Home Energy Scores are on hold for the moment. The Corvallis City Council had a second vote on the issue, and they’ve decided to wait until they have a better understanding of what these scores entail. Not everyone was on board with the wait – notably Mayor Biff Traber, who saw no benefit to waiting another two months for this program to begin.
The new ordinance would have required property owners to pay for an inspection before putting their homes on the market.
But the change of heart seemed to be connected to the idea of making these scores mandatory rather than optional, as they are in other communities. Other questions arose about the number of hours of work the new requirement would add to a city staff that is already stretched, how the program would be funded, and whether or not homeowners would make energy saving upgrades.
Ironically, another vote the same night – one which better detailed the language for the scores – passed.
Inflation Hits Boys & Girls Club of Corvallis: Much like everywhere else, inflation is hitting the city of Corvallis hard.
An example of this can be seen in the Boys and Girls Club of Corvallis, where wages have increased to the point where they take up 85% of the budget, according to Director Helen Higgins. To pile onto that cost, their landscaping service has increased their rates by 20%, their copier service has added a service fee for fuel costs, and their business phone bill from Verizon has gone up again.
The Club once charged families $25 per year to have their kids come in after school. Now, they have to charge $150 per month.
Food Share Also Impacted: And the hurt goes beyond the Boys & Girls Club. Linn Benton Foodshare, which has been supplying the Club food to send home with low income families, was unable to do so recently because there just wasn’t enough to go around.
Local businesses across the board are feeling pressured. And for those who have to commute into the city for work, the equity lens has to look even harder.
As Kate Porsche of the Economic Development Office says, “It’s a disproportionate impact that is felt.”
The Wage Issue: We noted in this column that minimum wage went up recently, but what did that mean for those who were being paid just over minimum?
According to Samantha Alley of RE/MAX, “They just got a wage cut of a buck because they used to be $2.50 above minimum wage and now they’re a dollar above.”
Not to mention, when the minimum wage goes up, the cost of goods also goes up. Alley lays some of the blame on the Feds for keeping the interest rates artificially low.
“Rather than bringing the rate up gradually over a five-year period rather than slamming them up over a six-month period,” she said. “They’re trying to solve something by artificially holding it down because no one wants to go through the pain”
Youth Wage Grant: One solution provided by the state of Oregon comes in the form of the Youth Community Investments Grant.
These grants are geared to assist employers who are willing to hire someone aged 14-17 over the summer. For these youths who are first-time workers, it enables employers to receive a stipend of $4 per hour worked by a youth under the program. The goal is to have young people learn through experience.
For an employer to participate, the county in which they have their business must enroll in the program. Additionally, they must have 35 or fewer employees, be willing to allow someone from the state to visit the work site, and be able to document the time worked as well as the projects completed by the youths employed.
Currently, both Marion and Linn counties are using this program. Benton County has not signed up.
The Inevitability of a Recession: So are we expecting a recession now?
The Harvard Gazette spoke to Economist Betsey Stevenson, professor of economics and public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, about whether or not a recession was inevitable. She claimed to be an optimist, saying, “I do understand the risks of a recession. But it’s not inevitable.”
Stevenson went on to say, “We need to slow growth in demand so we’re bringing demand down toward what we can sustainably produce, and we’re increasing supply and then eventually policy helps them to meet in a nice, happy place with stable prices and full employment. We don’t need to bring demand crashing down to meet supply exactly where it is today — and that’s the recession fear.”
Her plan? “If we can bring oil prices down, that’s going to help them out a lot in achieving this Goldilocks soft landing where there’s no recession. If we can figure out how to expand labor supply in a way that employers don’t feel like they are competing so hard over workers that they’re pushing wages way up. If there can be enough concern on the employer side that they can hold firm when their workers come in and say, “I’m going to quit if you don’t give me this 10 percent raise right now,” then we can slow down the inflationary pressures on the labor market side. One of the fastest ways to do that would be if we were able to bring back some of the flow of immigrants that really dried up over the last four to five years. I think there are things we can do. There are a lot of tools left.”
However, there is a saying in the business world that a recession is a terrible thing to waste.
“A recession doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” said Alley, who worked through the housing market drop in the early 2000s. Alley noted that for her industry, it cleared out the people in the industry who weren’t contributing as much, leaving behind a set of people who now have better skills for making it through hard times.
In Corvallis, the proof is in the pudding. As the pandemic closed everything down on the streets, some businesses took the chance to change their model and thrive. Restaurants became “to go” places, and food delivery found its place in town.
Today, with the jump in interest rates, the real estate market has settled a bit. According to Alley, where they once had 15 or more offers on a single house, they now have one or two. A hopeful sign that housing will become more affordable in the near future.
For Higgins, she finds the number of applications she receives as a bellwether for the economy. Over the last two years, she was lucky to get one or two people to apply for a position, but recently she had 25 people apply for an opening.
Oregon22: From July 15-24, the eyes of the world will be focused on Eugene and therefore all of Oregon as we welcome the World Athletics Championships – or as we’ve come to know it Oregon22.
Throughout this event, the hotels in the Willamette Valley and out through to the coast have been booked solid. In fact, many in Corvallis have chosen to schedule their own vacations for then and are renting out their homes through Airbnb – to make extra money and be away from the crowds. Because there will be crowds. Think of it as a multi-day Beavers game with the requisite traffic, dining out, and (hopefully) shoppers.
Kate Porsche says, “Corvallis is in close enough proximity to Eugene that we will benefit from the event without having the burden of hosting the event – the best of both worlds.”
On the down side, the word is that Eugene businesses are worried about short-staffed businesses being unable to keep up with demand.
Thousands are expected to be in the mid-valley for the event. So one more reminder: The pandemic is still around and fourth vaccination opportunities are still out there for those eligible.
Chamber Calendar: On the schedule for the Chamber of Commerce this week we have…
Wednesday, July 13, from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., the Growth & Mindset Book Club for Business. Each month you can meet up with your fellow businesspeople and discuss a new book. This month, the book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.
“If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you’ll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.”
Book Club meets at The Biere Library, located at 151 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis.
Thursday, July 14, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., the 39th Annual Chamber Golf Scramble. Held at Trysting Tree Golf Course, located at 34028 NE Electric Rd., Corvallis. Register for this event here.
By Sally K Lehman
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