Previous 12 months about this time, we launched on a undertaking to glance at the worries confronting downtown Portland immediately after (we’d hoped) the peak of the pandemic and protests. That job, “Downtown in Distress,” provided reporting on homelessness, the temper of downtown inhabitants and the issues for shops, as effectively as results from an independent poll.
The delta and omicron variants threw a wrench in expectations for a fast return to ordinary in 2021. And just a week ago, additional negative news. A longtime retailer, Margulis Jewelers, announced it was closing its landmark downtown retailer.
“Customers are hesitant to appear downtown to shop,” operator David Margulis stated in a news release. “Employees pick out not to do the job downtown.”
It’s clear that more than two yrs into the pandemic, Portland has important economic worries. And The Oregonian/OregonLive carries on to make investments in organization reporting.
“We’re mobilizing about a goal to protect all features of Oregonians’ monetary lives, from the effects of the condition and nationwide overall economy, to procuring for products and products and services, to housing, personalized finance, and perform lifestyle,” reported Elliot Njus, who leads our Enterprise & Economy group.
Njus earlier coated genuine estate/housing, transportation and other subjects. Most lately, he led the advancement of podcasts for our newsroom.
Coverage of two important firms in our area falls to veteran business reporters Mike Rogoway and Jeff Manning.
Rogoway is Oregon’s indispensable browse for news about Intel, just one of the state’s major personal companies. At the begin of the pandemic, he practically singlehandedly birddogged the challenges the Oregon Work Division experienced finding jobless benefits to Oregonians.
With politics reporter Hillary Borrud in 2020, he broke the story of how Oregon’s failure to waive a week’s hiatus just before added benefits started out would price Oregonians a lot more than $100 million in federal aid. The governor promptly vowed to get rid of the “waiting 7 days.”
Rogoway, who has a master’s of small business administration from University of Washington, also addresses know-how, program and connected firms. He keeps an eye on emerging organizations as properly, these types of as Dutch Bros, the drive-through coffee chain that had its first general public featuring very last year.
Manning handles Nike, as effectively as associated companies and the intersection of sports and enterprise. He also reviews on health treatment enterprises and specializes in investigative do the job with an eye toward white collar crime.
Jamie Goldberg, who had protected the Portland Timbers/Thorns and the Portland Trail Blazers for us, transferred to business enterprise when athletics shut down at the commence of the pandemic in 2020. She has put in the past two years masking the unemployed, the plight of tenants and landlords, and the struggles and successes of tiny businesses.
Goldberg, who has a master’s degree in journalism from University of California, Berkeley, is also a breaking news editor section of the week.
Another relative newcomer to the staff is Jayati Ramakrishnan, who joined The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2019 from the Hermiston Herald. She started out on the breaking news team but now addresses transportation and housing. She is a graduate of the College of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications.
Just this thirty day period, we’ve added even much more reporting firepower. Kristine de Leon addresses retail, small company and other business enterprise trends for us, these types of as her current explainer on why gasoline prices change so much relying on which Oregon county you are in.
De Leon was pursuing a Ph.D. in microbiology ahead of catching the reporting bug. She acquired her master’s in journalism from University of Southern California. She is qualified in knowledge assessment, coding and world wide web development, which will provide her well as she explores small business and financial tendencies.
When I began at The Oregonian in 1983, the Company department, like the relaxation of the newsroom, was predominantly staffed by gentlemen. What few gals reporters we experienced had been mostly in the characteristics department, writing for the Residing section. It’s great to have a crew of Organization reporters with this kind of diverse life activities, views and pursuits.
The team’s work is supplemented by other reporters, these as Ted Sickinger, who covers forestry and utilities Borrud, who stories on point out federal government and politics and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh, who is on the Portland City Hall beat.
We know desire in business matters is powerful. We can see that by the huge figures of men and women who browse article content on OregonLive and comply with us on social media (On Twitter, @OregonianBiz has the next most important following right after our principal account). You can sign up for our Oregon Enterprise Insights e-newsletter at oregonlive.com/newsletters.
The Oregonian/OregonLive’s personnel remaining our downtown offices and went to remote perform March 17, 2020. This spring, we expect some journalists will return to our offices together Southwest To start with Avenue and other folks will proceed to get the job done remotely. I hope to see our reporters and editors back viewing workplaces, covering occasions, and assembly sources for coffee encounter to experience, just as normally as we used to. I’m searching forward to expending a lot more of my time in our downtown newsroom yet again.
Observe: Longtime Oregon civic chief Gerry Frank was requested to write a column for The Oregonian again in 1988. His column, named “Friday Surprise” after the Meier & Frank gross sales by that title, appeared in the A section for numerous yrs.
More just lately, in the features area, his well known month to month column highlighted Oregon vacation and dining prospective customers for audience. Frank died March 13 at age 98. We know readers will miss out on his insightful recommendations and insights, as will we.
