July 2018 – Business Memos

Local businesses provide employment for area residents and products and services close to home. Mid-county Memo Business Memos celebrate news, advancements, promotions, retirements, expansions and other noteworthy events at these cornerstones of our community. To share news of your business with our readers, Business Memo submissions for the August issue are due by Sunday, July 15. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR 97230. To leave a phone message, dial 503-287-8904. 

MHCC opens new automotive tech center

The Jaksich Family Automotive Technology Center at Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) was opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in May. 

The Jaksich Family Automotive Technology Center is a 26-bay auto center that serves as the training hub for MHCC’s four associate of applied science automotive degree programs—the Ford Automotive Student Service Education Training (ASSET) program, the Chrysler MOPAR College Automotive Program (M-CAP), the Individual Mechanical Program of Repair Technicians (IMPORT) and the recently established Subaru U program. Additionally, the college offers the nine-month Maintenance and Light Repair (MLR) Automotive Technology certificate program.

The Jaksichs are longtime supporters of MHCC and have donated nearly $200,000 to the college over the years. Nancy has served on the Foundation Board for more than 11 years. 

CARSTAR soaps it up
Bob Thomas CARSTAR Collision, 8752 N.E. Sandy Blvd., plans a fundraising carwash Saturday, July 28 from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. to benefit Cystic Fibrosis and Schoolhouse Supplies equally. 

Your $5 minimum donation gets you a shiny, clean car plus tours of an American Medical Response ambulance and the repair shop, along with a free barbecue. The shop owner will match donations up to a total of $2,500. 

Bob Thomas CARSTAR Collision offers comprehensive auto body repair services Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 503-255-8301 now to learn more or to make an appointment.

Satisfy your sweet tooth
Penny Eddy has opened Little This, Little That Sweet Shoppe, 1516 N.E. 111th Ave., a specialty candy shop in Gateway that specializes in fancy, custom-made caramel and candied apples. Customers can choose from a variety of toppings to add to a thick caramel layer on a large, juicy apple. 

Eddy says she is happiest in the kitchen. After helping her sister get a candy shop up and running in Coos Bay, Oregon, she knew she had to bring the products they had perfected to customers in Gateway. In addition to the apples, Little This, Little That will also offer specialty popcorn products made in-house. Think caramel corn, cheddar popcorn and hot, buttered theater-style popcorn. 

You’ll also find fudge, premium chocolates and cupcakes and pastries from Marsee Baking alongside pretty packages of specialty and novelty candies. 

The shop is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. Call 503-327-1009 today to find out more or to place your order.

Spada U-pick having a berry, berry good year

Nothing feels like summer more than strawberry shortcake—except maybe a good old-fashioned strawberry shortcake made of berries you picked at a farm minutes from home.

Luckily, Spada Farms U-pick has you covered. 

Spada began harvesting the vaunted Hood Strawberries in mid-May. Hoods are done; however, there are still plenty of the Sweet Ann and Albion varieties in their U-Pick for $1.75 a pound. “For us, it’s been a good year, because we were two weeks earlier than anybody else,” Ron Spada said when asked how this year’s crop compared to last year. “Everybody came on [with harvestable strawberries] last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (June 3, 4 and 5), and we had been going 14 days before that.”

Besides strawberries, the farm offers U-pick for raspberries, tomatoes and many varieties of peppers, including the Ghost Pepper and Carolina Reaper, two of the hottest peppers in the world. 

In addition to U-pick, you can purchase berries, lots of ready-picked vegetables, blackberries or marionberries, when they’re in season. Spada’s super-sweet white and bicolor corn is expected to come on in late July.

Spada Farms, 5905 N.E. 158th Ave., and the berry stand in the Kmart parking lot, 12336 N.E. Sandy Blvd., accepts cash, credit cards and senior and WIC vouchers.

If you’re looking for more U-pick farms, check out Oregon Farm Bureau’s online directory, Oregon’s Bounty, at oregonfb.org/oregonsbounty. Search by region, type of product or special event.

From parent to superintendent 

Portland Christian Schools Board of Trustees has selected Rhonda Rogers to serve as the superintendent for Portland Christian Schools (PCS). 

Rogers has been employed at PCS for more than 16 years. Prior to that, her contact with PCS was as a parent, then a part-time employee. While at PCS, Rogers built the early childhood education program into a high-demand program that now serves around 130 students. For the last eight years, she has served as the principal of the elementary school, growing enrollment by almost 30 percent, supporting professional and spiritual development of staff and wearing some of the best spirit day costumes an 8-year-old might see at school. Rogers is perhaps most proud of the Peer Ministry program she oversees, engaging elementary students in a leadership program built upon spiritual development and peer mentoring.

Well-respected and recognized in the community, having founded a monthly support group for private school leaders in the Portland/Vancouver area, Rogers has also previously served on the ACSI NW Accreditation Commission and various support committees at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

PCS is a community where learning stimulates intellectual and spiritual growth, growth precipitates change and change empowers students to transform their world. Christ-centered principles are woven into every area of academics and activities, where teaching is anchored in the truth and love of Christ and where every child is valued, loved and encouraged.