Page 4
June 19, 2024
Plans for a Black-Owned Business Explore Local
Entrepreneurship at the
Hub Have Fallen Through
By Beverly Corbell
Dreams die hard. For Karan-
ja Crews, the realization that
his long-time goal of opening
One Stop Plaza as a Black—
owned business hub with food
carts and a community gather-
ing space is no longer possible,
was a bitter defeat.
The basis of One Stop Plaza is a
brightly mural-covered building at
Northeast 15th and Killingsworth
that would have been retrofitted to
accommodate all its aspects.
Green Hammer Design Build,
who designed the refurbished
structure, stated on its website
that One Stop Plaza was to be “a
Black-owned business and cultur-
al hub poised to become a beacon
of community empowerment.”
One Stop Plaza would have
featured 10 permanent food carts,
and outdoor dining area and a
covered stage. “One Stop Plaza
will be equipped with a 1,200-gal-
lon rainwater storage tank and a
36-kilowatt solar array, enabling
it to double as an emergency shel-
Karanja Crews
ter during severe weather events
and power outages.
For the past two years, Crews
has been trying to get grants to
fund the project, appealed for
help from Prosper Portland and
other agencies, and finally resort-
ed to a GoFundMe appeal earlier
this month, but it fell short.
The building, which Crews
had been leasing, will now go
MESO Makers Market
back to the owner, he said, and
he has lost $15,000 in the pro-
cess of trying to develop it.
A photo on Crews’ Insta-
gram sitereflects his frustration
with his plans’ demise, which is
spelled out on his LinkedIn site:
“I made a bad call on this po-
tential investment. Lost money.
Thought Prosper Portland had
my back on this project, but I
was wrong. Trusting people too
much is my bad. Lesson learned!
Rolling the dice on this one was
eye-opening. Each setback is a
chance to grow. Big shoutout
and thanks to everyone who had
my back on this move!”
A long-time activist in the
Black community, Crews is
owner of Green Muse canna-
bis dispensary, and a former
teacher and founder of Teaching
With Purpose, for which he re-
ceived the Martin Luther King
Lifetime Achievement Award
and the OnPoint Prize for Ex-
cellence in Education Circle of
Excellence Award.
Continued from Front
11a.m. to 5p.m. The mar-
ket also has several special
events and new opportunities
planned for 2024. This past
February for example, the
market honored Black His-
tory Month with a lineup of
Black-owned small business-
es. Women’s History Month
in March featured a roster of
women and non binary ven-
dors and their arts-and-crafts-
focused small businesses.
“As a community credit
union, it’s our responsibility
to support local small busi-
nesses and the people behind
them,” said Rob Stuart, Pres-
ident/CEO, OnPoint Com-
munity Credit Union. “We’re
proud to work alongside
MESO in cultivating a com-
munity hub for creativity and
entrepreneurship in Portland.”
Community partners like
OnPoint have been key to the
success of the market since it
opened, according to Lewis.
In addition to OnPoint’s gen-
erous support, MESO part-
ner Prosper Portland made
it possible for the market
to make a retail space at the
Alberta Commons its perma-
nent home.
“ Wi t h On P o i n t C o m -
m u n i t y C r e d i t Un i o n b y
o u r s i d e , we ’ r e g e a r i n g
up to bring the Portland
metro area an even more
e n r i c h e d m a r k e t e x p e r i-
e n c e , ” L e wi s s a i d . I f y o u
are a maker in the Portland
m e t r o a r e a a n d a r e i n t e r-
e s t e d i n s h o wc a s i n g y o u r
products and art at the
M E S O M a k e r s M a r k e t E m-
p o we r e d b y On P o i n t , v i s i t
h t t p s : / / w w w. m e s o p d x . o rg /
meso-makers-market.
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but also sends a powerful
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