Business
NED
communities.
Specific session topics included business
best practices, the value of neighborhood
business districts, getting ahead of the game
and knowing your neighborhood.
Meanwhile, participants could go into the
PDC is going through a transitional
phase. In response to reduced public
funding, the organization will be down-
sizing, including cutting its staff by 30
percent for the upcoming fiscal year.
However, Patrick Quinton says that the
organization’s role as a facilitator for
Portland’s businesses won’t change.
“We’ll continue to provide services to
businesses, property owners and other
folks but we’re going to have to get
more strategic about how we do that,”
he says. “We’re going to have to do this
with less money and we’re going to
have to be a leaner organization.”
Quinton says they are going to have to
figure out more ways to attract private
investments and dollars to leverage
resources outside of the public sector.
According to the PDC, most of its fund-
ing goes to filling in financial gaps for
physical improvements to property and
projects located within designated
Urban Renewal areas, or URAs. It
does, however, have some more flexi-
ble funding available to businesses,
property owners, non-profits and indi-
viduals citywide. People can contact the
PDC to determine their eligibility for
assistance and go to Portland Maps, to
find out if their property is within a URA.
In addition, the PDC is required to have
public hearings on its projects and
holds monthly Board of Commissioners
meetings, which are also public.
For more information on public meet-
ings and hearings, go to the PDC
events calendar.
Resource Room and have face time with
representatives of financial, business, work-
force development and community resource
organizations.
The summit is part of the role PDC plays
in developing Portland businesses, says
Quinton.
He says it’s an example of the PDC bring-
ing private and public organizations togeth-
er, providing services and helping with
funding.
“We certainly have a range of products
and services for small businesses,” says
Quinton. “We have staff to help small busi-
nesses. We also provide funding to organi-
zations that help small business. We try and
be a convener of conversations like this so
that we can expand the conversation and get
more people involved.
“We feel like there’s big potential for
growth in North and Northeast Portland and
we know that a lot of the growth in recent
years has come from outside. We think that
we can do a better job than that.”
Historically, PDC has been the subject of
controversy around gentrification in North
and Northeast Portland. Some of this histo-
ry was covered in the Skanner News’ “Port-
land Gentrification: The North Williams
Avenue That Was – 1956.”
Gentrification was one of a number of
topics Bush covered in his keynote. He
insisted it was alright to be upset about
change but to not let that affect business.
“My thing is, how do we make money in
this situation?” says Bush. “I’m a busi-
nessperson. I’m trying to build a better
mousetrap. What is it we can do based on
the way things are changing?
“If you’re in a neighborhood that’s been
gentrified, feel bad about it from 11 p.m. to
1 a.m.”
During his keynote, he stressed that cash,
and specifically holding on to it, is the most
PHOTO BY BERNIE FOSTER
continued from page 1
Michael Bush, president and founder of The 8 Factors, center, poses with
Portland First Lady Nancy Hales, at right, and a student intern, left, at the
Economic Summit.
important part of small business.
Some of his words of advice included
looking at all your financial numbers even if
you have an accountant, finding ways to
make your production process faster and
cheaper, and avoiding potential hires who
spend a lot of time talking about details like
pay, the HR department and whether their
lawyers can see the paperwork.
One of the most unconventional thoughts
Bush shared was on bills.
“I say pay every bill late except for ones
that are going to affect your credit score,”
he said. “You don’t get any awards on stage
for paying all your bills on time as a small
business person. I haven’t been to that
award ceremony. In your personal life you
can do what you want to do but as a busi-
ness person, you’ve got to hold on to it.”
Bush would revisit this later when dis-
cussing corporate partners.
“What we really need is for you to pay
small businesses on time,” he says. “You
know the thing I talk about, about holding
on to your cash? Big companies are masters
at that. They’ve got whole treasury depart-
ments to do it. That’s how I learned about it.
“If you pay a small business late that’s got
a three percent margin – you pay them late
by 45 minutes – they’re getting a credit line.
Take your costs for two months and that’s
the credit line they’re going to get, just by
paying them late.”
Earlier in the speech, Bush used a picture
of a squirrel gathering nuts to illustrate his
mindset for business. The squirrel knew
tough times were coming, he said, and it
had preparation for these struggles in its
DNA.
“When business is good, you’ve got to act
like business is bad,” he said. “Because
when it’s good, you’ve got to reap the ben-
efits and pack some away because things
are about to go bad.”
To see more photos from the summit, go
to The Skanner News Facebook page.
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Page 8 The Portland Skanner June 5, 2013