The Oregon Employment Department has given the Oregon Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (PFMLI) program a new name, Paid Leave Oregon. Meanwhile, the department is working on the latest batch of rules for the program, which the Legislature established in 2019....
Oregon OSHA adopted administrative rules last week to protect employees from excessive heat and smoke. The heat rules include requirements to provide access to shade and water. They also require employers to provide paid breaks of increasing length as heat...
By Katy Brooks, CEO, Bend Chamber This article originally appeared in The Bulletin on May 21, 2022. As the worst impacts of COVID-19 wane, businesses are now contending with new challenges, including labor shortages and inflation. As we have watched inflation rise to...
57% Lack Capacity to Increase Workforce Latest Results from The Harris Poll Sixty percent of companies plan to increase their number of employees in the first half of 2022 primarily due to increased workloads (49%), according to a new survey from Express Employment...
By Katy Brooks, CEO, Bend Chamber This article originally appeared in The Bulletin on February 20, 2022. We’ve all experienced the unease of seeing empty shelves as businesses continue struggling with supply delays that are leaving them short-stocked at grocery...
The Bend Chamber of Commerce spent 2021 ramping up our mainstay leadership, networking, advocacy and resource programs impacted in the first year of COVID. But we spent much of our energy working on longer-term issues that have taken a toll on employers and the workforce.
By Katy Brooks, CEO, Bend Chamber This article originally appeared in The Bulletin on January 23, 2022 Something really exciting is coming to Oregon State University-Cascades. It is their new innovation district, a public/private development that will be a game...
Nine Awards Bestowed Across Five Categories The Bend Chamber is proud to announce the recipients of the 2022 Business Excellence Awards, sponsored by US Bank and The Bulletin. These awards celebrate the outstanding achievements made by Chamber members in 2021 across...
Ringing in the new year with Modernization Program progress As we begin a new year, the Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division (WCD) is taking this opportunity to tell you about some of the modernization process improvement projects we are working on. In 2021,...
COVID-19 Small Business Relief Grant in Deschutes County Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council is supporting Deschutes County with a COVID-19 small business and non-profit grant program. This is a reminder that the application closes at 11:59 PM on Friday January...
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in The New York Times recently that “The Work is not just happening in the workplace.” That’s certainly true here in Bend.
Deschutes County, through a partnership with Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC), is offering grants to small businesses and non-profits in Deschutes County that were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications open on Friday, Dec. 10 and close on Friday, Jan. 7.
It’s everywhere. From the lowest-paying jobs to high-wage earners, employees are walking out the door. And not just in Bend, but people are resigning across the country, causing disruption to businesses and a wave of labor shortages.
Business Oregon is creating a statewide Economic Recovery Plan which will emphasize assisting those most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The work is analyzing the areas of Oregon’s economy that have been most negatively impacted by the pandemic, while taking into...
New White Paper Explores the Long-Term Consequences for Today’s Students Only 56% Say U.S. is Taking the Right Steps to Help Students Recover Results from The Harris Poll With "now hiring" signs on every street corner across the United States, businesses are in crisis...
