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Multiple Portland companies plan to move out of downtown office spaces because ongoing BLM protests have made the area 'unsafe'
 [Daily Mail, Where America Gets Its News] A number of companies based in downtown Portland are set to vacate or sell their offices because on-going protests in the city against police brutality have led to 'unsafe' conditions in the area, reports suggest.Activists have taken to the city streets for the last 82 consecutive nights to demonstrate under the banner of Black Lives Matter, but some of the rallies have descended into chaos, resulting in The protests were spurred by the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, and other examples of cop brutality across the US. But businesses in the area now say the perpetual disruptions have caused ’unsafe conditions’ in the neighborhood — and they want out. Standard Insurance, whose headquarters at 900 SW 5th Avenue is a key part of downtown Portland’s cityscape, have removed the last of their 2,100 employees from the center and have relocated them to their office in Hillsboro. ’Our downtown properties have sustained significant vandalism and a number of employees and contractors have been assaulted in recent months,’ Standard Insurance's community relations senior director Bob Speltz told KGW. In the long-term, Standard Insurance says it’s exploring more permanent remote and alternative work options. Speltz says the removal of its workforce from the area is likely temporary but he’s unsure how many workers will return to the company’s downtown locations.
 The majority of its 2,100 workers had already been working from because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Speltz said.’We remain committed to the downtown core,’ Speltz continued, ’assuming conditions in the neighborhood improve.’ While the future of Standard’s Portland buildings remain unclear, numerous business owners in the area spoke out last month about how they were losing massive amounts of money due to the demonstrations and may also have to consider relocating. The protests, combined with the pandemic, was found to have caused several million dollars in either damage or lost revenue, a survey administered by the Portland Business Alliance found. One of the responding businesses reported losses of more than $20 million alone. The company wasn't named in the findings, however the staggering number is said to still be growing. 'The financial consequences to the downtown corridor are a running calculation that is almost impossible to wrap your mind around. The financial impacts of physical damage is one thing, and that continues to increase,' the organization’s president and CEO, Andrew Hoan, said in July. 'Then the ongoing loss of revenue to the business community who cannot operate their places of businesses is also a number that continues to rise.' Business owners said the continued festivities in the city, particularly in front of the federal courthouse, are affecting profits and their sense of safety. 'Safety-wise, we’re just concerned. Our employees are a little bit nervous being here, especially later in the evenings. We try to have extra people just to make sure that everybody is safe and feels comfortable,' Stacey Gibson, a Subway franchise owner, told KATU. Posted by: Fred 2020-08-19 |
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