Archive for August 2019
Apollo 50: New Perspectives
Small Steps to a Giant Leap at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum’ By Dan Ruby, Executive Director I was born the year that the twin Voyager spacecraft began their audacious journey to the cosmos, so I missed the world-gripping excitement of Apollo. I grew up with the Shuttle program throughout the ‘80s, ‘90s, and early-aughts, so my…
Read MoreOregon’s New Gross Receipts Tax What It Means to Oregon Businesses
By Greg Henderson August 27, 2019 On May 16, 2019, Governor Kate Brown signed House Bill 3427 into law. The legislation accomplishes the following: Establishes a “Fund for Student Success” that is separate and distinct from the state’s general fund. Adopts a new Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) imposed on all types of business entities. Every…
Read MoreGearing up to explore and celebrate the Silicon Shire
By Matt Sayre You might be surprised to learn that the city that hosts the largest open house of tech companies in Oregon isn’t Portland. No, that title currently belongs to Portland’s cooler little brother, Eugene. (Little sister?) Every year since 2016, dozens of tech companies have joined together in downtown Eugene and collectively opened…
Read MoreOregon’s Nonprofits in 2018
August 13, 2019 By Dallas Fridley A not-for-profit corporation, commonly referred to as a “nonprofit,” is organized to achieve a purpose other than to generate a profit. These entities qualify for federal tax exempt status and must reinvest any surplus revenues into efforts that further the mission of the organization. They are prohibited from passing…
Read MoreWhen did you last “retro” your retrospective?
By Adam Cuppy Retrospectives are one of the many powerful tools to review and improve your team’s approach to solving problems. For many project teams, they do a retrospective at the end of every 1–2 weeks. If you’re already in the habit of running a retro every week or two — Great! Keep it up!…
Read MoreFlying Lessons: How stories from Aviation can make us better Managers – Final installment
By Jim Myers In this, the final installment of our six part series, we look at how we as managers can incorporate change into our organizations to take advantage of the lessons learned so far. The picture of Boeing’s iconic 737 airliner represents a culmination of aviation lessons for business…
Read MoreSeasonal Losses in Local Government Education Reduce Total Employment
By Guy Tauer, Regional Economist Guy.R.Tauer@oregon.gov Total payroll employment fell by 1,930 jobs in July, mostly due to a typical seasonal loss of 2,040 jobs in local government education. Employment changes in most other published industries were modest. Professional and business services added 80 jobs in July. The goods-producing industries construction and manufacturing gained 70…
Read MoreMarketing without measurement in a world of malignant complexity
The economists are confused! By Mark Schaefer While reporting on the robust economy in America, The New York Times noted that the current combination of low unemployment and low inflation seems impossible. Economists believed you could never have a low unemployment rate (3.7 percent) without also seeing the rate of job creation slowing (where are…
Read MoreEverything you think you know about gentrification is wrong
By Joe Cortright Facts are stubborn things: And they don’t support the folk wisdom equating gentrification with displacement. There’s a palpable and growing amount of cognitive dissonance between the accepted conventional wisdom about the intrinsically evil nature of gentrification, and a body of careful detailed research that shows that its either not bad, or actually…
Read MoreCore Values Define Your Brand
Inspire, drive, and define your brand by Vonnie Mikkelsen While a clearly articulated Strategic Plan aligned with our organization’s Mission and Vision are key to stewarding the resources of our members and delivering on expectations of our community partners, our Values are our true north reminder of who we are, our collective and individual expectations. …
Read MoreRefuge and Prospect: The Front Porch
Yesterday and today, we are celebrating the past, present and future of the surprisingly powerful front porch. by Beth Ann Fennelly My approaching birthday has me taking stock, as approaching birthdays do. This year isn’t a milestone — I’m merely being ushered into my (write it!) late 40s. But I’m passing another sort of milestone.…
Read MoreThe Oregon Connections Telecommunications Conference is coming to Ashland – Oct. 24-25
The Oregon Connections Telecommunications Conference draws attendees from all regions of the state to share ideas, experiences and knowledge about broadband telecommunications. In its twenty-fourth year, the conference will be exploring Smart Communities: strategies, applications, enabling technologies and Oregon initiatives. Oregon Connections is a grass roots conference first held in Bend and hosted by the Central Oregon Intergovernmental…
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