July
2010 Newsletter
Top
Stories
1. From the Chair: A new year and a new mission
2. Alliance
welcomes new board leadership
3. Top
economists speak on the state of region's economy
4.
Help shape future Forum topics: take this
short survey!
5.
Tell us your sustainable business story!
6.
New
city website provides numerous resources for small business
Public
Policy
7. Alliance supports a balanced approach
to development on West Hayden Island
8.
Important changes to water and sewer rates
Downtown
9. Pedestrian traffic downtown increases over
the past two years
10.
Alliance supports new 'Compassion Coupon' to
help downtown's homeless
11.
Alliance comments on Central City 2035 Plan
12.
Clean & Safe officer receives medal from
Portland Police Bureau
Membership
13.
New EMERGE event series connects emerging
and established business leaders
14.
Alliance announces women's golf scramble
winners
15. Leadership Portland graduation celebrates
community achievements
16.
Alliance benefit partner - Office Depot
- saves you money
Member
News
17. Call for entries: 2010 family business
photo contest
18.
Wells Fargo named the number one lender
for third straight year
19. Vigilant comments
on the final credit check rules released in Oregon
20. Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf
furthers sustainability efforts
21. Choose Local VISA supports
Portland Schools Foundation
22. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services presentation on the E-Verify system
23. Regional Arts & Culture Council
seeks proposals for artistic projects
24. PGE named winner of 2010 Edison
Award, electric industry's most prestigious honor
25. Umpqua Private Bank top corporate
sponsor for Portland Center Stage's 2010/11 Season
26. Portland Fashion Week, SolarWorld
join in green fashion showcase
27.
Upcoming meetings
FROM
THE CHAIR
1. A
new year and a new mission
 By
Roger Hinshaw, Chair,
Alliance Board of Directors
This month,
the Portland Business Alliance starts its new fiscal year.
With this comes a new set of officers, including myself, the
incoming chair of the board. I am honored to have the opportunity
to lead the region's premiere business advocacy organization,
which represents all our members in issues critical to local
economic vitality.
Of particular
note, this year the Alliance is launching a new vision, mission
and set of goals that will guide us through the next several
years. Over the last 18 months, as we saw the unemployment
rate in the region climb unacceptably high, it became clear
that our long-standing broad vision - "Our community is one
of the most prosperous and livable in the world" - needed
more focus on our role as advocates for private sector job
creation.
With that
in mind, we developed a new Alliance vision that states: "Every
Portland-region resident has opportunity for a good job and
a quality education."
To support
this new vision, we also created an updated mission statement
for the Alliance that better communicates our commitment to
this vision: "The mission of the Portland Business Alliance
is to promote and foster an environment in the Portland region
that attracts, supports and retains private sector jobs, spurs
economic vitality and enables quality educational opportunities
for the region's residents."
The board
feels that this new mission statement serves as the basis
for our advocacy and programming. Additionally, we established
a number of specific goals that are focused on private sector
job growth, education and overall economic vitality. You can
learn more about those goals here.
Last year,
board chair Charles Wilhoite initiated this focus on job creation
and supporting small business growth. We worked together closely
during his term so I could carry those initiatives forward
- and the launch of our new vision, mission and goals does
just that.
In the
coming months, you are also going to see the Alliance and
our partner organizations talking a lot more about the region
and state's economic situation and specific benchmarks that
we need to be meeting in order to achieve our goals. We'll
be reaching out to a broad group of community stakeholders
and talking about how economic and community health - including
the many government services such as education and public
safety - all come from private sector, family-wage jobs.
While
there are a lot of challenges to take on in the next year,
I've been looking forward to my term as chair to collaborate
with all of you and our many community partners to develop
new ideas and solutions. Together, we can continue making
a difference.
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2.
Alliance welcomes new board leadership
The
Alliance's 2009-2010 fiscal year is drawing to a close,
which means a new set of officers for the new year, which
starts July 1. The rest of the Alliance board will also
see some changes as several board members are retiring and
new board members are joining the Alliance board.
The
new officer slate for this year includes:
-
Chair:
Roger Hinshaw, Bank of America
-
Chair
Elect: J.E. Isaac, Portland Trail Blazers
-
Chair
Emeritus: Charles Wilhoite, Willamette Management
Associates
-
Treasurer:
Dennis Rawlinson, Miller Nash LLP
-
Secretary:
Gregg Kantor, NW Natural
-
Vice
Chair for Downtown Services: Vanessa Sturgeon,
TMT Development
-
Vice
Chair for Marketing/Communications: Steve Clark,
Portland Tribune & Community Newspapers
-
Vice
Chair for Membership: Julie Burnett, Liberty Northwest
-
Vice
Chair for Economic Development: Jim Mark,
Melvin Mark Companies
-
Vice
Chair for Government Relations: Jill Eiland, Intel
Corporation
-
Small
Business Representative: Debbie Kitchin, Interworks,
LLC.
-
PNITA
Representative: Julia Brim-Edwards, Nike
-
PDSI
Representative: Michelle Martin, Ashforth Pacific
-
Member-at-Large:
Sue Hennessy, Kaiser Permanente
-
Member-at-Large:
Carol Dillin, Portland General Electric
The
Alliance would like to welcome these new board members:
-
Chris
Anderson, The Oregonian
-
Dave
Anderton, Ernst & Young
-
Ron
Beltz, American Pacific International Capital Property
Mgt.
-
Tracie
Murphy, ODS Companies
And
thanks to these retiring board members for their untiring
service to the Alliance and Portland's business community:
-
Clayton
Hering, Norris, Beggs & Simpson
-
Steve
Holwerda, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management
-
Jim
Jeddeloh, Dynamic Consulting, Inc.
-
Philip
Kalberer, Kalberer Company
-
Wayne
Kingsley, American Waterways, Inc.
-
John
Russell, Russell Development Co., Inc.
3.
Top economists speak on the state of region's economy
At
the Portland Business Alliance's breakfast Forum on June
16, three top economists gave their view on the state
of the region's economy. Tim Duy, head of the University
of Oregon's Economic Forum, Tom Potiowsky, State of Oregon
Economist, and John Topogna, President of ECONorthwest,
all had informative opinions to share.
The
economists seemed to agree on two main points:
-
The
economy is recovering slowly; and
-
There
are still major flaws with Oregon's budget structure,
which have been causing economic challenges in this state
for years.
Duy
and Topagna pointed to the decline in personal income that
has occurred in the state during the past ten years. "When
you match declining personal incomes with growing state
services, you are going to constantly come up short," said
Duy.
Topagna
noted that if we no longer have the income levels we had
in the 1990s, then we should rethink how we deliver public
services and look at Idaho as a model as opposed to Washington
State in terms of services provided.
All
three economists also pointed to Oregon's tradition of coming
out of recessions later than the rest of the country so
we should brace ourselves for several years of financial
hurdles.
4.
Help shape future Forum topics: take
this short survey!
The
Alliance is working on putting together
an exciting and educational Forum series
for the coming year. After a two-month
hiatus in July and August, Forums will
start again in September. The Alliance
is soliciting members' opinions on Forum
events with a survey. Take
survey now >>
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5.
Tell us your sustainable
business story!
Does
your business take extra
steps to be sustainable?
Or does your business
sell sustainable goods
or services? As part
of the Alliance's Sustainability
Committee initiative
to evaluate sustainable
needs and resources
within the Alliance
membership, the committee
is conducing a short
survey and would appreciate
your response.
The
survey data may be used
to:
-
Showcase
case studies and champion positive examples of sustainability
in business;
-
Inform
members about new sustainable initiatives, regulations,
policies, technologies and innovations;
-
Connect
businesses with sustainability needs to businesses with
sustainability resources;
-
Create
and distribute a sustainability resource guide to membership;
and
-
Facilitate
sustainability training, mentoring programs, partnerships
and educational forums for members.
So
if you have not already
taken the survey, which
was emailed to members,
please click on the
link below and tell
us your sustainable
business story!
Take
the survey >>
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6.
New
city website provides
numerous resources
for small business
Recently,
the Small Business
Council gave input
on a new website,
www.portland4biz.com,
that the City
of Portland has
developed to help
small businesses
connect with the
resources they
need to grow.
That website was
launched the end
of June.
The
Alliance encourages
members to list
themselves on
the PDX Business
Connect page of
the website as
another opportunity
to increase visibility
and business opportunities.
If
you are interested
in getting involved
with the Small
Business Council,
the next meeting
will be on September
15.
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7.
Alliance supports a balanced approach to development on West
Hayden Island
To
achieve job growth objectives, the City of Portland has identified
the need for an additional 650 acres of industrial land. These
industrial acres will be needed even if the city is able to
bring a significant portion of brownfields back into use.
The
Alliance believes that annexing and zoning a portion of West
Hayden Island for industrial use would help address the region's
industrial land shortage while also establishing environmental
resource protection levels. In 1983, an 800-acre parcel on
West Hayden Island was added to the region's urban growth
boundary for marine industrial purposes.
The
Port of Portland currently has an intergovernmental agreement
with the City of Portland that provides the framework for
discussions about the future of West Hayden Island. The port
and the city have jointly sponsored a task force that is looking
at the potential for industrial development on the port-owned
property on the island.
The
Alliance believes that annexation of West Hayden Island is
a decision that will help build a healthy economy, as it will
increase our supply of industrial land, help to lay the foundation
for growing living wage jobs within the city limits and retain
Portland's role as an international gateway city.
West
Hayden Island Letter >>
8.
Important changes to water and sewer rates
In
its comments about the City of Portland's 2010-2011 budget,
the Alliance expressed concerns about increases in the
city's water rates. Ultimately, Portland City Council
approved water rate increases of 12 percent and sewer
and storm water rate increases of 6.4 percent. These increases
come on top of steadily increasing rates over the past
decade. At the same time, questions have been raised about
the expenditure of rate-generated funds on non-utility
programs. Currently, the Sewer Bureau is developing a
tiered system of strength-based rates for commercial and
industrial customers that could increase costs for small
commercial and industrial users.
DOWNTOWN
SERVICES
9.
Pedestrian traffic downtown increases over the past two years
Downtown
Portland continues to be a bustling hub, according to pedestrian
counts conducted in mid-June. Despite the delayed summer sunshine,
most intersections showed a significant increase in numbers
compared to June 2009 and 2008. The year-over-year increase
in pedestrians downtown is encouraging for summer sales as
well as the commercial real estate industry, which uses the
research for development and investment purposes.
The
counts were conducted on June 17, 18 and 19 at 15 intersections
downtown. The
full report can be viewed on the Alliance website >>
The
corners with the greatest increase were:
- SW
3rd and Clay - 92 percent increase over June 2009
- SW
5th and Morrison - 59 percent increase over June 2009
- SW
5th and Couch - 57 percent increase over June 2009
- SW
6th and Taylor - 66 percent increase over June 2009
The
increase can be attributed to a number of factors such as
the completion of the new Transit Mall to include the Green
Line MAX and the relocation of other transit stops, new retailers
and a number of events happening downtown during the dates
the counts were conducted.
The
pedestrian counts are conducted twice a year (in June and
December) by the Portland Business Alliance on behalf of Portland
Downtown Services Inc. (PDSI). Downtown property owners in
the 213-block Business Improvement District fund the program.
10.
Alliance supports new 'Compassion Coupon'
to help downtown's homeless
Thanks
to a partnership between the City of Portland,
the Alliance and New Avenues for Youth,
there is a new way to help individuals suffering
with homelessness. The 'Compassion Coupon'
was developed at the request of the city
to roll out in conjunction with the city's
larger Sidewalk Management Plan. The Compassion
Coupon program will run from July through
September.
The
program encourages Portland-area residents
to print off online coupons and bring them
into participating downtown stores and restaurants.
For each Compassion Coupon redeemed, $5
will be donated to New Avenues to fund a
Masters Level Caseworker who will lead their
Road Warrior program. The Alliance, through
its Charitable Trust and the Kevin Montgomery
Smith Fund pledged $10,000 toward this effort.
For
a list of the participating 35 downtown
restaurants and retailers (plus SmartPark),
please visit the Compassion Coupon website:
www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=414622506522.
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11.
Alliance comments on Central City 2035 Plan
The
City of Portland is developing the Central City 2035 Plan,
which seeks to identify critical investments that will continue
to grow the city's business and employment base. Because the
central city's job growth has been stagnant for five years,
the Alliance believes the plan must address the barriers to
economic investment and job growth.
The
Alliance feels it is critical that the plan:
- Supports
the city's Economic Development Strategy;
- Addresses
critical transportation issues related to parking management
and the entry and exit points of the central city; and
- Include
a broad spectrum of representatives and stakeholders.
Metro's
population modeling anticipates considerable growth over the
next 20 years and the central city in particular will absorb
a higher percentage of residential and employment growth than
it has in the past. The Alliance supports an approach that
successfully balances land use, transportation access and
mobility issues as well as previous planning work in order
to position the central city for future growth and economic
prosperity.
Central
City Plan Letter >>
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12.
Clean & Safe officer receives medal from Portland Police
Bureau
 Clean
& Safe officer, Jim Bare, received a Unit Commendation Medal
in June from the Portland Police Bureau for his untiring
service to downtown safety. Bare served with the Portland
Police Bureau for 29 years and, after retiring from the
bureau, has been working as an armed security officer with
the Clean & Safe crew for the last 12 years.
Due
to Bare's vast knowledge of various issues downtown, he
has been very instrumental in helping the Portland Police
Bureau's Service Coordination Team (SCT) in addressing chronic
public safety issues in Portland's Downtown/Old Town neighborhoods.
According to the Portland Police Bureau, the Unit Commendation
Medal is awarded to a group that serves the community, according
to a set of specific criteria. The SCT won the Unit Commendation
Medal from the Portland Police Bureau, and Bare was included
in that group due to his service to downtown and the SCT
initiatives in particular.
The
SCT's goal is to reduce the incidence of crime in the central
city by offering drug treatment as an alternative to cycling
habitual offenders through the criminal justice system without
sanction and without addressing the underlying cause of
their criminal behavior.
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MEMBERSHIP
SERVICES
13.
New EMERGE event series connects emerging and established
business leaders
During
June's EMERGE Exclusive event, Russ Danielson, CEO of Providence,
shared insight about the heath care industry, diversity and
what factors have shaped his career. Emerging and established
business and civic leaders who attended the event got the
chance to ask Danielson questions and network together.
 The
next EMERGE Exclusive will be with restaurant owner, Bruce
Carey. Carey owns Bluehour, Saucebox, 23Hoyt and Clarklewis.
Come hear about Carey's exciting career as a restauranteur!
When:
Thursday, July 29 from 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Where: Bluehour
- 250 NW 13th Avenue
To
learn more about EMERGE >>
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14.
Alliance announces women's golf scramble winners
Tournament winners Chrys Martin, Kathy Prosser,
Cynthia Potwin and Debbie Underwood.
Almost
40 women business, civic and nonprofit leaders enjoyed nice
weather and golfing on June 25 at the Women's Nine Hole Scramble.
Participants had a great time seeing old friends and meeting
new ones, and quite a few people won awards!
The Long
Drive Winner was Robyn Belozer, from the Nurses Association.
Kathy Prosser from Mercer won the award for Closest to the
Pin. Below are the third through first place winners:
First
place:
- Chrys
Martin, from Bullivant Houser Bailey
- Kathy
Prosser, from Mercer
- Cynthia
Potwin, from Bullivant Houser Bailey
- Debbie
Underwood, from Bullivant Houser Bailey
Second
place:
- Kristen
Dozono, from Azumano Travel
- Anne
DeRock, from Spirit Media
- Kari
Gregerson, from Foundation Bank
Third
place:
- Pam
Knowles, from the Oregon Zoo Foundation
- Cathy
Mincberg, from KC Distance Learning
- Traci
Broughton, from Cannonball Art Studio
- Brenda
Falash, from the Portland Business Alliance
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15. Leadership
Portland graduation celebrates community achievements
Alliance board member Donald Kramher Jr., LP
graduate Matt Reed and
Alliance board member Jill Eiland celebrate the graduating
Leadership Portland class.
The Alliance's
largest Leadership Portland class recently celebrated its
graduation with a ceremony hosted by NW Natural. The main
focus of the graduation was the participants' Community Impact
Project presentations.
The 10
Community Impact teams have made tremendous contributions
around the region working with nonprofit organizations on
everything from obesity and access to fresh food to economic
development and the arts. One team project was recently featured
in The Portland Business Journal. The project team, in coordination
with the Lloyd Transportation Management Association, helped
develop and install 54 covered bike parking spots at the Doubletree
Hotel Portland near the Lloyd Center MAX.
The graduation
also featured Debra J. Ringold, Dean and JELD-WEB Professor
of Free Enterprise from Willamette University's Atkinson Graduate
School of Management. Willamette's Professional MBA program
is Leadership Portland's presenting sponsor. Classmate Tom
Fletcher, Vice President of Corporate Partnerships for the
Portland Trail Blazers, was elected as this year's class speaker.
Next year's
class will be announced in next month's issue. Stay tuned!
More
about Leadership Portland >>
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16. Alliance
benefit partner - Office Depot - saves you money
Let your
Portland Business Alliance membership work for you by taking
advantage of the Office Depot discount program!
Through
this partnership, Alliance members will receive:
- FREE
next day delivery with no minimum order with four convenient
ways to place orders (toll free number, fax, online or at
any retail location);
- Significant
savings (as much as 67 percent) on some of the most-used
office supplies;
- At
least 10 percent off items from Office Depot's main
catalog; and
- Discounts
available on furniture and technology by request.
Sign
up today >>
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MEMBER
NEWS
17.
Call for entries: 2010 family business photo contest
Do you
have a fun photo of your family's business? The Austin Family
Business Program, through the College of Business at Oregon
State University, will award three photos with a judges' award
and one photo with a people's choice award. Oregon State Fair
attendees will decide which photo will receive the people's
choice award. All winners will be announced at the 2010 Oregon
State Fair. More
Information >>
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18.
Wells Fargo named the number one lender for third straight
year
The Small
Business Administration recently named Wells Fargo the number-one
leader (dollar volume) for Oregon and Southwest Washington
for the third straight year. Additionally, Wells Fargo contributed
to the community in a number of ways last year, including
64,779 hours for more than 480 nonprofit groups and schools,
which is a 70 percent increase in volunteer hours over 2008.
More
on Wells Fargo's Corporate Social Responsibility >>
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19.
Vigilant comments on the final credit check rules released
in Oregon
Vigilant,
a company specializing in employment law, recently wrote an
article on the credit check rule released by the Bureau of
Labor and Industries. The article explains the news rules
and provides tips for employers who want to run a credit check
on current or prospective employees. Read
the Full Article >>
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20.
Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf furthers sustainability
efforts
Markowitz,
Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf, a boutique litigation law firm,
announced in June that it has increased its commitment to
sustainable business practices by purchasing Renewable Energy
Certificates from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation
for 2010. Markowitz Herbold's purchase supports enough clean
energy to power 14 homes for one year and help keep at least
129 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
More
on Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf >>
More on the
Bonneville Environmental Foundation >>
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21.
Choose Local VISA supports Portland Schools Foundation
Choose
Local is an Oregon based loyalty card program that promotes
locally owned businesses, while encouraging everyone to buy
locally. When the Choose Local VISA is used, 50 percent of
the net transaction fees are donated to the Portland Schools
Foundation, which will forward these monies to Schools Uniting
Neighborhoods, and the Summer Youth Connect. Help support
local programs that are dedicated to improving youth success
and increasing high school graduation rates by using a Choose
Local VISA! Visit www.chooselocalvisa.com
for more information.
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22.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services presentation on
the E-Verify system
U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS), in conjunction with the
Social Security Administration, provides an Internet-based
system, E-Verify, that allows businesses to determine the
eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
On July 9, USCIS will host a presentation on E-Verify from
1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the federal building
at 911 N.E. 9th. For more information, contact Ed Sale at
ed.sale@dhs.gov
or 503-326-2807. More
on E-Verify >>
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23.
Regional Arts & Culture Council seeks proposals for artistic
projects
The Regional
Arts & Culture Council (RACC) invites nonprofit organizations
and individual artists in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas
Counties to submit proposals for artistic projects and cultural
events planned for calendar year 2011. "Intent to Apply" forms
must be submitted online - http://racc.org/GrantsOnline
- by 5:00 p.m. on August 4, 2010. More
information >>
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24. PGE
named winner of 2010 Edison Award, electric industry's most
prestigious honor
Portland
General Electric has won the 2010 Edison Award, which recognizes
outstanding leadership and exceptional contributions to the
industry. PGE received the award in recognition of the company's
completion of a fish intake and bypass project at its Pelton
Round Butte Hydroelectric dam. The project, completed in agreement
with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation
of Oregon, is the only known floating surface fish collection
facility coupled with power generation in the world. To learn
more about Pelton Round Butte and the award-winning project,
visit www.deschutespassage.com.
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25. Umpqua
Private Bank is the top corporate sponsor for Portland Center
Stage's 2010/11 Season
Umpqua
Private Bank, a division of Umpqua Bank, has joined Portland
Center State in demonstrating that "art is good business"
by becoming the organization's top corporate sponsor. The
Presenting Sponsorship will underwrite three 2010/2011 season
productions and expand opportunities for both organizations
to engage with the community and contribute to the larger
cultural conversation of Portland. The gift is the largest
corporate gift to Portland Center Stage in the past two seasons.
Read more about Umpqua and Portland Center Stage >>
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26. Portland
Fashion Week, SolarWorld join in green fashion showcase
Models
in the 2010 Portland Fashion Week in October will walk a runway
composed of SolarWorld's chic, new, black high-performance
solar panels, spotlighting sustainable development of two
of the world's biggest industries - fashion and energy. Portland
Fashion Week will feature the solar runway in launching spring-summer
2011 collections during its seventh annual event from October
6 to 10, 2010, in Portland.
More
Information >>
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27. Upcoming
Meetings
July
9, President's Council, noon
July 9, Golf Scramble Committee, 8 a.m.
July 13, Transportation Committee, noon
July 14, Sustainability Committee, 7:30 a.m.
July 21, Small Business Council, 4 p.m.
July 28, Public Policy Committee, 8 a.m.
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