Historically, Baker County has been on the low end of the totem pole when it comes to receipt of guaranteed loans and other business assistance programs available through the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

But change is in the wind.

OECDD records show that during the 1970s through the 1990s, Baker County and Malheur counties were dead last in business development guaranteed loans, gap financing and other types of loans lavished on businesses along the I-5 corridor, the Oregon Coast and other areas of the state.

Belgian draft horses are used to cultivate and harvest crops on the Mader farm north of Halfway. David Mader guides a 3-year-old Belgian, Red, while an apprentice on the farm handles the single-horse cultivator. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

Deborah Mader hollers a hearty “hello” from the strawberry patch, then directs her visitors to the garden gate back down the lane.

“Garden gate,” in this instance, is a bit misleading.

When it comes to borrowing money for a business venture, don’t give up just because the first banker you talked to said no.

Speakers delivered that message to entrepreneurs and others attending a Thursday evening PubTalk economic development gathering at Mad Matilda’s coffee shop and restaurant in downtown Baker City.

When an entrepreneur is short of cash or other capital to qualify for a conventional business loan to launch a new business venture, help might be available to turn the initial no to a yes, by tapping into a variety of government loan guarantees, direct loans and grants targeting rural areas, said LaDonn McElligott of the USDA Rural

Gelato is served in two sizes — small at 120 grams and large at 190 grams — with a small, flat plastic spoon that encourages you totake small bites. (Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald)

“It’s more flavor, less fat, less air,” Caisse said.

Ann and Andrew Bryan, owners of Mad Matilda’s, first tasted gelato on their honeymoon in Italy.

As the nation celebrates Labor Day this weekend, Sen. Hilary Clinton, Robert Kennedy Jr., and other speakers at the United Farm Workers national convention in California are supporting passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for workers in Baker County and across the nation to unionize.

Baker County ranchers who raise cattle for Country Natural Beef wound up in the middle of the political battle over a key provision of the Employee Free Choice Act when Sen. Barack Obama weighed in on a labor dispute between the UFW and the Beef Northwest feedlot in Boardman that finishes cattle for Country Natural Beef.

In an Aug. 4 letter to John Wilson, an owner of Beef Northwest, Obama wrote of his “concerns about the breakdown in communication between Beef Northwest Feeders and the United Farm Workers.”

The UFW has demanded that Beef Northwest recognize card checks circulated among feedlot employees by union organizers. UFW officials claim they have collected signed cards from a majority of Beef Northwest workers who want to join the union.

By a 4-2 vote, the Baker City Council gave final approval Tuesday night to a sidewalk utility fee designed to, over the next five years, pay to repair or build sections of as many as 300 sidewalks.

The fee — $1 per month for residents, $2 for businesses — is expected to raise up to $60,000 annually, with no less than 25 percent going toward grants of up to $1,000 to help residents repair or construct sidewalks.

Mayor Jeff Petry and councilor Andrew Bryan voted no, while councilors Dennis Dorrah, Beverly Calder, Sam Bass and Terry Schumacher voted yes. Councilor Gail Duman was absent.

The city will begin assessing the sidewalk fee about Oct. 1.

The ordinance is not without its detractors.