Southern Oregon Excited About WalletHub Ranking

Date: July 17, 2018

Small businesses in southern Oregon speak about their economy in the mountains of the Beaver State.

After Medford, a mainstay in southern Oregon, ranked 430th out of the 1,261 small business communities in the WalletHub Study, that part of the state has enjoyed its high ranking.

Out of the categories, Medford ranked 297th in the business environment, 672nd for access to resources, and 576th for business costs.

“When you’re looking at that in context, it did pretty well, definitely in the top half here. …Where it seems to be struggling slightly is access to resources,” Jill Gonzalez, an analyst at WalletHub, said to KDRV 12.

KDRV 12 interviewed locals who are a part of the small business community in Medford to learn about their local economy.

“The main struggle for small business people in this valley is financing,” said Joan McBee, the chair of the Southern Oregon University’s School of Business. “I hear a lot of complaints from employers that they can’t find qualified workers. and I hear workers or potential workers say they can’t find a job.”

Another small business owner, Norm Kester, who owns Quantum Innovations in Medford, echoed McBee’s point.

“Obviously you’re going to deal with [that] when you’re in a small community is labor pool. what most companies here in the valley have done is develop our own training programs. The other problem that exists here which to me is just mind boggling is that most people have no idea what’s here, but the reality is there’s a ton of companies here,” he said.  

Related Content: Small Business News | Economy | Oregon

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