The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced (PDF version) that starting Jan. 15, 2009, all federal contractors will be required to use the E-Verify system to check the employment eligibility of all their employees. According to Craig Regelbrugge, government relations director for the American Nursery and Landscape Association, the overall effects of this requirement […]
Merger ahead?
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Big news. The Oregon Association of Nurseries and the Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association are considering a merger. The boards of both organizations voted last week to move forward with the idea, and members of both groups were informed last week. If negotiations are successful, then the idea would be put to a vote […]
Chemeketa offers native plant class among winter offerings
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Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Ore., has announced its winter term offerings in horticulture, landscaping and pesticides. Registration begins Dec. 8, and classes run Jan. 5-March 21, 2009. The offerings include a new class titled “Native Plant Propagation and Use.” Others cover plant propagation, greenhouse production/management, woody plant identification, soils/media/nutrition, viticulture, landscape design, landscape irrigation, […]
At Clackamas County, Thursday is now Friday
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Clackamas County is enacting what many are hailing as a progressive step in switching to a four-day work week, effective Nov. 3, 2008. County buildings will be closed Fridays, which is expected to result in energy cost savings. But the change may negatively affect landscapers and others who work on construction projects. As business law […]
Comparing their plans for small business
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Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have been through three head-to-head debates. They have undergone close to two years worth of primary and general election scrutiny. And the people are about to render their decision – in Oregon, ballots are mailed today. But how might an Obama Administration or a McCain Administration affect small […]
Better?
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The U.S. stock market took a historic dive last week, but did it touch the bottom of the pool on Friday when the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit 7,882 points? Investors seem to believe so. The market gained more than 900 points today, rising from an opening value of 8,462, past the 9,000 mark, and […]
Smart strategies for survival
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It’s distressing, if not alarming, to watch the current state of the stock market and the global economy. But there are strategies one can employ to make sure their business weathers the storm better than most, as nursery consultant Don Richards shared with OAN members today. We believe this is essential reading, so go check […]
More where that came from?
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Should employers get ready for a thicket of state immigration laws that don’t offer comprehensive solutions, but instead burden and punish employers? Maybe, according to an analysis by the respected public affairs, communications and research firm Conkling, Fiskum & McCormick: A federal court rebuffed a legal challenge of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, which employers and […]
Federal reserve takes ‘epic emergency measures’
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The U.S. Federal Reserve System made an emergency 1/2 point rate cut Wednesday morning, which was coordinated with similar cuts made by central banks in other countries, chairman Ben Bernanke announced. It was the latest in a series of ‘epic emergency measures,’ as the New York Times dubbed them, designed to relieve the effects of […]
Economic Drāno
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Consider it the economic equivalent of Drāno. As the Associated Press reported today: WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debt in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy. Invoking Depression-era emergency powers, the Fed will buy commercial paper, […]
