Apartments Break Ground at South Waterfront

Portland - R&H broke ground on The Matisse, a 274-unit apartment complex that will span an entire city block in Portland's South Waterfront. When complete, five stories of apartment units will rest above ground floor retail and underground parking within two separate buildings. The project developer is Simpson Housing LLLP and the architect is Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects. The Matisse is slated for completion in the fall of 2010.

Liberty Northwest Doles Out Retro Refund

Portland - Liberty Northwest, a Liberty Mutual Agency Markets regional company, announced a total retrospective rating adjustment of more than $3 million for members of the Liberty Premier Contractors Group (LPCG) workers’ compensation insurance program. The rating adjustment reflects the participants’ safety performance during the policy year ending October 1, 2007, and amounts to a total net group savings of 31 percent when account premium adjustments, tax savings, and non-disabling medical reimbursements are included. Through its effective workers’ compensation cost-reduction strategy, Liberty Northwest gives employers short-and-longterm incentives for improving safety and realizing significant end-of-year plan savings.

UO Starts Work on History Museum

Eugene - The University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History today broke ground on a new wing to house more than 500,000 artifacts uncovered by road and public works projects dating back to the construction of dams on the Columbia River. The museum, designed by Robertson Sherwood Architects of Eugene in consultation with architect Otto Poticha, is the first of three stages planned for a $9.55 million expansion that will double the museum's space for collections, research laboratories and public programs.

The first phase, a $2.8 million collections wing, will bring significant items found on public lands in Oregon together under one roof for the first time. The new facility's storage vaults will provide state-of-the-art preservation for fragile items and make the collections more accessible for research and education programs.

A major federal highway-spending bill authorized by Congress in 2005 provides $2.17 million for the collections center. The university will select a contractor and begin construction of the collections wing by the start of fall term. Completion is anticipated by May 2009. Fundraising dollars and state funds will be sought to complete later phases of the project.

Groundbreaking ceremonies followed the announcement of a $500,000 lead gift from the Roseburg-based Ford Family Foundation for adding a public galleria to the new collections wing and remodeling the existing collections vault for educational purposes.

Report Shows State Offers Favorable Tax Climate

Salem - A report by Ernst and Young on state business taxes for FY2007 pronounces Oregon’s position as one of the lowest business tax rate structures in the United States.

The report uses three measures to evaluate tax structures from state to state:

1. The total effective business tax rate (business taxes as a percentage of private sector economic activity);
2. The business share of total state and local taxes; and
3. The ratio of business taxes relative to the value of public services benefiting businesses.

In those three measures, Oregon has the second lowest effective business tax rate in the country; the third lowest business share of total state and local taxes; and the lowest overall ratio of business taxes relative to the value of public services benefiting businesses. Oregon has seen many business development projects come to fruition recently, particularly in the renewable energy industry. Recent photovoltaic business recruitments Solaicx, SolarWorld and Peak Sun are investing more than $500 million into their facilities right now, with expansions already planned for the near future. This growth puts Oregon on track to become the largest photovoltaic-producing state in North America by next year. While the study outlines Oregon’s position as a low-tax location, businesses are also attracted to the quality of life Oregon provides for employees.