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Lesbian real estate agent receives business award by Timothy Krause
eborah Betron has been se
lected as the Portland Area
Business Association’s second
annual Commitment to Our
Community Award winner.
The special recognition honors those in
the business sector who are visible in,
involved with and consistently supportive
to the gay and lesbian community.
“It means a lot to me to be acknowledged
not only as an exemplary model of business
ethics but also as a committed advocate for
our community,” says Betron, the 58-year-old
owner and president of Bridgetown Realty.
Connecting with other businesses in the
gay and iesbian community always has been
a priority for her. In fact, she was one of the
three original founders of PABA in 1992.
Betron says the organization offers a
venue where queer business owners can
meet each other and share their experiences.
She sees networking within the gay and les
bian community as a particular advantage.
“You have a choice,” Betron explains
with zeal. “W ith every dollar you spend,
you have a choice. Yet, over and over
again, people call up just any old company with
an ad in the paper, when instead you can call up
somebody in the community.”
Betron wonders why people would want to
patronize businesses without knowing whether
they are supportive of the gay and lesbian
community.
“Yet, that’s what you do when you pick up
the phone and call somebody you don’t know,”
she says, “someone who could be diametrically
opposed in political philosophy and, even worse,
giving money to organizations that oppose us.”
Betron’s business savvy surfaced from a long
history of working in diverse communities. She
D
"With every dollar you spend,
you have a choice. Yet, over and
over again, people call up just any
old company with an ad in the
paper, m ien instead you can call
up somebody in the community."
— Deborah Betron
moved to the Portland area from California,
where she put her fluent Spanish language skills
to work at a rural agency that addressed poverty,
affirmative action and job training. After success
fully taking the helm of the agency’s floundering
bus company, she found a new route for her career.
“I didn’t come out of school saying I wanted
to be in business,” Betron confesses, “but the bus
company— and my ability to change its direction
and get it going—was a fuse that ignited me.”
Once in the Northwest, Betron found fur
ther inspiration from the real estate agent who
found her a home. She recognized real estate as
a career that would let her be her own boss.
She saw an opportunity for the indepen
dence and flexibility she had been wanting. In
1976, her business focus shifted from social serv
ices to selling houses.
Three years later, Betron founded Bridge
town Realty as a one-woman office working out
of her home. Despite a sour economy at the
time, her company slowly grew.
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Today, with more than 25 agents, Bridge
town Realty is the largest woman-owned realty
company in the Portland market. Betron attrib
utes much of this success to her employees, who
share her priorities of diversity, tolerance, coop
eration and teamwork.
The public’s perception of the real estate
industry, on the other hand, remains a signifi
cant challenge for this business owner. W ithin
PABA, in the business community and among
her clients, Betron strives to enhance the image
of real estate agents as professionals.
“There’s a tendency toward thinking that our
time is not as valuable as a lawyer who clicks the
clock as soon as you start talking,” she notes.
“But we are incredibly needed to make a trans
action go right. It’s seeing the forest for the trees,
and that’s what a good Realtor takes care of.”
W ith the same tenacity, Betron has worked
to increase the recognition of sexual minorities
as part of the larger community. And, over time,
she has played many roles.
Although both she and her staff have sup
ported a wide spectrum of causes through dona
tions and volunteering, Betron also has spoken
to a variety of traditional service organizations,
such as the Rotary Club and the Elks. She has
made an effort to reach out into communities
where gays and lesbians are less visible.
“Most people know I feel very proud to be
a successful lesbian entrepreneur,” Betron
says, “but I also feel good that, through the
years, through the battles with Lon Mabon
and the awful ballot measures, I have spread
the w ord...that we are your neighbors, your
family, your co-workers and that we are good
people. ” j n
Serving Oregon &
on approved credit
51V Washington
C all N o w ! 503-590-4333
Salem 503-362-1643
www.budgetblmds.com
4;
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p i
■ ■
The second annual C ommitment to O ur
C ommunity A wards D inner will start 6 p.m .
Feb. 21 at the DoubleTree Hotel Lloyd Center.
For details call 503*241-2222 or visit the Internet
site w w w .paha.com .
B ridgetown R ealty , located at 1000 N E
M ultnom ah S t . , can be reached at 503*287*9370
or www.bridgetownrealty.com .
T1MOTHY KRAUSE is a writer and editor
living in Portland. H e can be reached at
tim kra@ m illenicom . com .
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