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T he P ortland O bserver • N ovember IO, 1993
P age B3
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PGE Employees Trying To Enrich Education One School At A Time
Portland General Electric Co.
(PGE) is planting several seeds to
improve public education one school
at a time. Franklin High School in
southeast Portland and Ockley Green
Middle School in north Portland are
two of six schools selected by PGE to
participate in its new educational out
reach pilot program called One School
at a Time. Embracing a holistic ap
proach, the program will focus on
blanketing students, teachers and par
ents with many resources—from pro
viding volunteer readers and assis
tance with other tutorial programs to
coordinating student internship op
portunities.
needed to support their children’s
Employees nominated 29 schools
education. PGE would provide fund
from PGE’s service territory to be a
ing for skilled non-profit groups to
part of the program. Of those, six were
conduct workshops.
selected as part of the pilot, but the
number of participants is likely to • Special program s like Junior
Achievement, Birds of Prey energy
increase each year. Teachers and ad
and environmental awareness pro
ministrators at Franklin High and
gram, hydro plant tours, Stop Or
Ockley Green Middle schools will
egon Litter and Vandalism (SOLV)
suggest ways that PGE can help. As
and others.
sistance could include:
While some of these ideas are not
• Employee volunteers to help tutor
new,
what is different is PGE’s ap
reading.
• Teacher workshops and resources proach.
“In the past, we’ve had a lot of
such as learning kits, videos, tours
good
program s, but now they are more
and classroom programs.
targeted
to meeting the needs that our
• Workshops to help parents develop
understanding, confidence and skills employees and the schools say they
have,” says Kathy Carlson, PGECom-
munity Resources Manager. “This
program is also intended to be a sus-
tainable e ffo rt-d ire c te d at each
school’s individual needs and driven
by PGE employees with company sup-
port year after year.”
“The employees behind the One
School at a Time very often have
children who attend the targeted
schools and they are very involved in
school activities,” adds Carlson. “In
other words, they have a pretty good
idea of their schools’ needs and can
act as the go-between in getting the
right resources to meet those specific
needs.”
Portland Schools’ Superintendent nesses," says Fred M iller, PGE
Jack Bierwirth is pleased with One Vice president o f Public Affairs.
School at a Time, as well as happy “ Besides that, nothing is more im
portant than kids, and we want to
about the trend.
“All of us realize that it is up to m arshal dollars to our m ost im
everyone to make a dillerence in the portant resource. One School at a
schools and in our community,” says Time is a good way for us to do
Bierwirth. “PGE, the company and th at,” adds M iller.
O ther schools selected for the
the people that work for it, are clearly
a part of that future and part of making program include John W etten E l
em entary School in G ladstone,
that difference,” he adds,
“One School at a Time is a Edwards Elem entary School in
good program for PGE because, Newberg, H ighland Elem entary
historically, company employees School in G resham , and Bethany
have been enthusiastic volunteers Elem entary School in B eaverton.
and because this program could
serve as a model for other busi-
US West Solutions For Common Small Business Problems
(A Portland Observer Exclusive)
Small businesses can harness the
power of US West’s network to pro
vide better customer service and oper
ate more efficiently.
Business Voice Messaging Ser
vice has proven very popular with
business people throughout US West’s
14 states, with over 100,000 users of
the sendee. It is now available in
Portland.
Most small business owners say
Business Voice Messaging is a prac
tical way to link up with other people.
Studies show 65 percent of business
people spend up to tw o hours a w eek
just trying to reach others on the
phone, and 75 percent of callers ac
complish nothing on the first try.
reaching a busy signal or leaving a
call - back message.
Two - thirds of business calls are
considered less important than the
w ork they interrupt, and half involve
only the one-way transfer of informa
tion. For a small firm with a mini
mum staff, the cost of time spent in
unproductive business communica
tions is dear
US West Business Voice Mes
saging eliminates busy signals by
answering incoiningcalls--even more
than one at a time — when the phone
is in use or can’t be answered. It
reduces “telephone tag” and controls
business interruptions, allowing mes
sages to be retrieved, w hen time per
mits, from any touchtone phone.
Because US West Business Voice
Messaging responds to callers with
the business persons’ own voice, it
enhances the image of the business
while making sure important mes
sages aren’t missed. These capabili
ties give a real advantage to small
businesses and can even be “deal
saving” to the one-person office.
Callerl.D. service has also proven
popular to help small businesses run
better by allowing them to take ad
vantage of new technology at an af
fordable price.
With US West Caller ID. the
business can identify who’s calling
before ever picking up the phone, and
is a way to efficiently screen and
prioritize calls as well as personally
greet customers.
Know ing who is on the line be
fore answering helps polish the busi
ness image; the business owner can
giv e a more personal level of cus
tomer service. If it’s a expected call,
the owner is prepared to reply as the
call is answered. Caller ID acts simi
lar to a receptionist.
When the call comes in, the name,
telephone number, date and time is
automatically stored in a special dis
play unit whether the call is answered
or not. Not only can the business
maintain a record of calls received,
the record allows returning missed
calls.
With US West Caller. ID. a small
business has an efficient, cost-effec
tive solution to improving customer
service and productivity through bet
ter management of business calls.
Caller ID saves time, helps manage
call volumes, provides a method to
screen calls and control interruptions,
improves overall business efficiency.
Caller I D. is available in most areas
for a monthly fee, and an additional
First Interstate Bank Launches
Community Advisory Council Program
In an extensive new program de
signed to closely analyze banking
needs in the communities it serves,
First Interstate Bank has announced it
will be forming 16 Community Advi
sory Councils in Oregon. The groups
will be part of a program of more than
40 co u n cils throughout F irst
Interstate’s Northwest Region which
includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho,
Montana and Alaska.
There are 168 First Interstate
Branches in Oregon.
“We believe that an important,
even vital, element to our continuing
success in the marketplace is our abil
ity to determine local needs, and to
review the match between our prod
ucts and those needs,” said Janice
Wilson, Area President.
The councils, made up from to
five to seven community members
Free Help For
Tax Returns
Scheduled
Help is available for Portland
Metro area people who want to make
a fresh start with their federal income
taxes.
Free assistance in preparing prior
year tax returns will be available at
four locations on Saturday, Novem
ber 13, from 10am to 4pm. They are
South-Clackamas County Library
(16201 S.E. McLoughlin Blvd.,Oak
Grove); East—Eastport Plaza, North-
-Portland Community College, Cas
cade Campus, Jackson Hall, Rooms
114& 115; and West-Bcaverton Mall.
IRS and volunteer professional
tax preparers will provide assistance
and prior year forms. This assistance
also includes obtaining prior year W-
2 (wage) and Form 1099 (interest and
dividend) information and in work
ing out installment agreements to pay
back taxes.
Take this opportunity to get right
with your government. You may even
have a refund coming!
For further information call 1-
800-TAX (829)-1040.
will include representatives from ar needs of the wide range of communi
eas such as housing, small business, ties we serve in Oregon and through
minority groups, economic develop out the Northwest.”
Potential council members are in
ment, and others.
the
process
of being contacted.
“While we expect some immedi
With
1,000
banking offices in 13
ate feedback when the councils begin
western
states,
First
Interstate Bank
work,” said Wilson, “This is just the
has
been
meeting
the
financial needs
first step of a long-term program to
of
Oregon
residents
since
being estab
help First Interstate increase its re
sponsiveness to the often unique local lished in 1865.
read out device is required. Call US
West for more information.
Ups and downs in business vol
ume creates numerous problems, es
pecially for the small business. Some
times are busy, some aren’t. So how
can a small business owner and man
ager plan telephone service to accom
modate the ups as well as the downs?
Cost is always a factor for small
business. Why pay for extra phone
lines you don’t need all the time? On
the other hand, can you risk losing
business if your customers can’t al
ways get through?
Is it worth having an extra line
for occasional fax or modem mes
sages, or do you just try to squeeze
them in on a regular business line
when one is available?
US West has responded to small
business managers’ concerns that they
need a way to expand and contract
their phone service with changes in
business activity. The need is a low
cost line for low' use applications.
The solution is US West Stand-
By Line, a new business line option
now available in Portland For less
than the price of a regular business
line, plus 3 cents per minute of use,
businesses can have Stand-By Line
ready and waiting to handle those
extra calls.
Stand-By Line is designed to meet
the needs of smaller busi ncsses to cost
effectively expand and contract their
telephone service according to call
ing volume. It is a regular basic ex
change line with metered billing ca
pability on incoming and outgoing
calls.
It provides businesses a cost-ef
fective way to minimize missed calls,
save time, increase productiv ity and
improve their ability to attract and
retain customers. The line is active at
all times.
Stand-By Line can be used as a
roll-over line to help manage incom
ing call volume when used with a call
forward busy line feature. As a stand
alone separate line, it is a lower cost
alternative for low use applications
such as credit card verification, fac
simile and data transmissions.
The service is priced less than the
monthly rate for a regular business
line, plus 3 cents per minute of use.
Comparison w ith current business line
rates illustrates the potential savings.
STAN D-BY LINE MONTHLY RATES
S imple -C omplex
Basic business
line
Stand-By Line
Difference
S30.87- S35.88
S18.00- S18.00
S12.87- $17.88
Stand-By Line
minutes
of usage to
equal monthly
business rate:
429
596
The one-time new installation
charge for Stand-By Line is $31.00,
the same as a regular business line. A
standard service charge of $15.00
applies w hen Stand-By Line replaces
another existing line.
For more information on these
or any other small business ser
vices, please call US W est at 242-
3384.
U S WEST
wants the
best for
your
business,
partner.
RTC
R E S O L U T IO N TRUST C O R P O R A T IO N
Resolving The Crisis
Restoring The Confidence
S mall I nvestor P rogram
S eminar
Register now for a free seminar highlighting
opportunities for small investors.
Find Out How to Buy RTC:
• Real Estate
• Loans
• Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment
• Savings Institutions
Learn
•
•
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About:
Minority and Women Programs
Financing Opportunities
Upcoming Sales Events
Portland, Oregon
The next time you're
rushing an order..
jumping through hoops ..
working late... or working
early, remember this:
before. And because
businesses thrive in
successful communities,
we're deeply committed
to the prosperity of
yours.
U S WEST is solving your
communication needs
better, quicker and more
efficiently than ever
We want the best for
your business, partner.
ujci / i / est
Making the m ost o f your time.
November 18,1993 • 8:30 am - Noon
Portland Marriott Hotel
1401 Southwest Front Avenue
Registration and Complimentary
Continental Breakfast
to Begin at 8:00 am
To register for this seminar, please call:
1-800-365-3342
Ext. 7125
Coordinatedby the RTC Kansas City Small Investor Program.
Event ID Number: 730-0261
i*>2 U S WEST Inc