^Jurtlanh (ObserUcr
Page 20
August I3. 20I4
An inspiring group o f entrepreneurs have been selected in a pilot project to create viable, minority-owned businesses in Portland.
Reaching and Empowering Entrepreneurs
Startup business
culture fostered
way that builds com m unity, de E nterprise Services o f Oregon for business developm ent in the
velops their skills and know how, (M ESO), a Portland based non African-Am erican comm unity fu
and provides a roadm ap to build profit com m itted to reaching and eled the creation o f a pilot project
ing viable small businesses in em pow ering underserved entre called Learn & Launch.
How does Portland support Portland?
preneurs worked to answer. The
O ver the last six m onths, the
black aspiring entrepreneurs in a
This is the question that M icro persistent need and opportunity pilot project worked with 20 local,
aspiring African -American entre
preneurs.
Lead by Tory Cam pbell and
Faye Burch, two black business
leaders from Portland, the partici
pants are obtaining traditional
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ELECTRICAL TRADE
b u s in e s s p la n n in g s e rv ic e s
ELECTRICIANS ENJOY SATISFYING CAREERS AND EARN UP TO S39 AN HOUR AT THE END OF A
coupled with the support o f a peer
TUITION-FREE APPRENTICESHIP. COME LEARN H O W TO WIRE A CIRCUIT, MEET ELECTRICIANS
group and m entorship. Business
FROM THE INDUSTRY, AND FIND OUT H O W YOU CAN APPLY FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY
concepts deem ed viable then pro
g ressed to the next stages o f
launching.
The culm ination o f this inten
WORKSHOP FOR MEN
sive six-m onth program was a
Tuesday, August 19, 2014 6pm - 8pm at:
“pitch gathering” hosted by Port
land Developm ent Com m ission,
CONSTRUCTING HOPE
P r t -A pprenticeship P rogram
where 14 participants displayed
their business concepts, and en
405 NE Church, Portland
couraged attendees to interact
Pre-registration required: 503-281-1234
with their products and services.
P a rtic ip a n t A lish a C a rte r,
owner o f R ockin’ Naturals, a busi
ness offering an array of natural
hair care products, had this to say
about the program s: “I am very
ELECTRICAL TRAINING CENTER
grateful for the netw orking o f
people who have a vision to suc
ceed. The coaching that I received
WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN
WIRE A LIGHT WORKSHOP
was very beneficial and I am ready
for the next steps.”
The M icro Enterprise Services
group seeks to im prove the eco
n o m ic
o p p o r tu n itie s
of
underserved individuals through
em p o w erm en t, ed u catio n , and
entrepreneurship for the benefit
o f the greater com m unity. The
project was PD C-funded which
has been a long-term financial
supporter o f M ESO.
Here is a list o f the Learn and
L aunch p a rticip a n ts and th eir
businesses: Intisar A bioto, Intisar
A b io to P h o to g rap h y ; C aro ly n
A nderson, L et’s Check; Alisha
Carter, R ockin’ Naturals; Cherrell
Edw ards, C ollective C are Ser
vices; Chris Fuzell, Six Ten V isu
als; Cat G oughnour, Radix C on
sulting G roup; Audrey H orsey,
T r u -le e D e lic io u s C a te r in g ;
Solomon Ibe, Xen Fusion; Ramona
Jo h n so n , H air B ody & S oul;
Yvette Penson, Sw eet T em pta
tions; Emmanuel Price b, S.C. A.F.E
2; Renee W ard, I t’s All About
You; Elsya W atkins, Sea Verdes;
Kenya Sm ith, HB Property M an
agem ent; and Jason Gershenson,
G ershenson Law LLC.
For m ore inform ation, visit
m esopdx.org.
Tuesday, August 21, 2014 6pm - 8pm at
O regon T ra d e sw o m e n , Inc.
3934 NE MLK Jr. Blvd, Portland
Pre-registration required: 503-335-8200 x 33
The Portland Observer
is a Proud Member of:
AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE