Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2019)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019 | 7A variety of hand-crafted beers and coffee, all brewed on site, on the corner of Hwy 99 and Main Street. “Currently, Cottage Grove does not have a brewery and sit-down coffee house to call its own,” Chapman said in the group’s pitch. Between them, Barclay and Sampson claim decades of expertise in coffee and Challenge from A1 present) took home the first- place prize of $6,000. “There aren’t many times that I can say I’m stunned, but today I’m stunned,” Bar- clay said. The start-up’s business plan involves providing a Comprehensive family, medical eyecare and optical services Cataract exams • Glaucoma exams • Lasik exams • Diabetic exams Serving Cottage Grove Community since 2006 Welcome new patients Offi ce hours: Monday thru Thursday 9-5, Friday 9-4 257 N. 8th St. • 541-942-5000 www.PCVI.com We Have Hanging baskets, Veggies and more! Veggies are all Heirloom and grown by Coast Fork Nursery. 106 S 6th St, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 (541) 942-8770 EVERYONE DESERVES A GREAT SMILE! CALL TODAY TO SCHEDULE YOUR INITIAL CONSULTATION • 541.686.1732 EUGENE CRESWELL 622 E. 22nd Ave Suite C 195 Melton Rd. 541.686.1732 541.686.1732 or visit us at www.thornton-ortho.com beer brewing, respectively. The founders are keen to open the business sometime in the summer, but they say the date has been a moving target. The Business Challenge winnings will provide the group with some temporary financial relief, said Barclay. “It’s really going to help us continue moving forward,” he said, adding that about $200,000 of the founders’ own money has been in- vested in the business so far. “We’re at the point where we need more funding to con- tinue moving.” Chapman added, “It’s helping to bridge that gap while we’re waiting for fi- nancing and a couple other pieces to fall into place.” Revitalized Concrete took the second-place prize of $3,000. Business owner An- drew Abeyta described his start-up as offering “decora- tive concrete services” which help to avoid the wasteful and costly process of com- plete replacement of deteri- orated or damaged concrete. “The cement industry is one of the largest producers of man-made emissions in the world,” Abeyta said. “So, they have a very big carbon footprint.” Abeyta said his company produces a high-polymer stampable concrete overlay which can adhere to the top of existing concrete slabs and provide a degree of strength and durability that will reduce the need for re- placement. “It’s cutting down the carbon emissions relating to concrete,” said Abeyta, a second-generation concrete worker. The overlays may also act a sort of canvas as designs can be engraved into the surface, making it a visually attractive product for people who want some creativity in their projects. Abeyta said he planned to expand his operation of affordable concrete products Public Notices The Lowest Rates in Lane County PUBLIC MEETINGS, TRUSTEE NOTICES, PROBATE, AUCTION & FORECLOSURE NOTICES, AND MORE. JULIE HANSEN now at SALON 7 SPECIALIZING in COLOR & CUTS • ASK ABOUT SPECIALS Published weekly in the Cottage Grove Sentinel and online at cgsentinel.com 1007 E. MAIN ST. COTTAGE GROVE, OR S entinel C: 541.968.2113 W: 541.942.7777 Contact: Meg Fringer 541-942-3325 x1200 C ottage G rove mfringer@cgsentinel.com Cottage Grove 200 Gateway Blvd. Cottage Grove, OR 97424 4 (541) 942-5400 Mon. - Sat. 8am - 9pm Sun. 9am - 8pm Ed & Kori Sowa Independent Owner-Operators facebook.com/CottageGroveGroceryOutlet SPRING Tune-Up Only $99* We’ll make sure your system is running eff ectively and effi ciently. Call for details and an appointment today, and beat the spring rush! SAVE 40-70% ON GROCERIES. BEAUTIFUL, HUH? DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Shoppe Free Rein owner Melanie Stuhlmiller delivers her five-minute business pitch to judges. Stuhlmiller took third place in the Business Challenge. in the local market. In third place, Mela- nie Stuhlmiller, owner of women’s clothing boutique Shoppe Free Rein, accepted a $1,000 reward. The business has been selling retail clothing online for about three years. “My ‘why’ is to make sure women feel beautiful and supported in everything that they do,” Stuhlmiller said, adding that she wanted to create a space for Cottage Grove women to shop with- out having to make the trip to Eugene. Stuhlmiller played down the importance of being awarded, however. “Winning doesn’t impact [the business],” she said. “For me, just being a part of it was the impact — just learning so much and meeting new people and planning out the next step for my busi- ness was the most important thing that I got from this.” Stuhlmiller is keeping her fingers crossed for the cloth- ing store to expand into a storefront on Main Street in July. Other businesses in the top five included Clear Fo- cus Enterprises, producer of a Matcha Green Tea and lemonade-mixed beverage, and Hazel People, makers of a hazelnut milk drink. Hazel People co-founders Joey Jaraczewski and An- drew Ek were second-place winners at the 2017 Business Challenge with their parent company Sohr Foods (then called Sohr Performance + Nutrition), a health food and beverage provider. In a fortuitous twist, Sohr Foods ended up acquiring food producer Real Live Food Oregon, 2017’s third- place winner. The acquisi- tion was advantageous for previous owner Kim John- son, who re-entered the con- test this year with her com- pany Bohemia Food Hub, which was in part made possible by the Sohr Foods’ purchase. Before selling Real Live Food Oregon, Johnson had created a commercial kitch- en space big enough to for- malize into a new business model which provides sup- port for other start-ups in the food and beverage sec- tor. The transaction was a win-win. “We’ve done a lot since the last time we were here,” Ek said. “After the competition, about a month in, we moved our company into [John- son’s] food kitchen and then we ended up buying Real Live Food Oregon last June.” The opportunity allowed Jaraczewski and Ek to estab- lish a foothold and stay in the game. “That company and brand keeps us alive as we get ready to build more hype around our hazelnut milk brand,” said Ek. Rounding out the awards on Saturday, Cottage Grove Sustainable Gardens, a sus- tainable garden consulting business, won $500 for Best Elevator Pitch. Though prize money was an incentive, contestants were often appreciative sim- ply for the rewarding expe- riences that came with the process. “It was great for me be- cause I was in the middle of scaling my business,” John- son said of last year’s event. “So, it gave me a lot of prac- tice putting my business plan together really succinctly.” Johnson felt the experi- ence was akin to graduating to a new level of entrepre- neurship. “The winning was kind of an extra bonus,” she said. “It really helped me pull the whole package together and create a good hand-off for my fellow food entrepre- neurs.” Event coordinator Kate Brown agreed the event’s benefits extended beyond just the awards. “This year we tried to put more focus on the education opportunities for partici- pants and we were able to put on two different classes for participants to be able to learn more about creating a business plan,” said Brown. Challenge participants were invited this year to attend a four-part “Your Business Plan Accelera- tor” course, which provid- ed three-months’ worth of business planning software for free. Cottage Grove’s Business Challenge started when local business owner Harold Fra- zier came to the Chamber of Commerce with a novel idea. Having found success in his own business, New Breed Seed Company, Fra- zier was motivated to give back to the community by encouraging entrepreneur- ship and job growth in form of a $10,000 donation. “The community had been very welcoming to us,” Frazier said. “And as a person who had started a business, I was thinking that it would be nice to support other people who started businesses in the community.” The initial model was to issue a notice asking peo- ple to submit their business plans and give the best one $10,000. Palmer, enamored with the idea, contacted other people and groups such as the Cottage Grove Commu- nity Development Corpo- ration and RAIN Eugene. From these meetings, the Business Challenge was born. “It’s really satisfying to me to see all these people turn out and support it,” said Fra- zier, who donated another $10,000 for this year’s event. Frazier, too, sees the val- ue of the event as extending beyond the award money to include the networking and educational aspects. “One is who you know and two is feedback,” he said of the benefits. “Creating the Business Challenge here I think puts people’s ideas into an environment where they’re going to get feedback and they’re going to meet people and I think both those things are super valu- able for being able to start a successful business.” While nothing is set in stone, organizers are hope- ful the Business Challenge can continue in the coming years. “I would hope in the long run that more local business would see it as something they were interested in con- tributing to as well,” said Frazier. “More than any- thing, I’d just like to see peo- ple be able to move toward their goals and help develop good jobs and I think that helps raise everybody up.” TURNING 65 AND NEED HELP WITH YOUR MEDICARE CHOICES? Call Paul to help simplify the complicated. Complete Heating & Cooling System Service Reasonable Rates • All Work Guaranteed 541-517-7362 Paul Henrichs ~ Local Independent Agent coverage4oregon@gmail.com
