These last few years have seen more local wineries serving up concerts, campouts and special events – and as an attendance driver, they’ve also looked to serve food – but that’s been challenging.
After all, commercial kitchens are expensive, and then there’s the land use and permitting issues – and mostly these winery folks are looking to be vintners rather than restaurateurs. So, some of the wineries had hoped to book food trucks as an alternative, but the county said they couldn’t do that either because of land use ordinances. Now, that is about to change.
Officials have reviewed their interpretation of the rules, and reversed themselves, and they will be starting to allow the food trucks.
County staff plan to contact area wineries with the good news and some new rules sometime in the next few months. Wineries can expect the new County guidance to look more like what state law permits, which is up to 18 tastings and other events yearly.
Corvallis Supermarket Shuffle
There are new moves afoot as Fred Meyer parent company, Kroger, controversially seeks to eat Safeway for lunch in a proposed merger. If the deal goes through, the Safeway on Circle Blvd. would likely be sold to another supermarket chain, C&S Wholesale Grocers, which is mainly a food distribution company that also owns Piggly Wiggly supermarkets in the southeast U.S.
The reason is this: Kroger has released a list of about 600 stores to be sold nationwide if the deal goes through, and is arguing that with those locations divested, the acquisition won’t be anticompetitive. They are also arguing that selling some locations to C&S Wholesale Grocers means they are actually building a competitor.
So far, the Federal Trade Commission isn’t buying it. The merger between Kroger and Safeway parent company, Albertsons, was announced in 2022, and the Federal Trade Commission initiated a suit to stop the deal in February. Whether Kroger can or will find enough locations for divestiture to satisfy regulators is an open question, so time will tell.
Food & Water Watch, a non-governmental industry watchdog group, says, “Kroger and Alberstons already own a staggering 22% of the market share of grocery stores, with their own vertically integrated supply chains.” They also say that four grocery retailers have cornered around 70 percent of the market nationally. If the Kroger-Albertsons merger were to proceed, it would become the nation’s second largest grocery chain, and it would also mean that almost three-quarters of U.S. grocery retail would be controlled by only three companies.
For their part, Kroger and Albertsons say they have to merge if they are to survive competitively against Walmart and Amazon. As no small aside, the FTC says C&S only owns 23 of its own stores nationwide, and the regulator also believes the company cannot turn the locations it would buy from Kroger and Albertsons into a functional business. Currently, Kroger owns 2,719 store locations nationally, and Albertsons owns 2,200.
Locally, both Fred Meyer and Safeway have their critics across social media platforms – and beyond grocery, there is quite a bit of concern over the further consolidation of pharmacies in the area.
OSU Business Accelerator Scores Statewide Award Honors
Oregon Business & Industry, a statewide advocacy powerhouse for all things business, has announced their 2024 Oregon Visionary Award selections, and an Oregon State University business accelerator has made the grade.
It’s a big deal, there’s been a diversity of past honorees, from Dutch Bros. to Family First Childcare Center, for instance. OBI says its Visionary Award recognizes people, employers and organizations that strengthen Oregon’s economy and contribute significantly to shared prosperity by developing solutions to significant problems.
“At a time when Oregon’s reputation has struggled and its economic competitiveness has waned, this year’s Visionary Award winners have demonstrated how well the state, driven by its private sector, still works. When it comes to innovation and inspiration, Oregon can still deliver,” said Erik Lukens, an OBI spokesperson.
So, you may be asking what our favorite little neighborhood research university did to nab this honor. Well, Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Institute, or ATAMI, is a core unit of OSU Advantage within the Division of Research and Innovation, and OBI is impressed, saying, “ATAMI is a vibrant incubator for businesses leveraging cutting-edge flow chemistry and manufacturing technologies.”
Located on Hewlett-Packard’s Corvallis campus, it’s a collaboration hub that brings together Oregon State University engineers and private-sector partners to propel research, development and commercialization. ATAMI offers an array of state-of-the-art tools and is home to the OSU Advantage Accelerator, which provides startups with crucial training and guidance for every stage of their journey.
By providing comprehensive workforce training and access to top-tier researchers and equipment, ATAMI supports business success and fuels economic growth in communities across Oregon, fostering a thriving ecosystem and contributing to OSU’s strategic plan of “prosperity widely shared.”
The other awardee this year is ZGF and Hoffman Skanska Joint Venture for their leading roles in creating PDX Next.
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