Policy Updates, Events and Other News

OBI to Hold Gubernatorial Candidate Forum at Annual Meeting

As part of our annual meeting June 7, OBI will host a gubernatorial candidate forum featuring the two major-party nominees as well as independent or minor-party candidates likely to mount competitive campaigns. The forum will give OBI members a chance to meet the candidates and the candidates an opportunity to explain why employers should support them. The event is not a debate. Each candidate will have an opportunity to deliver brief opening and closing remarks, between which they will field questions posed by the OBI board and OBI PAC board. Other OBI members may submit questions in advance of the forum for the OBI and PAC boards to consider. The forum will run from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Salem Convention Center and will not be livestreamed. A reception will follow the meeting and conclude at 7 p.m. Read more about the annual meeting here. OBI members can register for the meeting here. Thank you to the following event sponsors: Presenting Sponsor NW Natural Gubernatorial Candidate Forum Sponsor The Standard Hospitality Sponsor The Papé Group Tillamook County Creamery Association Willamette Valley Vineyards Visibility Sponsor Bank of America Intel Corporation Portland General Electric SAIF Summit Bank Swire Coca-Cola, USA

Business Representatives Needed for Education Task Force

OBI has been asked to identify businesses to participate in roundtable discussions tied to the Joint Task Force on Student Success for Underrepresented Students in Higher Education. The task force will hold in-person and virtual meetings on campuses across the state through the end of July. Please consider joining one of the roundtables to share the needs of employers. The first two site visits will happen this month. The task force will visit Portland State University on March 30 and Mount Hood Community College on March 31. Discussions involving business representatives and community leaders are scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. each day. Roundtables will last for 90 minutes and involve about 20 people. A complete schedule of task force visits and meetings can be found here. The Legislature created the task force in 2021 to develop policy and funding proposals to help students from populations with comparatively low higher-education enrollment. For each meeting, OBI has been asked to identify two or three local business representatives to discuss preparation for students entering the workforce. Given today’s workforce shortages, the contribution of business voices to the task force is critical. If you’d like to learn more or participate, please contact Morgan Beltz.

Oregon Scales Back Permanent COVID Rule

Following a change in guidance by the Oregon Health Authority, the state Occupational Safety and Health division (OSHA) announced March 18 that it had eliminated many components of its COVID-protection rule for general workplaces. Among the components eliminated are requirements involving ventilation and risk assessments.  The amended rule continues to require employers to: Allow workers to use masks and provide them for free. Pay for any COVID testing required by employers. Meanwhile, employers are encouraged – but not required – to:  Optimize ventilation systems to minimize COVID risk. Follow public-health quarantine recommendations for employees with COVID. Notify workers who may have been exposed to COVID. OSHA also has repealed most of the indexes that include industry-specific requirements. The exceptions involve health-care professions such as firefighters and medical transportation personnel. The workplace rules for patient-care settings remains largely in place.

Capitol News Roundup

The Oregon Supreme Court on March 18 denied a request by campaign finance reform advocates for an expedited review of Secretary of State Shemia Fagan's decision to kill a trio of proposed ballot measures. The decision all but eliminates any chance that the initiatives will qualify for the November ballot. Six Democratic former lawmakers have created a political action committee to support moderate Democrats. The PAC, called "Oregonians are Ready," is the idea of former state Rep. Brian Clem and includes former Reps. Jeff Barker, Caddy McKeown, Betty Komp and Deborah Boone. It also includes former state Sen. Arnie Roblan. Oregon's unemployment rate dropped to 4% in February, according to the Oregon Employment Department. The rate, which was 4.2% in January, is now at its lowest level since March 2020, when it was 3.5%. The state's nonfarm payroll grew by 12,300 jobs in February, led by leisure and hospitality (3,500 jobs), construction (2,300 jobs) and healthcare and social assistance (1,600 jobs). Despite gains in leisure and hospitality employment, the sector remains 14,600 jobs shy of payroll in February 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic.

Manufacturer Profile: Willamette Technical Fabricators

Check out our latest Oregon manufacturer profile. Willamette Technical Fabricators, which operates on the banks of the Willamette River in Portland, specializes in custom, complex projects such as piping for pumped-storage hydropower projects and tough metal boats that can be squeezed between barges. Willamette Technical Fabricators employs 22 people at its Portland facility and 13 at a machine shop it owns in Clackamas. All of our manufacturer profiles are located on our Manufacturing Council of Oregon page. We intend to produce and post these profiles regularly to demonstrate the breadth of the manufacturing sector in Oregon.   OBI and the Oregon Business Council released a report late last year on the importance of manufacturing in Oregon, and we want Oregonians to know more about these businesses, what they make and how they contribute to the well-being of the state.

Check out OBI's CompSAFE Driving Safety Webinar

You want to keep your employees safe behind the wheel, whether they’re driving a company car to a worksite or managing a delivery route in a tractor-trailer. Ensuring safety involves the adoption of best practices, the regular delivery of safety training, and the ability to adjust to workforce challenges – including pandemics. Learn more by watching CompSAFE’s recent webinar featuring Garrett Hanna, senior vice president of strategy and procurement at Timber Country Coca-Cola Beverages, whose fleet of 90 delivery trucks serves more than 2,000 customers per week. Hanna talks about driving-safety best practices as well as adjustments to training made amid the COVID pandemic. Watch the webinar here.

Oregon Business Community D.C. Fly-In Returns

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, the Oregon Business Community D.C. Fly-In is back. Representatives from OBI — along with the Portland Business Alliance (PBA) and the Oregon Business Council (OBC) — will visit the nation’s capital May 9-11 to discuss the most significant issues affecting the state's businesses and its economy. Participants will visit with congressional and administrative representatives.   Click here to find out more and to learn how to register.

Chamber Workforce Survey

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched a program to help address state and local workforce-shortage issues. To gather information about their needs, the chamber has asked employers to take a short online survey. If you would like to do so, please go here. The survey must be completed by March 28. It should take about three minutes.

Free Access to Leave Compliance Webinar for OBI Members

HR Simple is offering OBI members free access to its April 13 "Leave Compliance: FMLA, ADA, Workers' Compensation" webinar. The the topics the webinar will cover include: COVID-19 employer obligations under the ADA, FMLA, and workers' compensation OSHA reporting and recordkeeping requirements Workers' compensation coverage related to COVID-19 cases in the workplace Common employer pitfalls under the ADA, FMLA and workers' compensation laws. Free registration for OBI members is available here. The webinar will begin at 10 a.m. PST. HR Simple also is providing free access to its digital 2022 "Employer's Guide to FMLA and ADA."

OBI Members Receive Free Legal Advice through LegalPlus Benefit

OBI members are entitled to 15 minutes of free legal consultation every month, thanks to a partnership with Innova Legal Advisors. The LegalPlus benefit allows businesses to seek advice on such common issues as: Employment practices, laws and regulations Business advice and problem-solving on corporate formation, structure, government relations, policies, mergers, buy-and-sell agreements and ownership issues Governance work with owners, boards of directors, shareholders, partners, and executive staff Money issues, credit management, creditors’ rights, capitalization/recapitalization and banking Government / municipal law Health care, HIPAA, Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act Construction contracting Technology agreements Real estate sales, purchase, and leases Property disputes Mediation, arbitration, and litigation More information can be found on OBI's website.

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