pm
Second-annual free event scheduled for April 23-24 at the Baker City Armory
The second-annual Business Resource Fair is scheduled for Friday and
Saturday, April 23-24, at the Oregon National Guard Armory in Baker
City.
The free event starts Friday with a tour of all 16 lodging
businesses within the Baker City limits. The tour, organized by the
Baker County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, leaves from the
armory, 1640 Campbell St., at 1 p.m. and returns at 5 p.m.
“Business owners of other lodging entities, restaurants, gift and
clothing shops, service stations and tourist attractions can train
their employees to be our visitors’ No. 1 information source, keeping
visitors busy shopping and touring and encouraging them to stay another
day,” said Ann Mehaffy, program director for the Historic Baker City
Inc., which is one of the sponsors for the Resource Fair.
After the lodging tour there will be hors d’oeuvres, networking and
informational booths at the armory from 5:30 to 7 p.m, followed by
keynote speaker Maurizio Valerio, community development coordinator for
Rural Development Initiatives.
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April 07, 2010 12:56 pm
Mallory Bailey is president of the Oregon Future Business Leaders of America
Baker High School senior Mallory Bailey, state president, will lead
nearly 1,500 student leaders when they gather in Portland this week for
the 2010 Oregon Future Business Leaders of America state conference.
Students will compete in more than 60 business-focused contests
during the conference, which begins today at the Doubletree Lloyd
Center and Oregon Convention Center. During the three-day conference,
students also will hear from keynote speakers, support the March of
Dimes, FBLA’s national service partner, attend leadership and
career-focused workshops and elect a new team of state leaders.
Top contest finishers will advance to the national Leadership Conference at Nashville, Tenn., this summer.
“The State Business Leadership Conference is an amazing opportunity
for students,” Bailey said in a press release. “I left my first SBLC a
better leader and excited for school and community service.
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March 31, 2010 01:15 pm
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“Inbound marketing” as a tool for developing and expanding business
marketing contacts and opportunities, is the topic for first PubTalk of
2010.
The PubTalk meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, at the Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, 2020 Auburn Ave.
Jake Jacobs of the Small Business Development Center and the Baker
City/County economic development team, said the use of social
networking tools has proven to be a valuable new method of marketing
products and services.
This meeting topic is derived from the 2010 book “Inbound Marketing” by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, Jacobs said.
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March 17, 2010 10:37 am
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You won’t find Guido guarding the front door, but inside the Baker
City Cafe, there’s a taste of Italy on the new dinner menu to go along
with the house favorite clam chowder and the Hog Gobbler Grinder.
New owners Matthew Clark, Brian Olson, Josh DeCarl and Debbie Fisher purchased the Baker City Cafe Feb. 1.
And although they’ve kept the cafe’s successful lunch menu, they’re
now open for dinner Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings until 10
o’clock.
“We had been talking with Josh and his wife about opening a
restaurant when we got a call from Brandi Ulrey (the cafe’s former
owner) saying she was moving out of town in three weeks and had to sell
the restaurant,” said Olson, who along with Clark owns the Clark and
Company furniture and home decorations store on Broadway Street.
“Brandi had a job offer in the Tacoma area — one that she couldn’t
pass up,” Olson said. “We paid a fair price — fair market value.”
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March 01, 2010 11:00 am
Legislation does away with $250,000 limit on deposits in credit unions from cities, counties, other government entities
The Oregon Senate passed a bill last week that removes the current
cap of $250,000 that government agencies can deposit in a credit union.
The bill takes effect in January 2013.
“This is a huge win for credit unions. It will open the door for
public entities and offices to do financial banking at credit unions,”
said Julie Zaccone, manager of Baker City branch of Old West Federal
Credit Union.
House Bill 3700, which the House passed last week, now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature.
The Senate approved the legislation by a 24-6 vote, and the House by a 44-12 margin.
Both of Baker County’s legislators — Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, and Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario — voted for the bill.
Zaccone said the $250,000 deposit limit has made it difficult for
credit unions to attract public agencies such as school districts,
cities and counties.
Banks aren’t subject to the deposit limit.
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February 10, 2010 10:49 am
 Ash Grove Cement Co.’s Durkee plant is among Baker County’s larger private employers. (Baker City Herald/Ed Merriman)
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February 03, 2010 10:43 am
Jerry Johnson hopes to create hundreds of jobs in Baker City by making the safety equipment he designed mandatory on new ATVs
 Jerry Johnson straps himself into an ATV equipped with the Pro-Tec Safety System he designed at his Baker City shop. Johnson, who moved here five years ago, hopes to convince the Consumer Products Safety Commission to mandate ATV manufacturers install such devices, which are designed to protect riders during rollovers. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins) Jerry Johnson made the most of his moment in the spotlight Sunday
when he pitched his Pro-Tec ATV Safety System to a crowd of about 50
people attending Rep. Greg Walden’s town hall meeting in Baker City.
Johnson, owner of Pro-Tec ATV in Baker City, said he and his wife,
Nadejda Johnson, have a patent pending on an ATV safety system that he
believes could create hundreds of manufacturing jobs in Baker City,
save thousands of lives and prevent thousands of injuries to children
and adults across the country.
“The next big step is for the Consumer Products Safety Commission to
mandate the safety systems to be installed on ATVs,” Johnson said, just
as the agency required seat belts in cars starting in the 1960s.
He said he’s made his case to officials with the CPSC, and he thinks
they’re taking seriously his call for mandatory ATV rollover protection.
“We’ve got to the point where they are calling me now,” Johnson said.
He said there’s about 14 million ATVs in use today across the United
States and millions more around the world. About 1 million new ATVs are
built and sold annually.
Johnson told those attending Walden’s town hall meeting that he
believes if the CPSC mandates ATV rollover protection there would be so
much demand for his Pro-Tec system from the seven major ATV
manufacturers that he could put hundreds of people to work building
them in Baker City.
And even then “we couldn’t keep up with the demand,” he said.
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January 22, 2010 03:55 pm
Chamber of Commerce director says some businesses reported banner sales despite the national recession
The recession of 2009 turned out to be a Chicken Little story of
sorts in Baker County, with strong tourism sales making up for declines
in other sectors of the economy, according to the Baker County Chamber
of Commerce.
Chamber Director Debi Bainter said many businesses experienced a
slow start in 2009, but ended up beating their 2008 sales figures.
“June through August were strong tourism months with high visitor
numbers at the Chamber of Commerce and up at the National Historic
Oregon Trail Interpretive Center,” Bainter said.
Gift shops at both the Interpretive Center and the Chamber of
Commerce had banner sales months through September, and business didn’t
slow until snow began to fall and visitor numbers dropped, Bainter said.
“I have heard from more than one business that (2009) was their best year yet,” Bainter said.
“Baker County’s (non-seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate has not
risen above 10 percent during this recession, proving our mix of retail
and manufacturing businesses are appropriate,” Bainter said.
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January 17, 2010 10:00 pm
Governor’s order encourages state to move offices and schedule meetings in historic downtowns such as Baker City’s, but Kulongoski says state officials will rely on local residents for suggestions
It’s up to local officials, including those in Baker City, to
provide data on historic districts or buildings where state agencies
could have their offices or schedule meetings under the auspices of an
executive order signed Wednesday by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.
“Maintaining attractive and vibrant towns and cities — and
preserving their history — has always been part of our character.
Today, we add a new way of making it part of the mission of state
government,” Kulongoski said prior to signing the executive order.
The order directs state agencies to strive to locate offices in
historic downtown areas when it fits with the agency’s mission and is
economically feasible.
The order also encourages state agencies to schedule meetings and conferences in historic downtown buildings.
“When we re-use historic buildings, we preserve their landmark
qualities for the next generation. Historic buildings are non-renewable
resources that should be conserved just as passionately as our natural
resources,” Kulongoski said.
He said the order is also designed to give an economic boost to historic downtowns.
“Through the Oregon Main Street program — which is managed by our
State Historic Preservation Office — we are partnering with local
communities to rebuild downtowns, not just as tourist attractions — but
as real centers of commerce and government,” Kulongoski said.
Roger Roper, deputy state historic preservation officer, said the
Historic Preservation Office is the lead agency charged with
implementing Kulongoski’s executive order.
Roper said the order seeks to simplify the site selection process so
agencies will call the historic preservation office in the initial
stages of selecting sites.
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