Today's News and Links 

  • Handful of help for Halloween
  • U.S. GDP growth…and caution
  • Entrepreneurial COVID adaptation
  • Brand innovation
  • Business workshop Monday
  • Availability -- Testing & Vaccine
  • Cautionary -- US & Oregon Case records
This weekend marks the convergence of a wild bunch of things. We’ve also got a convergence of information worth knowing – and doing something with. – CCET
This weekend is nuts.
Halloween, full moon, time change and just before the election.
How do we cope?

We've all spent months slogging through a presidential election campaign and a global pandemic, and this Saturday feels like an emotionally climactic night, a morbid moment punctuating a year of death and suspense. Halloween, a daylight-saving time change and a full moon all align on a singular night. More…
Turn your clock back, Sunday
Finally, some good news for PPP loan forgiveness

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently issued a new Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which offers significantly streamlined forgiveness steps for small loans and guidance for larger loan borrowers that can help increase forgiveness amounts. More…
U.S. economy surges but remains below pre-pandemic level.

America just posted a record GDP growth rate.
Now brace for the slowdown
Boxed Co-Founder Chieh Huang's Keys to Thriving in the Pandemic

The entrepreneur behind bulk grocery e-commerce company Boxed shares his tips for entrepreneurs in the Covid-19 era. Here…
Vote
The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t: Brands Step Up

These are some current innovative ideas for adjusting and adapting to maintain and grow your brand…and business; the kind of thinking that’s necessary for large and small businesses alike. – CCET

Thanks to COVID-19, Halloween may look anything but traditional this year. With socially-distanced corn mazes and spooky carwashes trying to fill the gap, and costume parades and haunted houses cancelled and closed, respectively, one shining item remains an uncertainty—the annual trick-or-treat. With coronavirus cases on the rise in numerous states, many communities are forgoing the tradition altogether, finding crowds and interactions just too risky. Brands have come to the rescue with many a creative idea. More…
Business Tune-Up Workshops --

Yesterday, Marketing & Planning: How Well Do Really Know Your Customer? was a terrific session.
Monday, November 2nd
Hiring and Retention Strategies & The Latest on HR
Presenter: Ian Wiggins, Senior HR Generalist at Wauna Credit Union.
12:00 - 1:00 online

Register here now.

COVID Business Tune-Up, and 8-week, small business workshop series, just one-hour per week of information, advice, strategy, and tactics for everything from marketing to HR. Be more agile and strengthen your business. Register here now.

Brought to you by: CCET, Wauna Credit Union, South County Chamber of Commerce, Clatskanie Chamber of Commerce, Rainier Chamber of Commerce, and Keep It Local
Moderna says it’s preparing global launch of Covid vaccine as it takes in $1.1 billion in deposits.

Turn your clock back Saturday night, and Vote
The U.S. recorded its highest daily number of coronavirus cases, more than 88,500, as the pandemic’s spread intensified across nearly all states. 
Record case count a reminder to stay vigilant

Today’s daily case count of 575 is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. Preliminary data show this increase reflects continued widespread community transmission resulting in small clusters and outbreaks statewide. It is also a reminder of the importance of staying vigilant in practicing the protective measures to slow the spread of the illness.

OHA published face covering guidance last week that requires that people consistently wear face coverings while indoors at their workplace or all other places where they will be in contact with people they don’t live with.
Oregon reports 575 new confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases, two new deaths

COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 673, the Oregon Health Authority reported at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. OHA also reported 575 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. Thursday, bringing the state total to 43,793.

The new cases are in the following counties: Baker (7), Benton (15), Clackamas (62), Clatsop (2), Columbia (1), Coos (2), Crook (1), Deschutes (25), Douglas (4), Grant (1), Harney (1), Hood River (5), Jackson (54), Jefferson (2), Josephine (1), Klamath (1), Lake (2), Lane (17), Linn (18), Malheur (7), Marion (62), Morrow (5), Multnomah (102), Polk (7), Sherman (1), Tillamook (2), Umatilla (42), Union (7), Wallowa (3), Washington (107) and Yamhill (9).
NEW HOURS, NEW LOCATION:

PPE for your small business or non-profit –
Still available, but we’re adapting to the weather:
Temperatures and the weather are forcing us from our outdoor pop-up location.

Email info@columbiacountyoregon.com to make arrangements for pick up
Friday --
10:00 – 3:00
at the CCET office at the Library in St. Helens.

FREE disposable face-coverings for customers, washable & re-usable (up to 70 times) face-coverings for employees, sanitizer, gloves, and gowns are back. (1 package of these washable, re-chargeable BioSmart masks will last you a full year. Which calculates to a nickel per mask use…) Order forms can be downloaded here: or right here Order forms . Send your order to us by email 
Columbia County Economic Team (CCET) and Keep It Local are working to assist businesses navigate through the Coronavirus pandemic and resulting economic disruption….and plan for recovery. Business survival and retention is a top priority. We all want to emerge from the other side of this able to restore our businesses, livelihoods and economy. Reaching out countywide, Columbia County Economic Team will be communicating with you regularly.
 
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Paul Vogel
Executive Director
Columbia County Economic Team