Poverty rates in the U.S. over time (Pamela Ferrara/Special to Salem Reporter) Government stimulus programs including expanded unemployment benefits and food stamps and payments to businesses and the self-employed helped bring some 70,000 Oregonians and 11 million people across the U.S. above the poverty line in 2020. That’s according to[Read More…]
ECONOMY
With interest from low-cost airlines, optimism grows about commercial service at Salem Airport
Empty seats at Salem Municipal Airport. (Troy Brynelson/Salem Reporter) Brent DeHart believes the Salem Municipal Airport is close to having commercial air service. DeHart is a leader in a contingent of local business owners and residents called Fly Salem that have been seeking to restore passenger service to Salem since[Read More…]
Salem is eager to resume big events, but labor and supply challenges loom
Determined not to let their planned wedding day be disrupted by the pandemic, Sara Foreman and Alex Younger found a venue in at a West Salem home, keeping to the June 2020 date they set long ago. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) When Oregon’s pandemic restrictions lifted on July 1, Meagan Morris[Read More…]
From derelict to desirable: downtown Salem continues to transform
Diana Cureton had a chance to take over a small convenience store and Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Salem a few years ago. Cureton, who’s lived downtown for about five years, said she’s long wanted to run such a store in the downtown core, catering to residents and workers who wanted[Read More…]
SALEM ECONOMIC INDEX: Indicators show the Salem area economy is roaring back
A ‘now hiring sign outside of a Les Schwab Tires location on Lancaster Drive on Friday, May 28. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) The median price of a house in Salem and Keizer continues to climb as fewer are sold. Despite the demand for housing, builders pulled fewer permits in May.[Read More…]
Salem’s vacant Nordstrom building will be replaced with apartments
The former Nordstrom building boarded up on June 29, 2021. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter) A once-bustling retail hub in downtown Salem will soon be torn down. A developer working with the city of Salem is moving forward with plans to replace the vacant Nordstrom building downtown with a five-story structure that’ll[Read More…]
PHOTOS: As Chang Tuh expands, the Salem company keeps cooking up Korean cuisine
Workers assemble the ingredients for spicy beef and vegetable soup pouch at the Chang Tuh facility on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) In an industrial area in northeast Salem, workers were busy turning slices of beef, chili powder, onions and other vegetables into soup. Operating out of Salem[Read More…]
After operating in Salem for decades, Chang Tuh hopes to make Korean food mainstream
Workers assemble the ingredients for spicy beef and vegetable soup pouch at the Chang Tuh facility on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter) Korean pop music (or K-Pop) acts are selling out U.S. stadiums. A Korean film was named best picture at last year’s Oscar awards. Now, Salem is[Read More…]
With a talent for making dirty cars look new, a Salem teenager makes his vision a reality
Edgar Perez uses a steam cleaner to clean the interior of a pickup truck he is detailing on June 17, 2021 (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) Edgar Perez decided that by the age of 17 he wouldn’t be working for anyone else. At age 16, Perez was working at a local detail[Read More…]
After a difficult year, Capitol Cryo welcomes Salem back into the cold
The owners and staff of Capitol Cryo stand next to Salem’s only cryo tank, which exposes users to temperatures well below zero for its purported health benefits. From left, co-owners Lynn Rouse and Tanah Lines, Assistant Manager Elisabeth Jones and Manager Hannah Schmidt. (Jake Thomas/Salem Reporter) Tanah Lines has no[Read More…]
