The $850,000 from the Department of Transportation can be used for revenue guarantees for airlines and marketing of local flights, but leaves unresolved the issue of how the city would pay for major terminal upgrades and ongoing staffing needed to support flights.
ECONOMY
Southeast Commercial site chosen as potential south Salem transit center
Salem’s transit agency is hoping a largely vacant piece of land on Southeast Commercial Street will be the city’s next transit hub. The Salem Area Mass Transit District’s Board of Directors last week voted to move forward with an environmental study of the site at the northeast corner of Wiltsey[Read More…]
Salem councilors want air service back, but who pays remains unclear
One commercial airline, Aha!, wrote a letter to the TSA in March expressing interest in serving Salem with a 50-seat plane. But a recent assessment by the agency found that would require a minimum $3.9 million in renovations.
Rising costs, supply chain problems plague construction projects in Salem
A construction crew works on the outside of the Nishioka building in downtown Salem on May 12, 2020. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) For Pence Construction, a Salem commercial contractor, this year marked the first time a construction project hinged on dimmer switches. All other supplies are in, but Brent Pence, owner[Read More…]
COLUMN: Low-wage workers who kept society running during pandemic reaped few rewards
About half of local openings for high-demand jobs pay lower wages (Graphic by Pamela Ferrara) In April of 2020, the Salem area unemployment rate climbed in one month’s time from 3.9 percent to 11.3 percent, due to business shutdowns to control the pandemic. The high unemployment rate put a glaring[Read More…]
Big jumps in food prices hit Salem restaurants, institutions
Rising food prices are forcing Salem restaurants to raise prices, cut portions or weather losses(Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Annette’s Westgate Cafe goes through about 330 pounds of bacon a week. It’s a staple for the Salem restaurant on Northwest Edgewater Street, which has been serving hearty meals for 15 years. Owner[Read More…]
Spiraling costs have some local families choosing between food, medical care
Holli Thomas, 54, of Keizer, has been selling clothing and furniture to pay rising gas costs to get to her cancer treatments. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) Holli Thomas’ breast cancer is responding to the drug trial she’s enrolled in. But the 54-year-old Keizer resident has to drive to Oregon Health &[Read More…]
Salem’s plans for commercial air travel in coming year hinge on federal grant
A plane on the tarmac at the Salem Municipal Airport on Thursday, May 5, 2022 (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) Salem could see commercial flights return to its airport within a year – if the city is successful in its third effort to get a federal grant to help market the service[Read More…]
COLUMN: Health care, manufacturing jobs targeted in new workforce training plan
Nurses are among the local jobs expected to see the most growth in the coming years.(Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) After decades of declining federal funding, the Willamette Workforce Partnership, the local area workforce board, will see its annual job-training budget double in the space of the next few months. Here’s why:[Read More…]
Dozens of companies that defied Covid mandates are fighting nearly $1 million in fines
Courthouse Club Fitness owes the largest Covid-related fines to Oregon according to new data from the state’s workplace safety agency. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) Though most pandemic restrictions in Oregon are gone, several dozen businesses cited by state safety officials for violating Covid mandates still owe hundreds of thousands of dollars[Read More…]
