Oregon's Economy

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

Is this really a tragedy? I've heard it's actually more expensive over water for businesses than over land for Portland.

I'd assume it's a tragedy in terms of jobs lost and possibly in terms of luring potential employers who might rely on the port. To be honest, I'm not very familiar with the port. I assumed it's used for shipping goods to Asia, not to other parts of the U.S.

I wonder how much of an impact it really has on Portland's economy.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by davehogan

We'll still have plenty of bulk farm exports, but lots of farms used shipping containers for smaller load exports to Asian markets. The workers at the port will be relocated by the union in many cases, so I'm not really worried about them.

I'm more worried about the specialty businesses that will now need to arrange for a truck or train to take their loads to/from Tacoma or Seattle at a somewhat higher price and longer lead time. It's probably not going to kill a lot of businesses, but it's another hassle that might encourage companies to locate closer to viable ports instead.

Or another company will see an opportunity here and agree to use Terminal 6 for container operations. It's possible, but it probably won't happen quickly.

A small business owner on reddit (grain of salt) said shipping small amounts out of our port was more expensive than going over land and then to a port more in demand. Anyone have inside knowledge to confirm?

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

A small business owner on reddit (grain of salt) said shipping small amounts out of our port was more expensive than going over land and then to a port more in demand. Anyone have inside knowledge to confirm?

It's the economics of scale. I'd assume the port is more about big business shipping than small business.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

It's the economics of scale. I'd assume the port is more about big business shipping than small business.

Portland was never a major port-- I'd argue that means we have always been about subsidizing the activities to prop up the appearance of port vitality... I think there really aren't many big businesses either that wouldn't be able to survive just shipping to and from Tacoma.

[maccoinnich]

Portland is a major port, and will remain one. It has never been a major container port.

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

Portland is a major port, and will remain one. It has never been a major container port.

I agree. They just made a bigger grain terminal, right? I meant container port.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by PDXDENSITY

A small business owner on reddit (grain of salt) said shipping small amounts out of our port was more expensive than going over land and then to a port more in demand. Anyone have inside knowledge to confirm?

At least as of 2009 it depended where was cheaper based on priority and timing. Shipping anything to/from China near the Chinese New Year was a mess. Shipping via FedEx/DHL was usually much more expensive, but if the timing was bad it could be cheaper than having things stuffed into a shipping container.

We didn't do a lot of shipping internationally that was large freight either, and it was usually prototypes, so it wasn't like we had time constraints. If it sat an extra ten days on a dock somewhere it just meant we had planned for at least that. If you need your shipments to move faster then from my experience Portland would usually be more experience. (Again, it's limited experience. 90% of the international shipping I've dealt with was UPS/FedEx/DHL/USPS.)

Port of Portland did subsidize their container business to some degree. In part that has to do with the extra cost of getting the ship down the Columbia. If he wasn't counting subsidies than yes, to the best of my knowledge Portland is quite expensive to ship in/out of.

[bvpcvm]

I guess this goes here: Portland's building boom leads development bureau to request 33 new jobs

[58rhodes]

wow Jeld Wen moved to North Carolina
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...gest.html#incart_2box_business_index.ssf

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

wow Jeld Wen moved to North Carolina
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...gest.html#incart_2box_business_index.ssf

This has been going on since 2011 when a Canadian company bought the majority of the company. This is bad news for Klamath Falls, due to the loss of a major employer, but this is something everyone has been aware of for years with this company.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

This has been going on since 2011 when a Canadian company bought the majority of the company. This is bad news for Klamath Falls, due to the loss of a major employer, but this is something everyone has been aware of for years with this company.

so --another one bites the dust

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

so --another one bites the dust

When it comes to this one company, sure, welcome to globalization. Out of their 20K employees around the world, only 1,200 were in Oregon.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

When it comes to this one company, sure, welcome to globalization. Out of their 20K employees around the world, only 1,200 were in Oregon.

so, who cares about those 1200?

I guess I do

and Ive known they were bought by some Canadian Cap co some yrs back

[urbanlife]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

so, who cares about those 1200?

I guess I do

and Ive known they were bought by some Canadian Cap co some yrs back

Who said people didn't? I hope they each are able to find work elsewhere or with other companies that are expanding here or relocating here.

[MarkDaMan]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

so, who cares about those 1200?

I guess I do

and Ive known they were bought by some Canadian Cap co some yrs back

A lot of those people are still employed by Jeld-Wen in Oregon, from the Oregonian article you posted:

At the time of Onex's rescue, Jeld-Wen employed about 1,200 in Oregon at its headquarters and two factories. It had about 20,000 employees worldwide.

Jeld-Wen still has the same approximate number of worldwide workers, Meihoff said.

"Jeld-Wen has more employees in Oregon than any other state," said Meihoff, who did not provide a current figure. "Jeld-Wen still has significant manufacturing operations and leadership positions, including a robust research and development division and manufacturing facilities, located in Oregon.

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...gest.html#incart_2box_business_index.ssf

The factories are still open as well as a "robust" R&D division. The small "global" HQ was closed.

[trail_blazers_7]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2...precision-castparts-in-37-2-billion-deal

I'm surprised nobody posted on this. One of the two Oregon hq'd fortune 500s being bought by Warren Buffett seems like it would be bigger local news.

[trail_blazers_7]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

wow Jeld Wen moved to North Carolina
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...gest.html#incart_2box_business_index.ssf

I wonder if that has anything to do with this:http://www.opb.org/news/article/jeld-wen-employees-look-to-unionize/

NC is a 'right to work' state after all. Just like the stunt Boeing pulled by opening a plant in SC. Union busting on boeings part, union prevention for jeld wen. The race to the bottom continues.

[58rhodes]

Originally Posted by trail_blazers_7

I wonder if that has anything to do with this:http://www.opb.org/news/article/jeld-wen-employees-look-to-unionize/

NC is a 'right to work' state after all. Just like the stunt Boeing pulled by opening a plant in SC. Union busting on boeings part, union prevention for jeld wen. The race to the bottom continues.

its exactly what it is --I guess people really dont care about the overall economic health of Oregon

[trail_blazers_7]

Originally Posted by 58rhodes

its exactly what it is --I guess people really dont care about the overall economic health of Oregon

http://economy.money.cnn.com/2013/06/10/oregon-manufacturing-powerhouse/

It's an older article, but its interesting to see how much manufacturing contributes to the states economic activity. Its unfortunate to see that during the same data period, manufacturing jobs in the state were reduced by ~50,000 or so. Sign of the times perhaps, but automation and efficiency, while good for the consumer and shareholders, is ultimately bad for the worker.
Take Gary, IN for example, a city built on the steel mills in town. Gary still produces as much, if not more steel than when the city was thriving. The difference is in the manufacturing process. You no longer need a factory that employs thousands, a heavily automated facility can do just as much with a fraction of the payroll expense.

[maccoinnich]

Adidas buys a building, U.S. rebuild picks up speed



Adidas on Friday said it has acquired a 25,000-square-foot building immediately adjacent to its North American headquarters as its U.S. rebuild shows continued momentum.

The Germany company now owns six buildings and 14 acres of land on Greeley Avenue in North Portland. The new Adidas building formerly housed a Kaiser Permanente call center. It will house 150 Adidas workers.

Adidas declined to provide details about the price of the building, which has a market value of $3.5 million, according to the county. Adidas also said it's investing in interior improvements to the entire campus.

...continues at the Portland Business Journal.