The World Athletics Championships are in full swing, and new issues for local businesses are being raised. Top of the list has to do with cultural norms in the US vs. the World – meaning not every country tips servers at restaurants.
Many restaurants are seeing record numbers of customers come in, but the take-home pay for staff is declining. In Oregon, tips are considered wages subjected to the same taxes as an hourly wage, and often the government will assume that a server will receive a certain percentage of tips based on the type of restaurant and the amount of the bill the customer pays. So if the customer doesn’t tip, the server might end up paying taxes on money they never receive.
We asked Visit Corvallis’s Christina Rehklau if she had any ideas for dealing with servers losing out as the city fills up. Rehlau noted that “prices change on a pretty consistent basis because of inflation and supply chain issues”, so changing the prices on menus might be a work around – allowing the restaurant owners to subsidize their servers’ wages for the moment.
Also, we’ll remind our possibly frustrated Corvallisites who aren’t used to sharing the roads and restaurants with so many other people in the middle of summer that this event ends on July 24.
Retailer Closing, Restaurant Seeks Buyer: There are a few local businesses that have changes – or may have changes – coming soon.
Mod Pod is closing its 2nd St. location in Corvallis and moving to Redmond. While that means we’ll be missing the stylish threads and handy gifts we can buy there, they are having a moving sale – a little good news with the bad.
Also, looking to sell their business is Eats & Treats Café located at 1644 Main St. in Philomath. While selling “just darn good food” has been great for the McHenrys, it might be time to retire. They are apparently looking for a buyer.
Who Will Inherit the Farm: The possibility of retiring after a good run as a small business owner is one that faces many people. The task has become even more difficult for those who own family farms. Take, for example, Stahlbush Farms – a gold standard of family-run farming in the mid-valley. Yet of their four children, only one is sticking it out at the business.
More and more, Oregon Local is becoming Oregon “Fill-in-the-Blank” as small farm owners retire and sell to someone outside of the community. For example, near the end of last year, Willamette Egg Farms – an asset of Michael Foods Inc., a subsidiary of Post Holdings – became a part of Northwest Farms and Proterra Investment Partners. Not terribly cozy and homelike, is it?
One organization working against the commercialization of Oregon farm lands is Oregon Farm Link. They are attempting to keep the small family farm concept alive by connecting beginner farmers with a network of others – a support system aimed at growing a new generation of Oregon farmers.
So What Businesses Are We Lacking: When asked what we lack, one business insider said food trucks. Those yummy islands of unique flavors might be where
One glaring set of businesses Corvallis is missing, children’s and teenagers’ new clothing stores.
The closest spot to purchase affordable onesies or a cute little dress for your two-year-old is over an hour away at the Walmart in Albany.
“If we don’t have it, people are going to go to Albany… it’s pretty much that simple,” said Simon Date of the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce.
The issue here isn’t one of desire. Most parents want a close option to clothe their kids, but according to Kate Porsche of the Economic Development Office, the “development code disallows large format or box stores.”
So how about a small box store format? In large cities which lack the space for large parking lots and expansive floor plans, they have “urban format” stores like Target. If the city code could consider this option and welcome this not-a-Walmart-supercenter idea in, then it would also benefit college students and families starting out.
Covid-19 and the Workplace: How much liability does a business hold if they allow their doors to open as the pandemic continues? The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) – an association of small business owners in the U.S. – has been trying to obtain liability protection for businesses in Oregon against claims that a business is responsible for employees catching Covid. The NFIB hopes that the laws will sway in their favor since school districts have been protected from liability.
Tied to that same liability issue is the idea that workers who come down with Covid should continue to have Workers Compensation coverage if they become infected. This is something that labor unions in particular are supporting. The NFIB is hoping to link this issue to the compensation issue at the state level.
DCA Audit Still Pending: The audit of the now-defunct Downtown Corvallis Association is still MIA, although city officials were hoping to have it in hand by the end of June. Also missing for the moment is the new Corvallis Independent Business Committee (CIBC), which the Chamber of Commerce’s Date says is on hold until the DCA has officially wound down.
Chamber Events: Coming this week from the Chamber of Commerce…
July 19 will feature the first of a four part webinar series about landlord and tenant law. “This course creates an interactive environment in which attendees can get specific questions answered from an attorney on real-world situations that they encounter.” This webinar runs from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Register here for this event.
On the same day at 5:30 p.m., you can participate in a virtual training session presented by ABC House concerning “how to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.” Find out more here.
By Sally K Lehman
Do you have a story for The Advocate? Email editor@corvallisadvocate.com