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Significant forces in any community are its neighborhood businesses. 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. To ensure publication, please send submissions for each month by the 15th of the previous month. Business Memo submissions for the December issue are due by Friday, November 14. For best results, e-mail Darlene Vinson at editor@midcountymemo.com. Or you can also mail editorial submissions to 3510 N.E. 134th Ave., Portland, OR, 97230. To call, or leave a message, dial 503-287-8904. Mid-county MEMO fax number is 503-249-7672.
Travel agent back in business in Parkrose neighborhood
Travel agent Jeanie Blaske, formerly of Telco Travel, operating from the Oregon Telco Credit Union’s main office in downtown Portland, is back in business in the Parkrose neighborhood. After 12 years with Oregon Telco, Jeanie struck out on her own, opening Jeanie’s Travel Shop.
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| Jeanie Blaske of Jeanie’s Travel Shop booking a customer’s Hawaiian vacation. |
| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
Associated with World Travel, she works out of her home and is available to help you with your vacation travel plans. Reach Jeanie’s Travel Shop at 503-975-5700 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Or e-mail Jeanie at jeaniebtravel@earthlink.net.
New Chamber of Commerce forming
The East Portland Chamber of Commerce has become an independent organization dedicated to advancing the interests of businesses on Portland’s sprawling eastside, from the Willamette River to the city of Gresham. The focus will be on services and advocacy for small businesses. The new chamber is signing up members and is offering charter memberships starting at just $99 per year for one person or home-based businesses that join this year. Charter memberships range from $99 to $999 depending on the size of the business.
A special media and social event is scheduled for Wednesday, November 12 at 6 p.m. at the new MBank Office, 9415 S.E. Stark St. The kick-off event is free and all businesses located in Portland, on the east side of the Willamette River, are invited to attend.
The President & CEO of MBank, Rex Brittle, welcomed the new chamber of commerce, saying, “MBank is proud to be one of the first members of the East Portland Chamber of Commerce and we are honored to host the kick off event in our newest location here in East Portland. We look forward to partnering with the Chamber of Commerce to support the growth and prosperity of business in East Portland.”
For the last several years, before becoming an independent organization, the East Portland Chamber had been a committee of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce. “We have enjoyed the opportunity to nurture and support this new chamber within our organization and we are pleased they have now become an independent chamber,” said Dave Shields, president of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce. “We recognize that businesses in East Portland need their own chamber and we will continue to work cooperatively with the new East Portland Chamber of Commerce on issues important to businesses throughout Mid-Multnomah County.”
The President of the new East Portland Chamber, Jeff Bennett, an attorney with Warren Allen King O’Hara Bennett Jepsen & Diamond, expressed appreciation for the support and encouragement provided by the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce. “Their board of directors, staff and entire membership have been very supportive in this transition,” he said. “Many of us will maintain membership in both chambers and we look forward to working together on behalf of our business community.”
The new East Portland Chamber has retained Nancy Chapin and her organization, The Support Group, to provide professional management and membership services. “We are very fortunate to have a person with Nancy Chapin’s organizational skills and knowledge of East Portland business and neighborhood organizations working for our new chamber,” Bennett said. “She will provide valuable service and support for our chamber membership.”
The new East Portland Chamber of Commerce defines its mission as providing a voice for business in East Portland. The chamber looks forward to working cooperatively with existing business associations on the eastside and with other private and public organizations that support business growth and development.
Major areas of focus for the East Portland Chamber include educational forums for small businesses, regular networking events, timely information on tax, regulatory and governmental issues impacting business, support for grand openings and business expansions, leadership development and participation in bowling, golf and other special events.
In addition to President Jeff Bennett, other officers of the new chamber board of directors are Vice President Monty Knittel, from Adventist Health Northwest; Treasurer Bob Peterson, from MBank; Secretary Jill Critchfield, from Pacific HR; and Public Affairs Chair Ken Turner, from Eastport Plaza.
To join the East Portland Chamber of Commerce, or get information on their activities and services, check the website at www.eastportlandchamber.org. You can also email the new chamber at membership@eastportlandchamber.com, call 503-345-8589 or fax 503-573-4060.
Vietnam to Virginia to Gateway
The path to the American Dream led one Gateway businesswoman halfway around the world then back across the continent to the Pacific Northwest.
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| Nine Ball Sports Bar owner and operator Phuong Truong or PT (left) and bartender Shane Robertson prepare drinks for their thirsty customers. |
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| (above) Just before game time, Truong pours beer for one of her many happy customers. |
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| MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN |
Imbued with the desire to find her own way and succeed in her new country, PT, as Truong likes to be called, hit the ground running. “As soon as I got to the United States I started working two jobs and went to school,” she says.
A couple of years later, PT took a break to visit a cousin Portland and fell in love with the Northwest. In 1995, she pulled up stakes once again and relocated here.
With her Business Administration schooling, that All-American entrepreneurial spirit and with partner Jesse Aguilar, PT created Bid All Construction in 1999. They specialize in home siding and residential remodels.
1999 was a big year for this busy gal, as she also purchased Eight Balls of Fire, now Nine Ball Sports Bar at 11340 N.E. Halsey St. Truong, with the help of Chef Danny Tada claims to have created a classy neighborhood sports bar in Gateway. Tada is available to cater your special events or parties.
“I love the Gateway area,” Truong explains. “I have come to know many of my neighbors around Nine Ball, and they are wonderful people.”
Catering to NFL fans in the area, Nine Ball offers a breakfast buffet on Sunday mornings and a special buffet for Monday Night Football fans.
Nine Ball is open seven days a week. They serve up steaks, burgers and appetizers to go along with your favorite sporting event and they welcome groups. The fun starts at 11 a.m. weekdays and Saturdays and 9 a.m. on Sundays. PT, Chef Tada, bartender Shane Robertson, wait staff Jacqueline Carroll, Ann Pyles and the other 11 employees would love to help you plan your next special event. Drop in to see them or call 503-251-0130 for more information.
New location in Vancouver, U.S.A.
Parkrose Hardware is opening a second location in East Vancouver in January of 2004. The new store will be located on the corner of Southeast 164th Avenue and 1st Street in a newly remodeled building formerly occupied by Danielson’s Thriftway. Parkrose Hardware chose this location in Vancouver to fill the need for a full line hardware store in the rapidly growing eastern Clark County region.
Parkrose Hardware has been a family owned business serving Northeast Portland since 1948. Parkrose Hardware is one of the last real hardware stores left in the tri-county area. They stock over 50,000 items, many of which are hard to find anywhere else.
The new store will be similar in size and product selection to the Northeast Portland store. The East Vancouver location will have over 25,000 square feet of retail sales space and will cover a wide variety of products including an extensive selection of fasteners, tools, hardware, outdoor living, lawn and garden, outdoor nursery, paint, electrical, plumbing and a large in-store rental department.
For more information, please contact Michael Nelson, Director of Operations, at 503-256-3103.
Luxury apartments for seniors
Construction is underway for Courtyard at Russellville, a five-story senior independent living luxury apartment building located on Southeast 103rd Avenue and East Burnside Street. The facility is the second phase of Russellville Commons, a 600-unit pedestrian and transit-oriented multi-family residential neighborhood being build in three phases on the MAX light rail line.
Scheduled for completion in March, Courtyard at Russellville is designed for active adults 55 years and better. The facility will feature 154 studios as well as one and two bedroom apartment homes, ranging in size from 546 to 985 square feet. Designed by MCM architects of Portland, all apartments are located around a fully landscaped central courtyard that will serve as a gathering place for residents. In addition, all homes have full kitchens, with spacious bathrooms and closets.
Monthly rent will start at approximately $1025 and includes housekeeping services, local transportation to banks, grocery and activities, 24-hour security, free maintenance and all utilities except telephone. Optional meal and laundry services will be available as well as a fitness center, library and beauty salon.
“We are pleased to offer excellence in independent adult living through Courtyard at Russellville, said Larry Draper, a development partner. “We believe the Courtyard is ideal for the active senior who wants relaxed, carefree living without the maintenance associated with home ownership.”
Phase I of Russellville Commons, completed in 1999, features 283 multi-family flats and townhomes and received Builder Magazine’s 2000 Builder’s Choice Design Merit Award. The developers worked closely with the City of Portland to design the pedestrian-oriented community by subdividing the vacant Russellville elementary school site and continuing the grid pattern of the surrounding city blocks, connecting the complex, its daycare facility and community center to MAX light rail. A third phase of the Russellville neighborhood is currently in the design stage.
Courtyard at Russellville is currently accepting reservations. For more information, please call Jason Goodwill at 503-254-5900.
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