South Albany High School career counselor Jackie Labonte assists Jordan Post, 16, with her resume.MARK YLEN | MID-VALLEY INBUSINESS

t used to be a rite of passage — a teenager’s first realjob. Whether it was bagging groceries, flippingburgers, or pumping gas, earning money over thesummer used to be the norm for young people.

These days, with the nation’s economy still onlymarginally improving, competition is fierce and jobs forteens are hard to find. High school students are insteadincreasingly turning to sports camps, volunteering, andodd jobs to fill their summer days. According to a reportfrom the Oregon Employment Department, not workingis becoming the new norm for today’s teens.

Anna Sokolov, business-to-school liaison at AlbanyOptions School, said her students are frustrated by em-ployers who can afford to be picky and are unwilling totake a chance on inexperienced workers.

“They say that employers are looking for people 18and older. They’re not interested in 16 and 17 year olds,”Sokolov said. “They say you can’t find a job unlessyou’ve already had a job. No one is willing to give youthat first chance.”

The story is the same from other area career counselors.Jackie Labonte of South Albany High’s Career Center re-members that when she started at South five years ago, thejob board filled with employment listings from local busi-nesses used to be packed with opportunities for teens.

“I would have so many I could barely keep up withposting them,” she recalled. “Now, jobs for high schoolstudents go to college students or older workers. Thepickings are extremely slim.”

Donna Keim, a career counselor at Corvallis HighSchool, says she tells her students not to expect a steady,paying job at all — at least, not right off the bat. She rec-ommends that students identify an industry they are in-terested in and volunteer their services for free, arrang-ing to get school credit for their work.

“It’s not like it used to be,” she said. “I tell them to ex-pect to put in a couple years of volunteer time beforethey are offered a position.”

National and state employment numbers bear out thetrend, although analysts say this year’s numbers aresomewhat better than they were for 2009 through 2011.

In 2011 — the most recent year for which statistics areavailable — unemployment among 16- to 19-year-olds was

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 May 2012

High schoolers need to take extra steps to land that first job

Career counselor Jackie Labonte helps Kelsey Sullivan, 16, in her job search at South Albany High School.

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Pickings slim in teen job marketBy JENNIFER ROUSE

So what can teens to do improve their chances of find-ing a job? Here are tips from local career counselors whowork with students all year long to prepare for both long-term and short-term job goals.

BE PREPARED: Get a food handler’s card, earn a CPRcertification, or take a tractor safety course before youapply. This shows employers you’re well-qualified andready to step right into the job.

BE POLISHED: Create a resume listing all your skills,even if you don’t have work experience – you can list vol-unteer work, school leadership positions, or personal qual-ities such as good teamwork or communication skills. Aska career counselor at your school to review the resume foryou. They can also set you up with opportunities for amock interview, so that when you actually apply for the

job, you know how to present yourself professionally.BE PERSISTENT: Follow up with each potential em-

ployer you hand a resume to, asking more than onceabout job opportunities. Plan to do volunteer work orsome other resume-building activity if a job doesn’t panout, so that you are gaining experience even if you’re notgetting paid.

DON’T BE PICKY: Don’t turn up your nose at farmwork, fast food, odd jobs or another position that soundsless than ideal. State employment analysts said they’veheard horror stories of young people refusing to worklong hours, or being willing to accept jobs only if they areallowed to check their Facebook page during a shift. A jobis a job, and even a menial one will show future employersthat you’re responsible, reliable and hard-working.

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LOS ANGELES (MCT) —Google Search for iPhone hasgotten a complete overhaulthat makes the app muchcleaner, speedier and a bituser-friendlier, if you will.

The updated app, com-plete with the day’s GoogleDoodle, now automaticallyfills the screen in both por-trait and landscape orienta-tions with search results.You scroll down, and thecontrols are hidden. Youscroll up to reveal themagain.

Across the bottom of thescreen, you find the cate-gories of search areas in-cluding images, videos,news and blogs. Thiscarousel also disappears asyou begin to scroll throughresults. A nice intuitivetouch — if you’re looking atresults, you don’t need theother navigation options.

at 29.7 percent.That’s slightlydown from the high of 31 per-cent in 2009,but not much.

“It still means that one inthree young people whowant to work can’t find ajob,” said Charlie Johnson,senior economic analyst forthe Oregon EmploymentDepartment.

An additional trend isthat not only is the numberof jobs for teens shrinking,the number of teenagers at-tempting to land them hasalso steadily decreased overthe past two decades.

“They are working less,but there are also fewer ofthem looking for work,”Johnson said.

Sixty percent of Orego-nians aged 16-19 are neitheremployed nor looking forwork. That’s a significantdrop from previous genera-tions; the average used to beabout 59 percent of teens inthe labor force, with only 41percent not employed orlooking for work.

This isn’t linked to the re-cession, according to John-son. Youth labor rates havebeen declining since 1990,and economists have no goodexplanation for the drop.

Career counselors at localhigh schools say that whilethe number of teens able tofind a steady job is low,short-term job offers such asa weekend of yard work or anafternoon of running errandsare still coming in to localhigh schools, and they tendto get snapped up fast. Oddjobs like that aren’t reflectedin employment statistics.

Be preparedSo how can teens get a

job? The key factors in find-ing summer employmentare no different thanthey’ve ever been — theyjust matter even more now.

Counselors say teensmust come in prepared —with a resume, a food han-dlers’ card or other certifi-cation, and good interview-ing skills. They also must bewilling to take jobs that mayseem boring or menial.

Garrett Fleetwood, a jun-ior at Crescent Valley, just gothis first job, as a summer life-guard at Osborn AquaticCenter. Fleetwood said he’dbeen interested in the posi-tion for a couple of years, eversince he started participatingin swim team and water polo.He prepped in advance to beequipped for the job, taking aCPR and lifeguard trainingclass and participating in amock interview exercise.

“The mock interviewwas really helpful,” Fleet-

wood said, “It was goodpractice for helping me getused to being interviewed.”

He looks forward to get-ting paychecks that he canput toward gas and spend-ing money. He also likes thefact that his schedule willgive him the flexibility tostill participate in condi-tioning practices for his wa-ter polo team.

Fleetwood said thatamong his friends he knowssome who don’t work, in-stead spending summershanging out at home or par-ticipating in sports camps.Others, he says, do havejobs, but they’re not glam-orous: working at a gas sta-tion and assisting at a retire-ment home, for example.

The fact that even low-paying jobs are out thereshould be encouraging newsfor teens, said Johnson ofthe Employment Depart-ment. And recent economicnews indicates that more ofthose could possibly beopening up this summer.Food service, clerical work,and retail all added jobs thisspring, and those are sec-tors that tend to hire youngworkers, Johnson said.

“Things are looking bet-ter, but we’re still not nearto saying that things arelooking good,” he said.

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abbling in woodwork as ahobby shaped a businessopportunity for DanCoyle of Corvallis.

Coyle is an outdoorsenthusiast and enjoys

working with wood. The result hasbeen custom paddles, eyeglassframes and helmets. Now, a ventureinvolving wooden bicycle helmetshas taken off, and his future looks tobe busy with custom creations thatwill sustain a business.

“I’ve always enjoyed building andinventing,” Coyle said. “I also likerisk.”

So, he is going for it.Coyle registered the business

name Treepieces about 15 monthsago, but has been working on thecreative side of his helmet project fornearly two years.

Now, he plans to get serious withthe other side of the business.

Coyle enrolled in the microbusi-ness program at Linn-Benton Com-munity College to learn the ins andouts of running a business. The ideasgathered through the programhelped him to win the award for thebest “concept company” at the re-cent Willamette Angel Conference.

While he didn’t receive a largesum of investment funding from theconference, Coyle said he will getabout $6,000 in services to help himcover consulting and marketing feesand $1,000 free and clear.

“If I’m lucky, there will be patentattorney services in there,” he said.

The LBCC Small Business Devel-opment Center’s MicroEnterpriseprogram is funded in part by a Com-munity Development Block Grantfrom the city of Corvallis. It is athree-part support system for low-income entrepreneurs. The firstcourse, called MicroBusiness Ex-plore and Commit, helps residentslearn business basics while doing afeasibility study on their businessidea.

Coyle now is in the secondcourse, Launch Your Business, re-

ceiving support and guidance to cre-ate his business entity, locate start-up funding, set up financials, devel-op sales and marketing skills and de-fine operations.

He said things are moving soquickly, he is having a hard timeslowing down on the craft side to fo-cus on business operations.

Beautiful shellsTen years ago, Coyle constructed

his wooden shell helmets with achain saw and grinder. He made theshell pieces for their beauty and fitthem to foam liners. He didn’t worryso much about them passing safetyrequirements or being completelynatural. Then, for fun, he lined onewith cork and compared it with atraditional foam helmet. Testing atOregon State University revealed hiscork lining passed along with thefoam.

“My whole attitude changedabout the project, ” he said. “Theplan had been to make the shells tofit the foam lining. I was happy —surprised — to find the natural ma-terial passed the test.”

Treepieces helmets are madefrom natural fiber. The shell can be

constructed from any kind of wood.“Wood actually absorbs energy

because it is cellular,” Coyle said.“Softer wood can absorb more im-pact.”

Different wood has differentweight and design. All of Coyle’spieces are finished to show off thegrain and natural colors. The result isa beautiful shell.

Helmets for a variety of sports,from horseback riding to kayaking tohardhats for construction and log-ging, will eventually be available. Fornow, Coyle has met bicycle helmetsafety requirements and will focuson this particular line.

Helmets are a product that havebeen made pretty much the same forabout 40 years, Coyle said. To go ful-ly organic in production was some-thing that made him feel really good.

Coyle has traded in his chain sawfor a computer to help him create butit still takes six to 12 hours to makeone helmet.

First, Coyle makes a 3-D modelon the computer. The navigationprogram reads the image and sendsthe dimensions to the tools.

Coyle can’t keep his finishedproduct on the shelf. While hepromises a custom fit, people havebeen buying them at trade shows.

“People are drawn to a particularlook or pattern and have to have it,”Coyle said.

Trying to teach himself the busi-ness end of things while making hel-mets, Coyle said he gets further be-hind every day. It takes hours for himto source necessary pieces while or-ders are coming in from around theworld.

Coyle’s helmets sell from $300 to$400 and he said the business couldsoon start paying for itself. Untilthen, he lives off his savings andfamily investments.

Previously, Coyle was the directorof Santiam Crossing School in Scio.He still freelances teaching wilder-ness classes and outdoor adventuresfor the Corvallis Parks & RecreationDepartment.

MARK YLEN | MID-VALLEY InBUSINESS

Kelsey Sullivan, 16, calls a prospective employer while looking for ajob at the South Albany High School career center.

AMANDA COWAN | MID-VALLEY InBUSINESS

Dan Coyle of Treepieces pauses for a photo at the Oregon State University Memorial Union craft center on May 23 with sports hel-mets he made that are tested with bicycle standards. The helmets are created using a variety of woods.

BUSINESS PROFILE

Teen jobsContinued from page A5

Outdoor enthusiast carves out business venture

Helmets: A natural fit

Here are five keys to success fromDan Coyle of Corvallis:

PERSISTENCE: Coyle, of CoyleTreepieces, said his persistence leadshim to overdo and not under-do in areasof concern when it came to creating hiswood articles.

INSPIRATION AND COURAGE: Payattention to the inspiration and have thecourage to go for it.

CONFIDENCE: Go with your gut. Ifyou have confidence in your idea, Coylesaid, other people will feel the sameway.

TAKE A RISK; “I like being out of thebox,” Coyle said.“Go with a new idea.”However, he cautioned, there are allsorts of ways to take something, sowatch out for tangents. Focus on one di-rection.

PRIORITIZE: Prioritize family andfriends. Focus on encouraging peopleand foster a strong support group.

FIVE KEYS TO SUCCESS

DBy MARIA L. KIRKPATRICK

RESOURCES FOR JOBS

CIS CONNECTION: Thisemployer database is runthrough Oregon schools; it al-lows students to search avail-able job opportunities and in-ternships in a single location.It also allows businesses toget their job postings listed ina place where many potentialworkers will see them.http://oregoncis.uoregon.edu/home/Products/CISConnection/tabid/234/Default.aspx

SUMMER ACADEMIES:These classes offered throughLinn-Benton Community Col-lege are free or low-cost forhigh school students.They pro-vide an introduction to severaldifferent trades and careerfields.You won’t earn money bytaking a class, but you’ll gainskills, and it will do more foryour resume than playing XBoxall summer — it will show fu-ture employers that you’re mo-tivated and well-educated.www.linnbenton.edu/go/summeracademies

YOUTH WAGE GRANT: LinnCounty offers subsidies tobusinesses who hire first-timeworkers aged 14-19. Applica-tions and information aboutthe program are available atwww.co.linn.or.us.

Google Search for iPhone getscleaner and faster

Officers & DirectorsThe Oregon Department of Fish

and Wildlife and Oregon State Uni-versity recently announced theappointment of five members tothe Oregon Hatchery ResearchCenter Advisory Committee.

The members are MichaelBrinkley of Eugene; Ruth Mc-Donald of Yachats; Julie Collinsof Portland; Norm Ritchie, also ofPortland; and Tom Ebert of Alsea.

Ebert will continue to representscience at large on the committee.He has been on the committee sinceits inception in 2005.He is a retiredpopulation ecologist with primaryinterests in details of life historiesand reproduction of organisms.

❑

Corvallis High School teacherColleen Works has been appointedto Chalkboard Project’s new Dis-tinguished Educators Council.

Chalkboard has formed thecouncil to provide Chalkboardand education policy makers spe-cific recommendations to sup-port and strengthen the teachingprofession and ensure that Ore-gon is a good place to teach.

In March,Chalkboard invitedaward-winning teachers fromacross Oregon to apply to serve onthe council.The members will serveon the council until May of nextyear.The council is expected to for-malize its recommendations in a re-port by early fall,and then beginpresenting its recommendations toeducation policy makers.

People on the MoveSamaritan Mental Health

Family Center in Corvallis re-cently welcomed Kiri Horsey, alicensed professional counselorwho provides child and adoles-cent therapy.

As a child and adolescent thera-pist,Horsey spe-cializes in individ-ual, family andgroup counsel-ing,and encour-ages learningthough activityand experience.She uses a vari-ety of therapeuticmodalities, in-cluding play therapy,cognitive be-havioral therapy,dialectical behav-ioral therapy and collaborativeproblem-solving.Horsey also spe-cializes in bereavement and griefcounseling for children and families.

She received bachelor’s degreesin psychology and human develop-ment from Washington State Uni-versity in Vancouver, and a master’sdegree in counseling from OregonState University.

Prior to joining Samaritan,Horsey worked with children andfamilies at the Trillium Children’sFarm Home and Old Mill Center forChildren and Families in Corvallis.

Horsey is accepting new patients,and can be reached at 541-768-4620.

❑

Endocrinologist SusanSanderson joined The CorvallisClinic on May 16.

Sanderson specializes in treatingdiabetes,thyroidand other en-docrine condi-tions.She cameto Corvallis fromHawaii,where sheworked as a pedi-atric and adultendocrinologist.While there,shedeveloped thefirst diabetes education program inWest Hawaii to be recognized by theAmerican Diabetes Association.

Sanderson received her medicaldegree in 1986 from the Universityof North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Shecompleted her residency and in-ternship in internal medicine in1989 at the University of Utah inSalt Lake City, and a fellowshipthere in endocrinology and metab-olism in 1991. Sanderson is boardcertified in endocrinology, metab-olism and diabetes by the Ameri-can Board of Internal Medicine.

Sanderson is accepting new pa-tients and referrals.To schedule anappointment, call 541-754-1260.

❑

The Oregon State UniversityFoundation has appointed an-nounced several new hires.

Matt Davis has been namedtelefund manager. Davis previ-ously worked for four years ingolf operations at the CorvallisCountry Club. He received abachelor’s degree in speechcommunications from OSU.

The foundation also has ap-pointed Kelley Marchbanks asdirector of development for theCollege of Veterinary Medicine.She worked as development offi-cer for the University of Missourifor four years. She previously wascoordinator of constituent rela-tions at the Mizzo Alumni Associ-ation, and was program managerof the Girl Scout Council ofGreater St. Louis.

Jenny Smrekar is the new as-sociate director for annual givingprograms, and director of thePresident’s Circle. She previouslywas director of development andcommunications of the Girls’School of Austin. Before, that shewas director of individual givingof the California College of theArts. She received a bachelor’sdegree from OSU, and a master’sdegree from the Heinz School ofPublic Policy and Management atCarnegie Mellon University.

GradyGoodallhas been chosenas associate director of develop-ment for the College of Business.Heworked for the foundation the pastyear as interim gift-planning associ-ate.He previously served as coordi-nator of government and communi-ty relations and director of advance-ment at Eastern Oregon University.

Wednesday: Department ofState Lands Unclaimed PropertyReporting Seminar for businessesand organizations.Time: 8:30 a.m.to noon, State Lands Building, LandBoard Room, 775 Summer St. N.E.,Salem. Free (preregistration re-quired). Info: 503-986-5290 or on-line at www.oregonstatelands.us.

Wednesday: : Albany Area Cham-ber of Commerce Membership Fo-rum.Speaker: Rick Kenyon,presi-dent/CEO,Selmet.Time: 11:30 a.m.to 1 p.m.,Linn County Fair & ExpoCenter,3700 Knox Butte Rd.,Al-bany.Cost: $13 members; $20guests. Info: 541-926-1517.

Thursday: Albany Kiwanis Lun-cheon: “What’s Happening In theWorld of Big Retail Stores In Ore-gon and the USA”. Speaker: BrentWiest, General Manager, TargetDistribution Center, Albany. Time:Noon, Pop’s Branding IronRestaurant, 901 Pacific Blvd. S.E.,Albany. Info: 541-223-1247.

Friday: Albany Area Chamberof Commerce Golf Tournament,sponsored by ATI Wah Chang.Time: 7 a.m. registration; 8 a.m.shotgun start, Spring Hill Coun-try Club, 155 Country Club LaneN.W., Albany. Cost: $135 per-

son/$675. Info: 541-926-1517.Saturday: Forklift safety train-

ing, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., room IC-106,Industrial C Building, Linn-Ben-ton Community College, 6500Pacific Blvd. S.W.,Albany. Cost:$149, which includes all materi-als. Registration: LBCC Businessand Employer Services, 541-917-4923.

June 6: Dairy Goat Field Day, 10a.m. to 4 p.m., Fraga Farm, 28580Pleasant Valley Road, SweetHome. Focusing on small-scalegoat dairying and cheese-making.Cost: $50 per person or $75 for acouple registering together andsharing resource materials. Infor-mation: 541-766-3556. Registra-tion: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/smallfarms/events.

June 6: Albany Area Chamberof Commerce Women in BusinessLuncheon: “The Women of Mo-rocco.” Speaker: Rita Cavin, presi-dent emeritus, Linn-BentonCommunity College. Time: 11:45a.m., Phoenix Inn Suites, 3410Spicer Drive S.E., Albany. Cost:$15 members; $20 non-mem-bers. Info: 541-926-1517.

June 7: Albany Kiwanis Lun-cheon: “What’s New at Albany

Boys and Girls Club? Progress onNew Expansions and Construc-tion Plans.” Speaker: RyanGraves, director Boys and GirlsClub of Albany. Time: Noon, Pop’sBranding Iron, 901 Pacific Blvd.S.E., Albany. Info: 541-223-1247.

June 12: Lebanon Area Cham-ber of Commerce Women in Busi-ness. Speaker: Dawn McNannay.Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.,Bing’s Kitchen, 2416 S. SantiamHighway, Lebanon. Cost: $12.Info: 541-258-7164.

June 13:Society of Human Re-source Management monthlychapter membership breakfast.

“Social Media Strategies – Are YouPart of the Conversation”.Speaker:Thea Albright,Marketing Manager,NWCommunity Credit Union.Time:7:30 to 9 a.m.,Allann Bros.,1852Fescue St.S.E.,Albany.Cost: Free tomembers; $15 non members. Info:diamondbluerose@centurytel.net.

June 13 and 14: 2012 OregonBrownfields Conference andAwards Luncheon, DoubleTreeHotel, Portland. A learning andnetworking opportunity for thoseworking to make contaminatedproperties economically viablefor reuse. Cost: $250. Registra-tion: www.ettend.com/id=2303.

MID-VALLEY InBusinessMay 2012 A7

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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.

April 2011 April 2012March 2012

9.5

6.2

11.6

8.2 8.6

5.8

10.6

8.1 8.5

5.7

10.59.0

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

April 2012 April 2011 April 2012 April 2011

Albany 409 462 155,093 153,365N. Albany 106 117 224,411 241,788Brownsville 17 25 187,282 153,758Corvallis 500 459 273,977 280,929

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

April 2012 April 2011 April 2012 April 2011

Independence 65 49 152,638 219,977

Jefferson 49 55 199,188 196,512

Lebanon 288 302 129,691 151,739

Philomath 77 81 246,507 237,830

Sweet Home 134 125 124,786 115,944

Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service

Source: Oregon Employment Department April ’12 March ’12 April ’11 March ‘12 April ’11

April ’12 March ’12 April ’11 March ‘12 April ’11

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

145,169

247,877

325

300

275

250

225

200

175

150

125

Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service

Mining, logging and construction 1,160 1,110 1,160 50 0

Manufacturing 3,210 3,200 3,260 10 -50

Trade, transportation and utilities 4,280 4,280 4,440 0 -160

Information 770 770 780 0 -10

Financial activities 1,360 1,360 1,370 0 -10

Professional and business services 3,710 3,680 3,710 30 -70

Educational and health services 5,670 5,700 5,710 -30 -40

Leisure and hospitality 3,090 3,110 3,490 -20 -400

Other services 1,200 1,190 1,200 10 0

Federal government 560 550 590 10 -30

State government 10,220 10,370 10,040 -150 180

Local government 2,820 2,850 2,870 -30 -50

Total nonfarm payroll employment 38,050 38,170 38,690 -120 -640

Mining, logging and construction 1,900 1,880 2,050 20 -150

Manufacturing 6,590 6,540 6,650 50 -60

Trade, transportation and utilities 8,500 8,390 8,390 110 110

Information 350 360 370 -10 -20

Financial activities 1,250 1,250 1,210 0 40

Professional and business services 3,120 3,070 3,160 50 -40

Educational and health services 4,940 4,920 4,860 20 80

Leisure and hospitality 3,040 2,980 3,100 60 -60

Other services 1,300 1,290 1,330 10 -30

Federal government 330 330 330 0 0

State government 1,170 1,170 1,230 0 -60

Local government 5,850 5,890 6,300 -40 -450

Total nonfarm payroll employment 30,990 30,680 31,120 310 -130

Benton County

Linn County

BUSINESS DATA

191,847

MOVERS&SHAKERS

Horsey

Sanderson