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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 21, 2011)
I* -§534__________________îj> Minority & Small Business Week____________ September21.2011 New Seasons Market Opens 11th Store Progress Ridge brings 170 new jobs PHOTO COURTESY NEW SEASONS M ARKET A job shortage made headlines in the newspaper on the same day, but Lisa Sedlar, New Seasons Market company president and CEO, showcases the growth in jobs other locally-owned chain of stores at last week's grand opening of the company’s Progress Ridge location in Beaverton. The store has added 170 new jobs to the local economy. L o c a lly -o w n e d N ew S e a so n s F o u n d a tio n an d M aria P o n zi o f M ark et is c e le b ra tin g the o p e n in g P o n zi V in e y ard s. o f its 1 1th sto re, lo c a te d in the T h is lo n g -a w a ite d an d h ig h ly new P ro g re ss R id g e T o w n S q u a re a n tic ip a te d sto re , the sec o n d la rg S h o p p in g C e n te r in B ea v e rto n , e s t o f N ew S e a s o n s M a rk e t's 14805 S.W . B arro w s Rd. sto re s, p ro v id e s fa m ilie s w ith lo T h e sto re b rin g s 170 new jo b s c a lly g ro w n a n d h o m e m a d e p ro d to the lo cal e co n o m y . u cts an d the frie n d lie st sh o p p in g O p en in g day on Sept. 14 k ic k ed e x p e rie n c e in tow n. o ff w ith a ribbon cu ttin g cerem o n y Founded in 2000 by three N o rth led by B ea v e rto n M ay o r D en n y w est fam ilies, N ew Seasons M arket D o y le, a lo n g w ith sto re le a d e rs, is proud to be locally ow ned and local farm ers and the c o m m u n ity . operated and enthusiastically sup S p e a k ers in c lu d e d L isa S e d la r, ports the com m unity. The com pany N ew S e a so n s M ark et c o m p a n y annually gives 10 percent o f its af p re sid e n t and c h ie f e x e c u tiv e o f ter-tax profits to m ore than 650 fic e r, Pat B ro w n , c o m p a n y c h ie f nonprofits and com m unity groups. o p e r a t i n g o f f i c e r , J o n R ic h , T h e c o m p a n y w as c e le b ra te d P ro g re ss R id g e sto re m a n a g e r, as o n e o f th e b e st an d g re e n e st K ristin e B ag g ett, e x e c u tiv e d ire c c o m p a n ie s to w o rk fo r by O re g o n to r o f the B ea v e rto n E d u c a tio n B u sin e ss M ag a z in e. Business Pitch Leads to Dream Job Loans for Private Sector Jobs Small business fund has federal, state support MBA student’s class project leads to disaster relief work Not everyone has their dream job, but Ernest Harris, a M aster o f Busi n e ss A d m in is tra tio n s tu d e n t at Portland’s University of Phoenix cam pus does, and it is all because he created it. In one o f his courses, Harris was asked to write a paper about his dream job, detailing everything from jo b responsibilities to salary. Harris chose to focus on a previous em ployer. Coast Industries, a northeast Port- I and com pany that offers com m erc i al building m aintenance, uniform ed security services, and governm ent contracting. “ Before starting the M BA pro gram at University ofPhoenix, I worked for Coast Industries for five years,” said Harris. “W hen we were given this writing assignm ent I was initially apprehensive, but my instructor. Dr. Robert Ridel, pressed me to be cre ative. A fter giving the project a lot o f thought, I knew I wanted to write about C oast Industries as it is a tre m endous organization.” Putting pen to paper, Harris devel oped the idea to create a new branch, the D isaster R elief Division, within C oast Industries. This new division w o u ld w o rk d ire c tly w ith th e com pany’s current departm ents in governm ent contracts, building m ain tenance and security. W ithin that new division, Harris proposed developing an arm for resi dential and for com m ercial projects. The residential section would con tract with insured hom eow ners for debris clean-up in disaster affected « photo by M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver Ernest Harris designed his own ‘dream jo b ' at northeast Portland's Coast Industries, one of the oldest minority-owned businesses in the state, as part of his enrollment in the Master of Business Administration degree program at the University of Phoenix in Portland. areas, w hile the com m ercial section would contract with the Federal Em er gency M anagem ent A dm inistration in any natural disaster and hire em ployees locally to rem ove debris. As Harris described in the posi tion overview , the new business strat egy required that all divisions w ork together w ithin a disaster stricken area utilizing all capacities offered by the com pany in different operational contracts. “ A fter putting so m uch thought into the position and the departm ent I started to think about pitching the idea to C oast Industries,” continued Harris. “ I made an appointm ent to m eet with the CEO , and she was ex trem ely interested by m y proposal. A few w eeks later, she called me and offered me the opportunity to turn my dream into a reality.” Harris accepted the offer from C oast industries, and he estim ates that this new division will generate an additional $50 million dol lars a year in revenue for the com pany. “I am so grateful for U niversity o f Phoenix and the opportunities I have had because o f the M BA program ,” continued Harris. “T he program is ch allen g in g , but has co m p letely changed my life both personally and professionally for the better. M y edu cation will make m e abetter manager, which will in turn help my com pany continue to grow and prosper.” “At U niversity o f Phoenix, our prim ary mission is to prepare working adults to thrive in the changing glo bal econom y,” said Flint H olland, cam pus director for U niversity o f Phoenix Oregon Cam pus. “Ernest is a true testam ent o f our m ission, and I com m end him for his creativity and pursuit o f his goals.” The U.S. D epartm ent o f the T reasury and O regon G ov. John K itzhaber recently announced the approval o f an initiative to p ro vide new lending to O regon sm all businesses to help create jo b s. The O regon State Sm all B usi ness Credit Initiative will spur more than $165 m illion in additional sm all-businesses lending in O r egon. The SSBCI program , w hich supports state-level sm all-b u si ness lending program s, is an im portant com ponent o f the Sm all B u sin e s s J o b s A c t P re s id e n t O bam a signed into law last fall. “T hese funds will provide criti cal su p p o rt to state-lev el p ro gram s that help expand sm all-busi ness len d in g and sp u r p riv ate sector jo b creation,” said D eputy S ecretary o f the T reasury N eal S. W olin. “C ontinuing to help u n lock credit for sm all businesses w ill provide a pow erful boost for investm ent and jo b creation in local com m unities across the coun try .” "O ver 16,000 jo b s have been created in O regon this year, and w e continue to use every tool available to get O regonians back to w ork across the state," said G o v ern o r K itzhaber. "A ccess to capital is a critical issue for b u si nesses ready to ex pand in O r egon, and the Sm all B usiness Jobs A ct funds w ill help spur in v est m ent and jo b creation in both u r ban and rural com m unities." U n d erth e Sm all B usiness Jobs A ct, O regon can access $ 16.5 m il lion in SSB C I funds. O regon e x pects to generate a m inim um “bang for the buck” o f at least $ 10 in new private lending for every $1 in federal funding. A s such, this $ 16.5 million allocation for Oregon is expected to support m ore than $165 m illion in new private lend ing in that state. T he O regon B usiness D evel opm ent D epartm ent will use these SSB C I funds to support the O r egon C apital A ccess Program , its C redit E nhancem ent Fund, a loan guarantee program , and the ex ist Gov. John Kitzhaber ing O regon B usiness D ev elo p m ent Fund, a loan participation program . U nder the State Sm all B usi ness C redit Initiative, all states are o ffered the opportunity to apply for federal funds fo r state-run p ro gram s that p artn er w ith private lenders to increase the am ount o f c red it av ailab le to sm all b u si n e ss e s. States m ust dem onstrate a rea sonable expectation that a m in i m um o f $ 10 in new private lending will result from every $ 1 in federal funding. A ccordingly, the overall $1.5 billion federal funding co m m itm ent for this program is e x p ected to result in at least $15 billion in additional private lend ing nationw ide.
