October 3, 2018
Minority & Small Business Week
Page 11
Building Economic Self Sufficiency
Help with business
start-ups geared to
underserved
Mercy Corps Northwest, headquartered
in downtown Portland, works with under-
served and aspiring entrepreneurs in Ore-
gon and Washington to help build thriving
communities in the Pacific Northwest. The
nonprofit offers business education, grants
and loans that address small business own-
er’s needs and supports them as they build
toward economic self-sufficiency and
prosperity.
Karen Y. Spencer brings over 25 years
of business and legal experience to
Mercy Corps Northwest.
Two new instructors are now helping
Mercy Corps Northwest with that mission.
Karen Spencer and Bobbie Stewart teach
Business Foundations, a six-week class
that provides training to new and existing
small business owners. The curriculum
includes financial analysis, competition/
market assessment, focus group feedback,
concept pitch coaching, and marketing
planning. Classes are taught downtown
and throughout the metropolitan area.
Working with Prosper Portland, the
city’s economic development agency, Mer-
cy Corps Northwest has also secured funds
to provide thousands of dollars in scholar-
ships to entrepreneurs of color to attend the
class.
Spencer brings over 25 years of busi-
ness and legal experience, having worked
at Nike, Inc., as the founder and leader of
their Intellectual Property Transactions &
Licensing function. She is a 2011 recipient
of the Portland Business Journal’s Orchid
Award, for achievement as a Women of In-
fluence. After earning a degree in chemical
engineering at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, she earned a master’s de-
gree in management from Stanford Uni-
versity and a law degree from Harvard
Law School.
Stewart brings a strong entrepreneurial
background to her students as the founder
and CEO of two Oregon-based business-
es, in addition to serving as an independent
business consultant, a business coach and
an instructor at the SBA’s Small Business
Development Center. She has counseled
and advised over 100 small businesses
during her career and believes “the pur-
suit of happiness is doing what you love
even when it puts the spotlight on someone
else” Bobbie has chosen creating, develop-
ing and launching small businesses as her
career; teaching and mentoring as her pas-
sion. She has been an entrepreneur since
the age of 16. Bobbie graduated from Con-
cordia University with a BA in Business
Administration.
In addition to small business education,
Mercy Corps Northwest offers a matched
savings grant program for aspiring or ex-
isting small business owners. The grant
matches $5,000 in grant funds to $1,000 in
savings for lower income, lower net worth
entrepreneurs. Mercy Corps NW also offers
small business loans, ranging from $500 -
$50,000, with competitive terms and inter-
est rates. A special incubator loan is being
offered to Foundations class graduates or
IDA participants, allowing participants to
be pre-approved for a $1,000 - $2,500 loan
to help get their business started, while also
improving their credit standing.
To learn more about and apply for small
business grants, loans, and training op-
portunities for entrepreneurs visit mercy-
corpsnw.org.
Mercy Corps instructor Bobbie Stewart
brings a strong entrepreneurial back-
ground to her students as the founder
of two Oregon-based businesses.