Business

Archived Posts from this Category

December 30, 2011

Is it time for a new job or just a new attitude

Posted by Mark under Business, Business management
Leave a Comment 

I admit that the first 3,000 times, or so, that I heard a speaker professing the need for passion fin the workplace I was dismissive. Just another paid talker throwing around the word du juor. I was unimpressed.

Sure, I’ve caught myself (often) speaking passionately about the work of newspapers, management issues, the past, present and future of media and community. People have described me as passionate about our mission and over time I have grudgingly come to terms with the word. When pressed, I know it is true.

So, I was struck by Jessica Stillman’s blog entitled, “Be passionate about work: No job change required”. The concept is easy to grasp and it is timely advice as we start the new year.

I’ve been fortunate to work in a field that is important: doing important things, with talented people, using abilities I’ve been blessed to have.

I suspect there are few fields of work that would give me as much satisfaction, and I know not everyone is as fortunate. If you are not similarly blessed with meaningful work it is probably time to move on, but until then Jessica’s advice was set to lyrics a few years ago by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one your with”.

 

December 29, 2011

Doug County unemployment improves, still high

Posted by Mark under Business, Demographics, Economy
Leave a Comment 

 

DOUGLAS COUNTY – The county’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remains at a relatively high level and significantly above the statewide rate (9.1%). According to a survey of households, Douglas County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 12.8 percent in November. Although lower than last year (14.5%), it is the fifth highest in the state. Losses continue to be particularly noticeable in the manufacturing sector, especially in the county’s wood products arena.

 

 

November 2011

November 2010

November 2009
Civilian Labor Force

45,759

46,775

46,318
  Employed

40,435

40,032

39,777
  Unemployed

5,324

6,743

6,541
County

Unemployment

Rate

Seasonally Adjusted:

12.8%

Seasonally Adjusted:

14.5%

Seasonally Adjusted:

14.8%
State

Unemployment

Rate

Seasonally Adjusted:

9.1%

Seasonally Adjusted:

10.6%

Seasonally Adjusted:

11.0%
 

November 2011 Gains and Losses: (these are preliminary estimates and will be revised)

  • Selected net, over-the-year (private sector) gains:
    • Professional & business services: +140
    • Trade, transportation, & utilities: +130 (especially retail trade)
    • Mining & logging: +60

 

  • Selected net, over-the-year (private sector) job losses:
    • Manufacturing: -260 ; (wood products manufacturing: – 290 )
    • Leisure and hospitality: -80
 
Population: Portland State University Population Research Center estimates

July 1, 2011

107,795

21.3 people/square mile

July 1, 2010

107,690

2010-2011

change

+105 (0.1%)
Average Pay per Job:

Douglas 2010

$33,341

Oregon 2010

$41,667

Douglas 2009

$32,742
 

For additional information: http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/BIC or

 

The Douglas County Labor Trends publication:

http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/PubReader?itemid=00000046 or

 

Oregon Labor Trends (statewide) : http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/PubReader?itemid=00000051

 

If you would like to regularly receive this monthly update, please drop me an e-mail or phone!

Annette.I.Shelton-Tiderman@state.or.us  Workforce Analyst, Oregon Employment Dept.; 541-530-0605 (cell)

 

 

December 28, 2011

Which is better for your store – every day low pricing or promotional pricing

Posted by Mark under advertising, Business, Consumer research, retail
Leave a Comment 

A study by the Stanford Graduate School of Business reports their study of how grocers responded to EDLP offered when Costco and Walmart moved into their markets. The results: It is very expensive to convert from promotional pricing to Every Day Low Pricing and it generates less revenue.

Interesting study of life in the real world. Worth noting that promotional pricing works best when your customers know about it so be certain to include the cost of advertising.

 

December 28, 2011

Coupon growth continued – so did newspapers dominance

Posted by Mark under advertising, Advertising Tips, Business, Consumer research, Economy, retail, Retail Trends
Leave a Comment 

From: Scarborough Research

NEW YORK (August 10, 2011) –A new study from the consumer research firm Scarborough Research finds that American consumers continue to actively seek out ways to save money on everyday expenses. Coupon usage for household groceries is up 24 percent since 2006. People are turning to a myriad of resources for their coupons.

While more than one‐fifth (22 percent) are utilizing digital media such as email, text messaging or Internet sites to get their household coupons, the Sunday newspaper is the category killer. Almost half of all Americans get their household coupons from the Sunday newspaper.

Leading Sources for Household Coupons
1. Sunday Newspaper: 49%
2. In‐store Coupons: 43%
3. Mail: 33%
4. In‐store Circulars: 26%
5. Preferred Customer/Loyalty Card: 24%
6. TIE: Weekday Newspaper: 19%, Product Packages: 19%
7. Magazines: 17%
8. Internet Sites: 14%
9. Email or Text Messages: 14%
“As the American economic recovery continues to find a balance, people are utilizing a myriad of ways to save money. From traditional paper coupon clipping to seeking out deals online, consumers are getting creative with finding the best deals,” said Brian Condon, executive vice president of commercial development, Scarborough Research.

Digital Deal Seekers Provide Unique Local Business Connections

Daily deal websites are now being viewed as a media channel option for local businesses. Further, local media companies and other media businesses are getting in on the action through their own exclusive daily deal programs. Any company seeking to bolster local business has much to gain with daily deal programs, according to Scarborough. Scarborough finds that Digital Deal Seekers* are more likely than average adults to be patrons of local businesses such as florists, malls, restaurants and day spas. Here is a Scarborough profile of local businesses set to benefit from daily deal websites:
Restaurants

• Digital Deal Seekers* are 36 percent more likely than the average adult to have eaten ten or more times at a quick service restaurant during the past month, and 27 percent more likely to have eaten with this frequency at a sit‐down restaurant.
• More than half (53 percent) of Digital Deal Seekers ate at McDonald’s during the past month, and almost one‐fifth (17 percent) ate at Applebee’s.
• Their favorite cuisine is Chinese. Forty‐eight percent of Digital Deal Seekers ate at a Chinese restaurant during the past month. Forty percent ate at a Mexican restaurant, and 29 percent went out for Italian.

General Retail Stores
• Groceries: Digital Deal Seekers account for one‐third of the population that spends $200 or more on groceries weekly – the highest spending bracket measured by Scarborough.
• Department Stores: A full 91 percent of Digital Deal Seekers shopped a department store during the past month.
• Malls: They are 16 percent more likely to have shopped at a mall during the past month.
Local Specialty Stores
• Jewelry Stores: Digital Deal Seekers account for 39 percent of adults who shopped at a fine jewelry store during the past three months. They are 44 percent more likely to have done so.
• Bridal: They also account for 41 percent of all patrons of bridal stores during the past three months.
• Day Spas: Six percent of Digital Deal Seekers utilized a day spa during the past three months, but they account for almost half (43 percent) of adults who use day spa services.

• Florist: Digital Deal Seekers are 30 percent more likely to have used a florist during the past three months.

• Dry Cleaners: More than one‐fifth (21 percent) of all Digital Deal Seekers used a dry cleaner during the
past month, they are 37 percent more likely than the average adult to have done so.
• Pet Supplies: More than half (51 percent) of Digital Deal Seekers shopped a pet store during the past three months.
Health & Fitness Businesses
• Digital Deal Seekers are 47 percent more likely to practice yoga or pilates; 31 percent more likely to enjoy swimming; and 27 percent more likely to go running.
• They are 32 percent more likely to go to the gym.
Automotive Repair/Servicing
• Scarborough measures 13 types of auto repair services, and Digital Deal Seekers are more likely than the average adult to utilize each of them.
• From specialty detailing businesses to parts stores, a wide variety of types of local auto businesses have clientele utilizing Digital Deals.
“Daily deal websites are creating new media channel‐like opportunities for marketers, especially at the local level,” said Mr. Condon. “Local businesses embarking on digital marketing should consider the Digital Deal Seeker group a good place to anchor their efforts, as they are active local shoppers and consumers. As such, a key issue facing these daily deal sites is how they can differentiate their offerings according to the local needs and continue to evolve business models that create win‐win scenarios for local merchants.”

* Digital Deal Seekers refer to those adults who live in households that usually obtain cents‐off coupons via email, text messages or Internet sites, or those adults who went online for coupons during the past month.

SOURCE: Scarborough Research, Scarborough USA+ Study, Release 2 2010
About Scarborough
Scarborough (www.scarborough.com, info@scarborough.com) measures American life. Our consumer insights
reflect shopping patterns, media usage across platforms, and lifestyle trends for adults. Media professionals and
marketers use Scarborough insights to make smarter marketing/business decisions on things like ad placement,
multicultural targeting, and sponsorship opportunities. The company’s core syndicated consumer insight studies in
77 Top‐Tier Markets, its Multi‐Market Study and its national USA+ Study are Media Rating Council (MRC)
accredited. Other products and services include Scarborough Mid‐Tier Local Market Studies, Hispanic Studies and
Custom Research Solutions. Scarborough measures 2,000 consumer categories and serves a broad client base that
includes marketers, advertising agencies, print and electronic media (broadcast and cable television, radio
stations), sports teams and leagues and out‐of‐home media companies. Surveying more than 210,000 adults
annually, Scarborough is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. (www.arbitron.com) and The Nielsen Company
(www.nielsen.com).

 

December 19, 2011

December Partnership for Economic Development in Douglas County, OR report

Posted by Mark under Business, Economy
Leave a Comment 
From: Alex Campbell

Creative Business Deals Build Local Employment

As of November 1, Atrio‘s membership for their Medicare supplement insurance expanded from under 6,000 to 12,000 through an agreement with Willamette Valley Health Partners (Willamette Valley purchased a portion of Atrio, and Atrio has taken on the administration of their insurance functions). The new deal was closed by Atrio’s new CEO Ruth Rogers Bauman and allowed Atrio to hire an additional 12 employees. Atrio is continuing to consider new markets for its insurance management services.

Linen Services, owned by Mike Fassler, has been expanding (now up to 12 full- and part-time employees). Much of that growth was driven by a successful bid to take on Mercy Medical Center’s primary linen contract. Mercy agreed to pay a significant portion of the contract up front, financing new capacity for Linen Services, in return for a long-term discount. The net result was savings for Mercy and the addition of 10 jobs that were previously outside the County. Linen Services is at (541) 643-2200.

Other Recent News

  • The proposed Jordan Cove LNG project received a preliminary export permit from FERC. That decision has been appealed, by the Oregon Attorney General.
  • Umpqua Research has won a contract from NASA to develop a highly energy- and water-efficient laundry technology for use in space missions.

Resources:

Oregon BEST has announced a new grant program to support the commercialization of new technologies in the “cleantech” sector (renewable energy, green building, etc.) through collaboration between Oregon research institutions and small businesses.

OMEP–the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership–has a new initiative to support Oregon manufacturers improve their position in regional and national supply chains through implementation of Lean and related management approaches.

Up-coming events:

The UCC Small Business Development Center will host a 6-part series “Profit Mastery”–an in-depth look at tools small and medium-sized businesses can use to generate powerful information to support business decisions from your financial data. More info.

Partnership News:

Kelly Morgan, CEO of Mercy, has agreed to serve as Chair of our Board of Directors beginning January 2012. Our thanks to Perry Murray who led The Partnership through several significant recent transitions with humor and grace.
 

December 19, 2011

Douglas County’s unemployment rate drops to 12.8%

Posted by Mark under Business, Demographics, Economy
Leave a Comment 

From: WorkSource Oregon

By Brian Rooney, regional economist

Douglas County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 12.8 percent in November. It was above the statewide seasonally adjusted rate of 9.1 percent and above the national seasonally adjusted rate of 8.6 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 40 in November.

 Resident Labor Force and Unemployment

Douglas County’s unemployment rate dropped to 12.8 percent in November compared to a revised 13.5 percent in October. The rate this November was 1.7 percentage points lower than the 14.5 percent recorded in November of last year. Douglas County had the fifth highest seasonally adjusted county unemployment rate in the state. The number of unemployed dropped 268 in November and was 1,419 lower than November of last year to reach 5,324.

Nonfarm Payroll Employment

In November, total nonfarm payroll employment rose 40 when a decrease of 90 was expected on a seasonal basis. Total nonfarm employment declined 320, or -0.9 percent compared to November of last year.

In November, manufacturing dropped 20 from a loss of 10 in wood products and an additional loss of 10 in nondurable goods manufacturing.

In the private nonmanufacturing sectors in November, there was a seasonal gain in retail trade (+60). There were seasonal losses in mining and logging (-50), construction (-30) and leisure and hospitality (-90). Elsewhere, there was a gain in professional and business services (+170). There were losses in wholesale trade (-10), financial activities (-10) and education and health services (-10).

Government increased by 30 in November due largely to a seasonal gain in local education of 100 from the beginning of a new school year. This gain was countered by losses in federal government (-60) and noneducation local government (-10).

 

December 15, 2011

Retail holiday sales forecast revised – upward

Posted by Mark under Business, Economy, Marketing, retail, Retail Trends
Leave a Comment 

For Immediate Release
Kathy Grannis (202) 783-7971 or grannisk@NRF.com
www.nrf.com/holidays

National Retail Federation Upgrades Holiday Forecast, Expects Sales to Rise 3.8 Percent to $469.1 Billion
-Strong November Sales, Expected December Spending Lead to Revision-

Washington, December 15, 2011 – With just ten days until Christmas, the National Retail Federation has revised its holiday forecast upward, expecting holiday sales to rise 3.8 percent this year to a record $469.1 billion. NRF’s initial forecast, announced on October 6, called for anticipated sales growth of 2.8 percent. While a 3.8 percent sales increase is considerably above the ten-year average sales increase of 2.6 percent, it is still lower than the 5.2 percent increase the retail industry saw last year.

“After strong sales reports in October and November, along with a successful Black Friday weekend, retailers are cautiously optimistic that this season will turn out better than initially expected, bringing added stability to our recovering economy at a time when America needs it most,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “However, a number of factors, including the debt crisis in Europe and continued political wrangling in Washington, could impact consumer spending this holiday season and into 2012.”

The forecast revision comes on the heels of two promising pieces of news. On Tuesday, NRF announced that retail industry sales for November rose 4.5 percent year-over-year. In addition, NRF’s most recent holiday survey found that the average American has completed far less of their holiday shopping than in previous years – an indication that many shoppers bought for themselves in November and have plenty of holiday shopping left to do.

“Consumer spending this holiday season has surpassed expectations, though many shoppers continue to stick to their budgets and buy only what they need,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz.

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy. NRF’s Retail Means Jobs campaign emphasizes the economic importance of retail and encourages policymakers to support a Jobs, Innovation and Consumer Value Agenda aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation. www.nrf.com.

 

November 28, 2011

Consumer confidence slowly rising In November

Posted by Mark under Business, Consumer research, Demographics, Economy, retail, Retail Trends
Leave a Comment 
 

November 23, 2011

Top 10 retail holiday trends for 2011

Posted by Mark under Business, Consumer research, Economy, retail, Retail Trends
Leave a Comment 

Consumers will spend more, shop more places, expect more, shop online more … and FedEx has hired 20,000 additional seasonal workers. Want more? Check out the Nation Retail Federations Retail Big Blog.

 

November 23, 2011

Rio Networks launches new cloud-based platform

Posted by Mark under Business
Leave a Comment 

ROSEBURG, Ore., Nov. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-iReach/ — Rio Networks, Oregon’s locally owned and operated voice and data provider, announced the launch of its newest product the Rio Freedom Suite, a cloud based communications platform that allows Oregon business owners to eliminate technology start-up and expansion costs while reducing operating expenses. To receive a free demonstration of the Rio Freedom Suite, visit Cloud Communication Services Oregon

The biggest challenge most companies face is raising capital to upgrade start-up or expand operations. A big part of capital expenditure is allocated to voice and data service, hardware and software for business operations. Phone, email, fax, video conferencing and mobile device integration are essential but can be costly as well as those ongoing expenses can be unexpected and hard to predict. Also, remaining competitive requires businesses to constantly upgrade to the latest hardware and software technology. Due to the economy and other factors, leading edge technologies have not been an option for most small to medium sized businesses due to the capital investment required to obtain it. The promise of cloud computing has always been to shift these infrastructure costs to an outside service provider, allowing the business to pay an affordable fixed monthly fee for access to the latest technology, without having to build it, maintain it or manage it in-house. Reference: Top 10 Challenges Companies Face

Networks has embraced this Communications-As-A-Service model and created a next generation cloud communications network for small and medium sized businesses in Oregon. They are the only local on-net provider offing these services and they come to you on Oregon’s newest network. The Rio Freedom Suite provides business phone handsets, fully featured phone service, mobile configuration (PBX Manager), e-fax, enterprise email, spam filtering, smart phone integration and HD video conferencing for a single monthly fee per seat. There is no upfront investment required for hardware or software and all technology upgrades are included and free installation plans are available as well.

“As Rio Networks has completed large investments in Oregon voice and data infrastructure, we are now poised to offer game-changing new products and services that our national competitors can’t match. Being local has put us in touch with what Oregon business owners really need to compete. They said we want something affordable, scalable, feature rich and from a single supplier. We simply listened and responded with the Rio Freedom Suite”, states Mark Bilton-Smith President of Rio Networks. “Rio Freedom Suite is a cloud computing communications platform that reduces maintenance cost, eliminates the need for technology upgrades and avoids large upfront capital investments and expansion costs for any business. It’s truly going to be a competitive advantage for Oregon based businesses”.

To learn more about the Rio Freedom Suite, visit Rio Networks Freedom Suite and sign up for a free in-house demonstration.

Rio Networks is an Oregon owned and operated provider of managed cloud services including phone, email, data and internet. Coverage areas include Portland, Hillsboro, Oregon City, Woodburn, Salem, Albany, Corvallis, Eugene, Springfield, Redmond, Bend, La Pine, Roseburg, Grants Pass Ashland and growing. Rio Networks services the business communities of Oregon with a 96% customer satisfaction score. Contact Rio Networks to learn how your business can benefit from a next generation network and cloud based technologies. You can find Rio Networks online at RioNetworks.com or call 866-746-7253.

 

Next Page »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.