fter several years of pinching pen-nies, consumers may finally befeeling confident enough to tradein their aging autos for a newer —and more fuel-efficient — set ofwheels.

That’s the word from national auto ana-lysts, and it’s what mid-valley auto dealersare hoping to see as well.

Despite rising gas prices, in mid-Februaryanalysts J.D. Power and Associates and LMCAutomotive revised their prediction for thecoming year, saying that sales have been sostrong thus far in 2012 that they expect newcars and trucks sold this year to top 14 mil-lion. That’s the highest it’s been since 2007,the last year before the U.S. economy fell intorecession and auto sales bottomed out, driv-ing U.S. auto manufacturers to the verge ofbankruptcy.

While local auto dealers aren’t ready to de-clare the hard times over, they say they’veseen an uptick in sales recently.

“We are seeing a genuine resurgence of in-terest from people,” said Phil Doud, presidentof John & Phil’s Toyota Subaru Scion in Corvallis. “Busi-ness has been a little better in the last 60 or 90 days thanit’s been in the past two years.” He expects a 15-20 per-cent increase this year over last year.

Jerry Gorter, sales manager of Power Auto in Corval-lis, says he too has seen an increase in the last twomonths and estimates that sales are up about 5 percentso far in 2012.

In Albany, Drew Koehnke, general manager of PowerHonda, said that from 2010 to 2011, sales of used cars athis dealership doubled, and sales of new cars are up 50percent.

Buyers returning to lotsLow interest rates for consumers and an aging fleet of

vehicles on the road are two factors driving the come-

back.Over the past few years, stricter credit requirements

had made it harder for some people to get loans to afforda new car. Now, however, rates are the lowest they’vebeen in the past four years, according to credit bureauExperian. The average interest rate for a new-vehicleloan fell to 4.52 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, andthe Federal Reserve in January committed to keepingrates low through 2014.

“Banks are lending, Honda Financial is lending,”Koehnke said. “Local credit unions are aggressivelylooking for business.”

And consumers are responding by heading out to lookfor new cars, after several years of holding off on majorpurchases.

“People haven’t bought for the last three years,” said

Doud of John & Phil’s. He said that from2009-2011, sales were down about 30 or40 percent.

Another hurdle for auto dealers in thepast year was the Japanese tsunami andflooding in other countries that produceauto parts.

“There was a time in 2011 when we wereliterally out of cars,” Doud said. “We hadzero Subarus for 30 days.”

Between the lack of supply and the lackof demand, the average age of the Ameri-can car has reached an all-time high. Ac-cording to a January report by researchfirm R. L. Polk, the average car is now 10.8years old.

However, auto dealers are betting onthe fact that those older cars are starting tocost their owners more to hang on to thanto sell, Doud said.

“Our service department has beenbusy, which means those older cars arestarting to cost more to maintain,” he said.

Older cars also tend to be less fuel-effi-cient. Fuel economy is one of the highestpriorities for new-car shoppers, local autodealers say, especially with gas prices fore-

cast to rise in coming months.“We have hybrids, we have the Prius, we have cars

that get 40-plus miles per gallon,” Doud said. “Those arereally catching the attention of the buyer.”

The lack of movement in the auto market also meansthat those cars people have been hanging onto might ac-tually be worth more than they would have been in moreaffluent times.

“There have been shortages of good pre-owned vehi-cles,” Koehnke said. “The values of trade-ins are veryhigh right now.”

All those factors lead local dealers to believe it’s goingto be a good spring.

“It’s tax return season,” said Gorter of Power Auto.“People have that money, now they can put somethingdown on a car.”

Phil Doud, center, owner of John & Phil’s Toyota and Subaru, browses through the selection of cars with customer Steve Oien of Philomath, left, and general manager Vic Eden recently in Corvallis.

AMANDA COWAN | CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES

T H E M O N T H LY B U S I N E S S S E C T I O N F O R L I N N A N D B E N T O N C O U N T I E S A N D T H E M I D -W I L L A M E T T E VA L L E Y

w w w.democratherald.com/business • w w w.gazettetimes.com/business Februar y 2012

Auto sales switch gearsBy JENNIFER ROUSE

A

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HOUSE ACCT PAID |

‘There have been shortages of good pre-owned vehicles. Thevalues of trade-ins are very high right now.’

DREWKOEHNKEGENERAL MANAGER OF POWER HONDA IN ALBANY

If buyers are ready, lenders are willing —now’s a good time to buy new

DAVI

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| ALB

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T-HE

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Comings & GoingsSpice and Ice has opened a

second location, this one indowntown Corvallis at 215 S.W.Third St.

The business serves Asiancuisine and Italian gelato, andhas a menu of gluten-freechoices. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9p.m. Mondays through Wednes-days, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.Thursdays through Saturdays.The phone number is 541-286-4157. The eatery is owned byReba Worotikan, who openedthe original Spice and Ice in theNorth Albany Village shoppingcenter in 2007.

News & NotesLive Well Studio, LLC, in Cor-

vallis will soon offer “Pilates forEquestrians,” taught byAntigone Cook.

The class,which will startMarch 6, will of-fer a core andupper-bodyworkout de-signed tostrengthen thebody for horseriding; however,you don’t haveto ride horsesto appreciatethe workout. The course is de-signed to give a full-body powerworkout challenging the bal-ance, core and legs.

Props will be provided, andinclude use of fitness ball,dyna-band and Pilates MagicCircle. The course will includea take-home sheet of exercisesfor at-home conditioning. Par-ticipants will also have the op-portunity to order props forhome use.

Cost of the class is $85.Cook has a Bachelor of Arts

in community health, a Pilatescertification from the PhysicalMind Institute, and a personaltraining certification throughthe American Council on Exer-cise. She has taught Pilates inthe Corvallis area for morethan 15 years.

Live Well Studio provides acomprehensive schedule ofYoga, Pilates, Qi Gong,Feldenkrais, and dance for alllevels, including a Pilatesequipment class. The studio isat the west end of the Market ofChoice complex, 971 N.W.Spruce Ave. Further informa-tion is available atwww.livewellstudio.com.

■Kevin Simrin, administrator

for Corvallis/Albany ofRE/MAX Integrity, acceptedthe annual Brokerage of theYear award for the four-stateNorthwest region covering 140offices. This annual award isgiven by the RE/MAX region tothe office that shows strengthin market share, per agent pro-duction and community giving.

RE/MAX Integrity has local of-fices in Albany, Corvallis andEugene.

Officers & DirectorsCorvallis City Manager James

A. Patterson has been appoint-ed to the Oregon City/CountyManagement AssociationBoard of Direc-tors, represent-ing theWillamette Val-ley and largercities.

Patterson’sterm on theboard will ex-pire in 2014.Before comingto Corvallis, hewas Sherwood’s city managerfor three years.

The association seeks to in-crease proficiency of city man-agers, county managers andother municipal administrators;strengthen the quality of urbangovernment; and apply ethicalprinciples that govern the con-duct of every member.

People on the MoveKeller Williams Realty Mid-

Willamette has announced theaddition of anew agent to itsLebanon team:Jason Moore.

He joined theLebanon HomeTeam, headedby Laura Gillott,on Feb. 1. Priorto that, heworked at En-tek Internation-al for 20 years,and proceeded to earn his realestate license by attendingNorman F. Webb Real EstateCourses in Salem in 2008. Hewas born and raised inLebanon. He is currently a Buy-er’s Specialist. Moore can bereached at 541-451-2211, or atjason@lauragillott.com.

■Samaritan Mental Health in

Corvallis haswelcomedMegan Hog-land as a certi-fied medical as-sistant.

Working withpsychiatristScott Babe,Hogland admin-isters a treat-ment for de-pression, NeuroStar TMS Thera-py, that noninvasively delivers fo-cused magnetic pulses throughthe skull to stimulate the regionsof the brain thought to be in-volved in mood regulation.

Before joining SamaritanMental Health, Hogland workedas a medical assistant in pri-vate practices in Corvallis.

Samaritan Mental Health canbe reached at 541-768-5235.

February 2012MID-VALLEY InBusinessA6

MOVERS&SHAKERS

AMANDA COWAN | CORVALLIS GAZETTE-TIMES

Seifemichael Debessay, from left, manager of Papa’s Pizza Parlor in Corvallis, joins supervisor Faustino Jiminez, vice presidentRandy Wallachy and general manager Mike Schehen in the kitchen recently.

BUSINESS PROFILE

Chamber recognizes Papa’sPizza for fundraising projects

xtensive community sup-port, family, fun and food:Those are the ingredientsthat helped Papa’s PizzaParlor win the Business ofthe Year award at this

year’s Celebrate Corvallis event,sponsored by the Corvallis Chamberof Commerce.

Receiving the award was a hugehonor, said Randy Wallachy, a vicepresident for the company. “For us toeven just be nominated with thoseother great companies,” he said. ...“It was a goose-bump moment.”

Wallachy, of Corvallis, has spent35 years working at Papa’s Pizza.Wallachy said the company and itsideology that have kept him with thebusiness, which recently celebratedits 40th anniversary overall. (TheCorvallis restaurant has been in op-eration for 29 years.)

The happiness and camaraderiebegins within the restaurant andreaches out into the customers. Theenvironment is such that staff lookforward to coming in for their workshift, and that projects to the cus-tomers who become like family.

“It always has been the companyphilosophy to be a big part of thecommunity,” Wallachy said.

That notion has done the busi-ness and Corvallis well. Seems likeyou can’t go anywhere or be a part ofanything without hearing aboutsomething going on at Papa’s Pizza.If you have a child, attend a school orare part of an organization, youknow Papa’s is there for support.

Many a parent has eaten at Papa’s tohelp the school raise money or visit-ed Papa’s for a scout troop event orsports team’s award lunch or dinner.

Front and center on its web page,Papa’s declares, “Papa’s Pizza wantsto be your choice for your nextfundraiser or party. Give us a call orcome in and see us today!”

That’s where Wallachy likes to getinvolved. He encourages schools,leagues, teams and clubs to talk tohim for ideas on how to make theirfundraiser a success. He can suggest

themes, projects and decorating topromote student ownership of theparlor during the event.

“I’ve seen ideas that are success-ful,” he said. “I can point people in adirection that can result in almostdouble the money they would make.”

School tiesSince it fired up in Corvallis near-

ly three decades ago, Papa’s has vis-ited schools and schools have touredPapa’s kitchen. All schools have anopportunity to do two fundraisers ayear and Papa’s makes sure schoolsand clubs have pizza coupons onhand to recognize student achieve-ments.

“It’s our philosophy to not turnsomebody down,” Wallachy said.“We’ve been doing fundraisers formore than 25 years. We saw a needand developed a way to help (thecommunity).“

One of the secrets to success,Wallachy said, is how the companytreats its own people. Papa’s takescare of its staff and turnover is low;some hourly employees have beenwith the company for 10 to 15 years.Three of the managers have becomeowners.

“It’s how we take care of our em-ployees,” Wallachy said. “They, inturn, take care of us.”

Papa’s Pizza is made up of twofranchises. The first restaurant wasbuilt in 1971 in Eugene. Today thereare two companies in Eugene, ownedby the founding family, and parlorsin Springfield, Corvallis, Greshamand Beaverton owned by managers.

The Corvallis location is at 1030S.W. Third St.

Supporting community

EBy MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK

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Colors:

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CITIZENSBANK/LOCAL

CookLive Well Studio

MooreKeller Williams

HoglandSamaritan

PattersonNamed to board

KEYS TO SUCCESSHere are some of the keys to success

for Papa’s Pizza:• Be a part of the community. “This

is key for everything,” said Randy Wal-lachy, vice president of Papa’s PizzaCorvallis.“We derive everything for thecommunity.“

• Customer service. At Papa’s Pizza,a family dinner is an event. Familiescome in to socialize and celebrate.Papa’s wants to make that an easy andenjoyable time. Wallachy said he hascustomers who have adult children whostill come in.“Customers become a partof our family.“

• Employees. To be successful, a busi-ness has to have success within itsranks. Wallachy said management pro-vides an enjoyable work environmentand recognizes that nothing can be ac-complished without a solid work force.This also keeps consistency within thebusiness.

• High quality product. From ingredi-ents to presentation, Papa’s Pizzastrives for quality. Keeping ingredientsfresh, local when possible, and productconsistent ensures repeat customers.

• Marketing. Papa’s takes care of itscustomers and builds a solid customerbase. Birthdays are recognized andcommunication established.

TWITTER— FOLLOWNEWS AS IT’S BREAKING —

WWW.TWITTER.COM/GTNEWSWWW.TWITTER.COM/DHNEWS

MID-VALLEY INBUSINESS

The Small Business De-velopment Center at Linn-Benton Community Collegeis offering a small-businessmanagement class that’sspecifically for veterans, ac-tive-duty servicepeople andthe families of both, and or-ganizers are offering a spe-cial deal on tuition.

Students in the classmust have owned and oper-ated their own business forat least a year.

The idea of the class, ac-cording to lead instructorBrian B. Egan, is to help ex-isting businesses thrive.The class is cofacilitated byJohn Howe, the formerowner of Red Horse Coffee

in Corvallis and a Vietnam-combat Marine. Eganserved in the U.S. Air Forceand is a Vietnam-era veter-an.

Classes are held the firstThursday evening of eachmonth for nine monthsstarting on Thursday,March 1. Between class ses-sions, students get one-on-one business counseling.

The class costs $199,Egan said. Normally, itwould cost $995, but theVeterans Administration ishelping to subsidize theprogram.

People who want moreinformation on the class orwho want to register shouldcall 541-917-4923.

LBCC offers small-business class for veterans

Today: Phlebotomy programinformation session, 10 a.m. tonoon, conference rooms B/C,Samaritan Lebanon CommunityHospital, 525 N. Santiam High-way. Free information session onthe phlebotomy program that willrun July 30 through Nov. 16 at thehospital’s Health Careers Train-ing Center and the Linn-BentonCommunity College LebanonCenter. Information: LBCC Busi-ness, Healthcare and WorkforceDivision, 541-917-4923.

Wednesday:Albany Area Cham-ber of Commerce Membership Fo-rum Luncheon: “OSU’s EconomicImpact in Oregon and the Mid-Willamette Valley.”Speaker: SteveClark, Oregon State Universityvice president of University Rela-tions and Marketing. 11:30 a.m. to1 p.m., Linn County Fair & ExpoCenter, 3700 Knox Butte Road,Al-bany. Cost: $13 members; $20guests. Info: 541-812-1517.

Thursday: Downtown BrownBag Workshop, noon, conferenceroom, Willamette NeighborhoodHousing Services, 257 S.W. Madi-son Ave., No. 113, Corvallis. JohnHope-Johnstone will present “Getthe Biggest Bang for Your Mar-keting Buck.” Bring a lunch.Sponsored by the DowntownCorvallis Association. Registra-tion: 541-754-6624 orjoan@downtowncorvallis .org.

Thursday:Albany Kiwanis ClubLuncheon “Innovations in Nanos-tructured Carbon Materials.”Speaker: Sean Mortensen, En-erG2. Noon, Pop’s Branding IronRestaurant, 901 Pacific Blvd. S.E.,Albany. Info: 541-223-1247.

Thursday: Veterans small busi-ness management class, 6 to 9p.m., first Thursday of eachmonth, starting this week, Linn-Benton Community College,6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany.Cost: $199. Registration: LBCCSmall Business DevelopmentCenter, 541-917-4923.

Saturday: Traffic control flag-ger certification course, 8 a.m. to12:30 p.m., Fireside Room, CC-211, Calapooia Center, Linn-Ben-ton Community College, 6500Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany. Cost:$80, which includes all materials,certification test and card. Partic-ipants must be 18 years of age orover, and possess a valid driver’slicense. Registration: LBCC Busi-ness, Healthcare and WorkforceDivision, 541-917-4923.

Saturday:“Burn the MortgageCommunity Garage Sale,” 9 a.m.

to 3 p.m., Philomath Scout Lodge,660 Clemens Mill Road.Annualgarage sale for nonprofit agencies.

Saturday: Sweet Home Cham-ber of Commerce communityawards banquet. Time: 6 p.m.(program begins at 7 p.m.), JimRiggs Community Center, 87818th Ave., Sweet Home. Cost:$20 per person. Tickets availableat the chamber, 1575 Main St.Info: 541-367-6186.

March 5: 100-ton master train-ing course, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. March5 through 9 and 26 through 30,Englund Marine, Newport. Stu-dents will learn and practice skillsrequired to pass the U.S. CoastGuard Merchant Mariner exami-nation for Master of InspectedVessels of not more than 100gross tons. Cost: $400. Registra-tion: Toni Middleton, ClatsopCommunity College, 503-325-7962 or tmiddleton@clatsopcc.edu.

March 6-7: Cascade Occupation-al Safety and Health Conference.March 6, 9:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.;March 7, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.,Valley Riv-er Inn, 1000 Valley River Way, Eu-gene. Cost: $165 both days; $95one day. Info: 503-378-3272.

March 7: Women In BusinessLuncheon: “How to Find the RightWeight Loss Program for You.”Presenters: Cathy Baker, TakeShape for Life; Peggy Burris,Weight Watchers; BarbaraGeorge, RD, Samaritan Heart-springs Wellness Center. 11:45a.m., Spring Hill Country Club,155 Country Club Lane, N.W., Al-bany. Cost: $15 members; $20guests. Info: 541-926-1517.

March 8: Albany Kiwanis ClubLuncheon “Fire & Police Leviesand What’s All This Talk AboutCARA.” Speaker: Sharon Konopa,Albany mayor. Noon, Pop’sBranding Iron Restaurant, 901Pacific Blvd. S.E., Albany. Info:541-223-1247.

March 10: Albany Area Cham-ber of Commerce DistinguishedService Award Banquet. 5:30p.m., Boys & Girls Club of Albany,1215 Hill St., Albany. Cost: $60per person. Info: 541-926-1517.

March 13: Linn/Benton Live-stock Forages Breakfast Educa-tion Program: “Animal Damage &Rodent Control.” Speaker: DougFreeman, RCO Intl. 6:30 to 8a.m., Pioneer VillaRestaurant/Truck Stop, 33180Highway 228, Halsey. Info: JoelPynch 541-466-5344 or ShelbyFilley 541-672-4461.

MID-VALLEY INBUSINESS

Adams Flagging of Al-bany will hold regular train-ing classes at the ComfortInn Suites, 100 Opal CourtN.E. in Albany.

Classes, which will beoffered year-round, arescheduled every other Sat-urday from 8 a.m. to noonstarting this month. Thoseinterested in gaining certifi-cation can contact instruc-tor Jodie Adams at 541-926-1663 to register.

Adams has been teachingflagging classes for 18 yearsand has 30 years of experi-ence as a flagger.

Adams Flagging also of-fers on-site courses for

larger companies and pro-vides instruction through-out the state.

Cost for the course is$95. Each student will re-ceive three workbooks and,upon completion of thecourse, a three-year certifi-cation card. The four-hourcourse will include practiceflagging, sign setup andtakedown, and instructionin radio use.

Participants will viewtraining films on flaggingand take an open book testat the end of the course.

Students also will receivea list of flagging companies.Refreshments and beverageswill be served at each class.

Flagging class starts in Albany

MID-VALLEY InBusinessFebruary 2012 A7

Unemployment Rate

U.S. Oregon Linn Co.Benton Co.

16%

14%

12%

10%

8%

6%

4%

2%

0

Source: Oregon Employment Department Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.

Dec. 2010 Dec. 2011Nov. 2011

10.6

7.1

12.7

8.7 9.1

6.2

11.6

8.5 8.9

6.0

11.1

9.4

Mid-Valley Residential ReportUnits sold Units sold Average Averagepast year past year sales prices sales price

Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011

Albany 420 462 153,933 159,209N. Albany 113 140 225,619 246,155Brownsville 17 18 142,452 177,075Corvallis 500 469 272,594 279,284

Units sold Units sold Average Averagepast year past year sales prices sales price

Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011 Jan. 2012 Jan. 2011

Independence 54 59 154,603 213,637

Jefferson 58 42 200,490 199,914

Lebanon 300 310 132,403 151,786

Philomath 77 79 247,828 242,126

Sweet Home 130 130 122,142 119,579

Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service

Source: Oregon Employment Department Dec. ’11 Nov. ’11 Dec. ’10 Nov. ’11 Dec. ’10

Dec. ’11 Nov. ’11 Dec. ’10 Nov. ’11 Dec. ’10

Change fromCorvallis MSA (Benton County) Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Source: Oregon Employment Department Change from

Linn County Nonfarm Payroll Employment

Residential Average Sales Price by Area

Th

ou

san

ds

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

299,687

135,578

230,115

325

300

275

250

225

200

175

150

125

Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service

The numbers: The Uni-versity of Oregon Index ofEconomic Indicators gained0.7 percent in December to89.4 (1997=100), its bestperformance since July.

The good news: Improve-ment was widespread, ac-cording to the report’s au-thor,Timothy Duy of the Uni-versity of Oregon Depart-ment of Economics. Initialunemployment claimsdropped to their lowest levelsince February 2008. Em-ployment services payrollsincreased, suggesting an up-ward demand for new hires.Core-manufacturing ordersbounced back so stronglythat the previous month’sloss was wiped out.

The bad news: None.

That’s right – none of thecomponents that make up theeconomic index declined sig-nificantly during the month.

The upshot: Duy said thenumbers suggest “room for

optimism” regarding theeconomic forecast for 2012.

Another view: Duy also istracking a new index, athree-month moving aver-age of the Oregon Measure

of Economic Activity.Thethree-month average in De-cember was down 0.8, asmanufacturing and servicesectors made positive con-tributions to the measure.(A measure of zero corre-sponds to the averagegrowth rate for the period, inthis case from 1990-2011.Asthe number draws closer tozero, as it did in December,that means the economy ismaking its way back to nor-mal growth.) Overall, con-struction and householdsectors remain a drag on themeasure. Residential build-ing permits remain weak.

To learn more: Check outthe full report at the websitehttp://pages.uoregon.edu/oefweb/

Natural resources, mining and construction 1,190 1,220 1,130 -30 60

Manufacturing 3,250 3,290 3,280 -40 -30

Trade, transportation and utilities 4,410 4,410 4,360 0 50

Information 790 800 810 -10 -20

Financial activities 1,380 1,380 1,360 0 20

Professional and business services 3,700 3,680 3,660 20 40

Educational and health services 5,780 5,780 5,660 0 120

Leisure and hospitality 3,240 3,260 3,420 -20 -180

Other services 1,150 1,160 1,170 -10 -20

Federal government 550 560 580 -10 -30

State government 10,370 10,560 9,730 -190 640

Local government 2,850 2,960 2,890 -110 -40

Total nonfarm payroll employment 38,660 39,060 38,050 -400 610

Natural resources, mining and construction 2,330 2,400 2,160 -70 170

Manufacturing 6,810 6,860 6,600 -50 210

Trade, transportation and utilities 8,510 8,450 8,680 60 -170

Information 390 390 390 0 0

Financial activities 1,240 1,250 1,290 -10 -50

Professional and business services 2,860 2,930 3,140 -70 -280

Educational and health services 4,760 4,730 4,810 30 -50

Leisure and hospitality 2,950 2,890 2,970 60 -20

Other services 1,340 1,340 1,360 0 -20

Federal government 310 320 340 -10 -30

State government 1,140 1,150 1,170 -10 -30

Local government 5,940 5,970 6,520 -30 -580

Total nonfarm payroll employment 38,580 38,680 39,430 -100 -850

Benton County

Linn County

BUSINESS DATA

Index, 1997 = 100

92

91

90

89

88

87

86

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