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Local businesses are the lifeblood of our community. The Mid-county MEMO offers this section to our business neighbors for news, advancements, promotions, expansions and other noteworthy events to be shared with the community at large. Business MEMO submissions for the January issue are due by Wednesday, Dec. 15. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. You may also mail editorial submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR, 97230. To call or leave a phone message, dial 503-287-8904. The Mid-county MEMO fax number is 503-249-7672.
Celebrating a decade in Gateway
Joseph’s Deli, Café & Lottery is celebrating 10 years this month in the Gateway area. With a number of the employees at this location since the Foster’s Deli days, the folks at Joseph’s are friendly and ready to serve you. There is a large menu to choose from, with all soups, salads and desserts made home style.
Joseph’s is also the place to win. While you are enjoying lunch, try your luck with your favorite lottery game. Give Joseph’s a call and order ahead at 503-252-2817 or just stop by for a quick and good “old fashioned sandwich.”
Joseph’s is located at 10812 N.E. Halsey St. Lottery hours are 7:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Lunch is served from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Pet owners who fly now have a friend
If you are a pet owner and also someone who travels by air occasionally, two local gentlemen are now available to help.
Two local dog owners, Chong Jones and Geoff Wittreich, opened AirPet Hotel this past spring at 6212 N.E. 78th Ct. in Portland. The pet-boarding facility is conveniently located between Northeast Columbia Boulevard and 82nd Avenue, five minutes from Portland International Airport.
In addition, AirPet Hotel is sandwiched between several park-and-fly operations. Not only can you drop off your pet on the way to the airport; you can leave your car and be shuttled to the terminal as well, all in one stop. It’s an idea Jones had several years ago.
“I used to travel a lot for business,” Jones said, “and I had a hard time finding anywhere to leave my dog, let alone somewhere on my way. I remember thinking, on many occasions, that someone ought to open a kennel near the airport.”
The idea percolated, until Jones and his Northeast Portland neighbor Wittreich found their ideal building near PDX.
“The space is great,” said Wittreich. “High ceilings, wood beams and plenty of skylights to give the place a really bright, airy feel. Plus, it has tons of space for exercising dogs.”
The building has 13,000 square feet of space, and is equipped with 64 indoor kennels, three indoor play areas, an outdoor run and a separate room for felines.
AirPet Hotel offers daycare along with boarding for cats and dogs. The accommodations are designed for “cageless boarding,” where dogs enjoy supervised exercise and play during the day, and a place to retire in individual kennels at night.
“As loving dog owners ourselves,” Wittreich told the MEMO, “we know that your pet is more than just a pet: He or she is a member of the family. We designed our operation with own dogs in mind.
“Our dogs are not the types who patiently lie around in a kennel all day,” Wittreich continued to explain, “so we created the cageless boarding option. Our experience as traveling kennel customers also plays a large role in how we operate. We felt a real need for something more convenient, so we found a good location and keep it available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
For more information, contact Chong or Wittreich at 503-255-1388 or visit the Web site at www.AirPetHotel.com.
Need help with fundraising?
The economy has taken its toll on all of us. We’ve all been forced to cut back to the essentials and nowhere is that more apparent than in our school system. Extracurricular activities have been slashed from budgets. This has also prevented the introduction of new programs and possible advancements available with computers and technology. All of this became apparent to the team at Wild Web Works as they volunteered at schools in the community.
Wild Web Works is located at 4705 N.E. Columbia Blvd.
Wild Web Works is all about technology. The firm owns and operates a data center at its company headquarters on Columbia Boulevard. The company builds computers and servers, designs and hosts Web sites, and develops software.
Employees of Wild Web Works became concerned when they learned about all the technology that was available to help students and realized that the schools simply could not afford to implement it. They decided to do something.
Together the team at Wild Web Works sat down to design a project with three goals: Provide ongoing funding to school programs, reward the students marketing the project and give contributors something of true value in return. The result is ISupportSchools.com and it meets all of these goals.
During the development and research, Wild Web Works employees discovered there were many other community programs that were suffering. Sports programs, churches, and other nonprofit organizations could benefit from the project. Wild Web Works decided to allow access to the project by adding ISupportChildren.com, ISupportChurch.com, ISupportSports.com, and ISupportKids.com.
If you are responsible for a nonprofit program in need of funding, the I Support Project is available for your use. The entire project is Internet based and accessible from any computer. All the details can be found at ISupportSchools.com. Or call 503-331-7495.
New owner, same great people at Carousel Hair Design in Gateway
Experience counts.
That’s what Jay GreenMan, the new owner of Carousel Hair Design at 10742 N.E. Halsey St., knows.
When GreenMan took over the business in September, he started to get acquainted with the stylists working at Carousel. He began adding up the number of years of experience that each of them has in the hair care profession. The total came to 201 years of combined experience!
“I am very proud to be working with this group of professionals, each of whom has an average of 33 years experience,” GreenMan told the Memo. “They really know what they are doing.”
A relative newcomer to the hair business, GreenMan is on his second career.
He started out in police work in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1979 where he served as a patrol officer, a sergeant and a criminal investigator before getting injured in the line of duty and becoming a self-employed security consultant.
“After 9-11, I didn’t like the direction that I saw security and law enforcement going,” he confessed. “I felt it was time to start a new direction in my work life.” A friend in the hair business suggested he look into cosmetology since he already had a successful hobby and business doing photographic portraits for people.
GreenMan went through basic cosmetology school in Portland, then attended advanced training at the Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica, Calif.
“I believe that the primary goal in seeing a stylist is not only to get your hair done well,” said GreenMan, “but also to have an experience that makes you feel great about yourself. The Vidal Sassoon philosophy fully supports that.”
In keeping with his belief that a trip to the hair chair should combine confidence in your stylist with a setting that feels fresh and alive, GreenMan started right out with a major makeover of the interior of Carousel Hair Design.
“I looked at the plain white walls and the very outdated orange chairs, and I knew we had to make some changes,” he said. Today, when long standing clients walk in, they are met by a whole new color scheme, freshly upholstered chairs, a new manicure station, soothing music, new plants and the familiar faces of the stylists that have been with them for years, as well as one or two new stylists.
“It’s a good feeling to hear a client come in for their appointment and exclaim how great the place looks,” said GreenMan. “I love that we can give people something new and delightful to go with the comfortable and familiar.” As for new clients, GreenMan extends the invitation to, “come in and see what a couple hundred years of professional expertise can do for you!”
Call Carousel Hair Design at 503-255-6112 for more information.
Sustainable business assistance program
A matching grant program that focuses on energy efficiencies that protect and create jobs is available to local businesses through a new program developed by the Portland Development Commission and the Zero Waste Alliance.
The program provides matching funds of up to $7,000 from PDC; in kind labor and equipment may be included in the company’s match. Participating companies work with ZWA to develop improvements that are expected to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials or chemicals, use materials efficiently, use energy efficiently and reduce emissions to air, soil or water.
Any business located in Portland is eligible. Companies whose investment will result in job creation or retention are particularly encouraged to apply. Additional funding is available in urban renewal areas. To find out more call Larry Chalfan at ZWA, 503-279-9383 or Ann Griffin at PDC, 503-823-3428.
ZWA is a program of the International Sustainable Development Foundation, a nonprofit organization. More information is available at www.zerowaste.org.
Innkeeper to ring in the New Year with effort to feed less fortunate
Neighborhood activist Karl Kunberger, the jovial owner of the Venture Inn Tavern & Sports Bar will host a New Years Eve celebration geared for fun and merriment, but also designed to collect non-perishable food items for the Oregon Food Bank.
There will be raffle drawings throughout the evening and a champagne toast at midnight. Live music begins at 9 p.m. In lieu of a cover charge, Kunberger is asking his customers to bring two cans of food that he will donate to OFB.
The OFB is the hub of a network of 870 hunger-relief agencies throughout Oregon and Clark County, Washington. They recover food from farms, manufacturers, retailers, individuals and government sources and distribute it to 20 regional food banks across Oregon.
The number of people who seek emergency food in Oregon is unprecedented.
OFB distributed 721,000 emergency food boxes in Oregon and Clark County, Wash., between July 1, 2003, and June 30, 2004. That’s an 11 percent increase over the previous year and a 103 percent increase since fiscal year 1996-97.
In addition, 160 soup kitchens and shelters provided 4.2 million emergency meals and 367 other agencies helped more than 120,000 people.
Those most likely to need emergency food are working families, the elderly, the retired, and the disabled. They are your neighbors.
Join Kunberger and his staff on New Year’s Eve. Treat yourself to an evening to remember and assist your neighbors in need.
The Venture Inn is located at 13900 N.E. Sandy Blvd. Call 503-255-7880 to find out more.
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