T H E M O N T H LY B U S I N E S S S E C T I O N F O R L I N N A N D B E N T O N C O U N T I E S A N D T H E M I D - W I L L A M E T T E VA L L E Y
www.democratherald.com/business • www.gazettetimes.com/business
August 2012
Anissa Arthenayake of OSU Federal, pictured in her office near Oregon State University, teaches personal finance skills at schools all over the mid-valley. Amanda Cowan | Mid-Valley InBusiness
Investing in students Businesses share specialized knowledge, skills in schools By JENNIFER ROUSE
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n an ideal world, schools would have the money to fund one-on-one career training for every high school student. They would buy seedlings for every kid in the district, accompanied by lessons from a horticulturist on how to care for them. Work crews would give a fresh coat of paint to every school that needs it, just so things would look nice when school started in the fall. Turns out, all those things and more are happening in mid-valley schools. They’re just not funded by the state. As school budgets fluctuate, mid-valley businesses are filling in the gaps for K-12 education. From helping in the classroom to donating materials to funding special projects, partnerships between schools and businesses are flourishing in the mid-valley, with results that both educators and businesspeople rave about. “Anything you need, they step up,” said Donna Keim, career learning coordinator at Corvallis High School. “Working at career conventions, fundraisers for sports and for theater, and the graduation all-night party. Grants you can apply for. We have a very supportive community.” And the generosity doesn’t stop at writing checks. Some local businesses offer their services in the classroom. Anissa Arthenayake, community educator with OSU Federal Credit Union, teaches personal finance classes at schools throughout the mid-valley. A half-credit of personal finance used to be a part of the required high school curriculum in Oregon, but that requirement was removed by the legislature in 1997. Although personal finance is among the broad array of topics that is supposed to be covered in current social science coursework (other areas include history, civics, geography and economics) there is no specific credit requirement for it. “Some teachers tell me that they feel inadequate to teach it because finance is not their strength,” Arthenayake said. “Or sometimes, I am teaching to students who have already received education in personal finance, but hearing it from a different voice helps it click.” OSU Federal provides Arthenayake’s time as well as classroom handouts for all students, free of charge to any
one does who works in a greenhouse, and most of them really didn’t know anything about it,” said Anna Sokolov, business-to-school liaison for Albany Options School. “The kids got really into it. It was wonderful that Hart’s took the initiative on their own to offer this to us.” It’s providing special activities like that — hands-on experiences that schools might not be able to afford on their own — that make partnerships so beneficial for students. Nancy Kirks has seen it firsthand when she works with students at the Lebanon School District’s “Planting Seeds of Change” community garden. Kirks, the community health improvement partnership coordinator for Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, says she’s watched students who were at risk gain in skills and confidence after working in the school gardens. “For kids, it’s so important to get outdoors and experiDavid Patton | Mid-Valley InBusiness ence a classroom without walls,” she said. The Planting Jordyn Taylor-Brown, 9, right, used her brother’s old boots as Seeds of Change project is a collaboration between containers to hold tomato plants and Valerie Brown, 8, plant- Lebanon schools, Samaritan Health, Oregon State Univered hers in a Tootsie Roll container last spring when Hart’s sity’s Master Gardener program, and many other volunNursery came to Periwinkle Elementary School in Albany for a teers. It’s been studied by communities from as far away science lesson on gardening. as Africa as a model for garden partnerships, Kirks said. “When an entire community cares holistically about school that requests it. She said OSU Federal sees this as the child, it makes a difference,” she said. a service toward improving the community’s financial soundness. A day at the fair “The best scenario would be for schools to have a class on Some of the most familiar partnerships for schools are the personal finance,” she said.But since many don’t,Arthenayake ones that focus on career-learning job shadows and apspends her days teaching students about credit scores and prenticeships. Hundreds of businessmen and women help checkbook registers. “This is part of our values,” she said. “It’s an important part of giving back to the community.” out at annual career fairs and assist at mock interviews. “These are real professionals who take time out of their day for this,” Sokolov said.“After the interview, they go through Gardening lessons step by step to talk about the student’s resume,their strengths OSU Federal is not alone in taking its employees’ spe- and weaknesses, even about how they dressed. They might cialized knowledge and offering it to local schools. not believe their teachers, but when they hear someone else This spring, Hart’s Nursery, a wholesale nursery business tell them they wouldn’t get hired if they came to an interview based in Jefferson, offered to send a representative to every dressed that way — then all of a sudden they’re listening.” school in Albany and Jefferson for a science lesson on garBusinesses also fund sports teams and choir trips, prodening. The nursery also donated seedlings and soil so that vide grants and donate items. Churches, community every child could have a hands-on planting activity and take groups and businesses donate expertise and even plain old home a plant of their own. For high school students, they manual labor for mid-valley schools. focused their lesson on horticulture as a career field. “They asked students if they had any idea what someSEE INVESTING | A7
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MID-VALLEY InBusiness
August 2012
Networking tips for the introvert A Q&A with Joseph Bailey MID-VALLEY INBUSINESS
Provided photo
Spenser Wellen, second from left, and Jackson Wellen, right, both students at Crescent Valley High School, were two of about 150 high schoolers from around the state who participated in Young Entrepreneurs Business Week in July. With them are Alexandra Daly, left, of St. Mary’s Academy in Portland, and Michelle Vollmuller of Tigard High School.
Students learn the biz Program gives high schoolers opportunities to become professionals By MARIA KIRKPATRICK tockholder presentations, business plans and mutual fund pitches don’t sound like typical summer activities for high-school students. But for nearly 150 students recently on campus at Oregon State University, that’s exactly what they did. High-schoolers from around the state got together in July to participate in Young Entrepreneurs Business Week. Leadership training, mock interviews and etiquette classes provided real-life experience. Teenagers worked together to form companies and work on marketing plans. They polished investor pitches and performed in front of seasoned professionals, who provide positive feedback. “I’m blown away by these kids and what they learn,” said Kelly O’Brien,executive director of Young Entrepreneurs Business Week. “It’s a fully immersive business experience. It’s really far reaching.” The program is based in Salem, and has been held at OSU since 2008. The effort was formed because of growing concerns that students weren’t getting the financial education they needed in high school.
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Three-year program The program progresses over three years, with each year building upon the last. First-year students participate in a business simulation and present mock stockholders a recap of the last 12 quarters.They also create business plans and compete against other companies to showcase their new products and service. The objective is to convince investors their company would be a good investment. Second-year students have assigned roles as junior stock analysts and pitch mutual funds. They research and analyze two established companies of their choice and present their findings to judges. Third-year students re-
DAT E B O O K Aug. 28: Business Luncheon: “The Future of Healthcare.” Presenter: Rick Rebel, licensed benefits consultant, Western States Employee Benefit Planning, and Brian Long, certified public accountant, AKT. Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Central Willamette Community Credit Union, 7101 Supra Drive S.W., Albany. Cost: $15, chamber members; $20, nonmembers. Info: Melanie Place, 541-812-8652. Aug. 28: “Authentic Networking.” Time: 8 a.m. to noon, Fireside Room, room CC-211, Calapooia Center, Linn-Benton Community College, 6500 Pacific Blvd. S.W., Albany. Cost: $79 per person, or $69 per person for three or more from the same company. Register Monday and be entered into a drawing for the book “Networking for People Who Hate Networking.” Info: 541-917-4923.
FYI
Volunteers are needed every year to fill various positions during the week. Interested professionals can find information online at www.yebw. org. Parents also can visit the site and sign up their high school student. Next year, the program will be in Corvallis Aug. 4-10. Cost is $695 with scholarships available. Much of the expense is offset by supporting businesses. search and evaluate the viability of a potential business, write a business plan and pitch the concept to a mentor. “It’s so fun watching kids get excited about business enterprises,” said Jim Denham, legal counsel for ATI Wah Chang in Albany. “What I see is really impressive. It’s very encouraging and an uplifting experience.” Denham volunteered for an afternoon to give mock interviews. The mock interviews are sometimes the first time these teens have experience talking to other adults in a professional manner. “It’s a very validating experience,” Denham said. “We have students who are really impressive people.”
Getting the word out Only about 10 percent of the participants in the program come from the midvalley. Troy Coady, the program manager, said it hasn’t been easy to get out the word across the mid-valley.Coady is willing to visit schools and make presentations, but getting invited has been a challenge. “Teachers are pretty jealously guarding their time, as they should, and don’t want to make time for someone to come in and make a presentation not in their curriculum,” O’Brien said. But Coady notes that business skills come in handy for students regardless of what they end up doing. “Business skills, leader-
Music is his hobby and Wellen hopes to earn money as a disc jockey. This year, he took advantage of the business plan exercise and made his own, complete with a PowerPoint presentation, to establish DJ Suspense, providing music for parties, weddings and events. Wellen now has a plan in place that may put him through college. “It’s pretty impressive,” said Gloria Sica, owner of Fulcrum Drive, a Philomath company that helps guide Oregon entrepreneurs. Sica sat on a panel that made the life and death decisions about students’ financial reviews. “I was surprised that kids at this point in their life would put a week of their summer doing business,” Sica said. Sica was part of the judging for second-year students representing junior stock analysts and pitching mutual funds. Students presented their findings, then recommend to buy, hold or sell based on their analysis. “Considering the time they’d been working on their presentations, they were very impressive,” Sica said. “You could tell they worked hard and learned a lot. They were very confident in front of the six of us in the classroom.” Sica said regardless of what future these students seek, they take with them fundamental business skills and character-building experience gained under deadline and stress. And that’s the whole idea, O’Brien said. “What we are trying to do is support the future generation of business leaders in the state,” O’Brien said. “We are able to, hopefully, prime Building a plan the pump for the future of Such is the result for Oregon’s prosperity.” Spenser Wellen, a senior at Crescent Valley High School. Maria L. Kirkpatrick is a Wellen was enrolled in the freelance writer based in program three years ago by Corvallis. his mother. He returned each year eager to learn more and has applied his experience to start his own business. “I laid the groundwork while at camp,” Wellen said. I got some good advice.” ship skills and communication skills are useful in anything they do,” Coady said. “Networking and knowing people is really important and this is a good stepping stone to get there.” Jennifer Villalobos, an OSU graduate, volunteers to teach the networking skills and dining etiquette lessons of the week. Villalobos has been involved with the program for five years.She said OSU’s Students in Free Enterprise program got involved and,working with the Austin Entrepreneurship Program,brought the program to the Corvallis campus in 2008.The partnership allows for more OSU student involvement and gives the high school students more of a true college perspective as they live in Weatherford Hall. Students also receive college credit. Villalobos graduated from OSU with her master’s degree in business and returned to campus as a volunteer in the program. She said the program is vital as high schools continue to cut back on business education. “It gives students an opportunity to see what the business world is about and that there is a business side to every occupation,” Villalobos said. “For many of them it is the first time they are exposed. They come in overwhelmed and realize they can run a mini company and start something while they are in high school. They don’t have to wait to become entrepreneurs. It gives them a whole new world of possibilities they don’t even think about.”
You hear all the time about the importance of networking to business success — but what if you don’t feel you have the type of personality that’s well-suited to succeed at networking events? Relax, says Joseph Bailey. Bailey, who teaches leadership training at Linn-Benton Community College, has more than 30 years of experience in training, consulting, facilitation and coaching. He says it’s a matter of finding a style of networking that best suits your personality. Mid-Valley InBusiness recently asked Bailey to share some networking tips for introverts. Here are his responses, edited just a bit for space. InBusiness: How can introverts rise above their natural tendencies to become successful networkers? Joseph Bailey: First and foremost, don’t try to be an extrovert. It seems that one of the reasons that people with introversion tendencies have such an aversion to networking is an Joseph Bailey expectation that they have to be gregarious and extroverted. Play to your strengths. Go to meetings that align with your interests. Find people who have similar interests and find out about them. Who says it has to be at large events? Ask someone in a business to have coffee with you, find out about their business. InBusiness: People who are terrified of public speaking often are advised to picture their audiences in their underwear. Is there similar advice that might be useful for a shy networker? Bailey: There is a distinction between introversion and shyness. (Shyness is aversion to social interaction that is connected to fear of negative judgments and introversion is a preference for quiet, minimally stimulating environments.) The person who has shy tendencies is going to have a much more difficult time interacting with people they don’t know. The best approach for this type is to network one-on-one. It is unrealistic to expect someone with a shyness tendency to go to a traditional meet and greet and be successful at connecting with others. Introversion is a different story. When I coach people high in introversion, one thing I tell them is that there are a lot of other introverts in the room with them — go find one or two of them. It’s OK to just talk with one person for the whole event. No need to be the social butterfly (that works for the gregarious extrovert). You can notice them because they are standing on the fringe or taking their time going through the food table or not talking to others. Most people want to find someone to connect with at an event — I’ve never met anyone who goes to a social networking event to be alone! By going over and talking with someone, you are helping them. Another suggestion I offer
is that networking is about relationship-building. It isn’t about closing a sale! A sale of your product may come about due to your relationship, but people don’t expect to buy something from you at networking events. It is about getting to know other people, finding out commonalities, listening to what they have to say. Now this may sound really out there, but there are a lot of lonely people and by spending some time learning about them, you help fulfill a very basic human need: to be connected. In turn, this could extend your business or make a connection that is useful in the future. InBusiness: Should a networker have a 30-second elevator speech ready and rehearsed? Bailey: I’ve never been a fan of the 30-second elevator speech, maybe because it isn’t something that has ever been appealing to me, nor very useful. First and foremost, it is invaluable to have five or six questions you are ready to ask. People like to talk about themselves and they want to be heard. I think being prepared with questions works well: What is your name? Where do you work and what do you do? How long have you been there? What brought you into that line of work? What do you think of this event? Have you been to one of these before? Then be prepared to listen and ask follow-up questions. If a person is responding with one-word or short sentences, then say “thank you” and go talk to someone else. Now, it is important to have things you want to say about yourself and your business. Write down the three things you want everyone to know about you and your work. That is important, to have responses to people’s questions, but not the canned elevator speech approach; that is too stilted. One thing I do coach people on is to learn from successful athletes who practice and visualize before going into any match or game. If someone really wants to be better at networking, they need to practice. Practice the questions in front of a mirror or family. Have someone else take on the persona of a stranger. I think people just assume that they should be good at networking because they are a human being. Practice, practice, practice. InBusiness: What’s the pep talk you’d give yourself right before you take the plunge and make eye contact in a crowded room to start networking? Bailey: First, your readers need to know that I have more introversion than extroversion. I remember that we are all very similar behind our titles, education and convenient descriptors. I want to know something meaningful about one other person when I leave the event. I also remind myself that I’m there not just for me personally, but also representing LBCC. This question also brings to mind something my first mentor told me around 30 years ago. He was coaching me about talking in front of a group and said, “Remember, you already know way more than anyone else in the room.” Networking is about people meeting people and each person already knows more about themselves than anyone else in the room.
B US I N ES S DATA June 2012
July 2012 11.8
8.2 8.3
9.6
U.S.
10.8 11.1
8.5 8.7 6.8 6.1 6.3
Benton Co.
Oregon
Thousands
July 2011
9.1
Linn Co.
Source: Oregon Employment Department Note: Data are seasonally adjusted.
325 300 275 250 225 200 175 150 125
273,580 Benton County Linn County
191,847
Albany N. Albany Brownsville Corvallis
Units sold past year
Average sales prices
July 2012
July 2011
July 2012
July 2011
430 115 23 466
156,226 225,486 197,184 291,740
150,764 242,305 153,636 275,707
2009
2010
2011
2012
Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service
Average sales price
433 110 19 525
151,752
2008
Independence Jefferson Lebanon Philomath Sweet Home
Units sold past year
Units sold past year
Average sales prices
Average sales price
July 2012
July 2011
July 2012
July 2011
66 45 281 81 129
48 57 288 73 135
147,822 170,850 138,109 234,498 128,219
220,115 201,679 137,109 251,152 113,430
Source: Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Service
Corvallis MSA (Benton County) Nonfarm Payroll Employment Source: Oregon Employment Department
July ’11 1,230 3,320 4,330 790 1,400 3,790 5,620 3,260 1,180 640 7,880 2,480
Change from June ’12 July ’11 60 -10 40 -100 60 140 10 0 20 0 70 80 -40 100 -190 -240 -20 10 20 -30 -1,930 450 -190 260
Mining, logging and construction Manufacturing Trade, transportation and utilities Information Financial activities Professional and business services Educational and health services Leisure and hospitality Other services Federal government State government Local government
July ’12 1,220 3,220 4,470 790 1,400 3,870 5,720 3,020 1,190 610 8,330 2,740
June ’12 1,160 3,180 4,410 780 1,380 3,800 5,760 3,210 1,210 590 10,260 2,930
Total nonfarm payroll employment
36,580
38,670
35,920
-2,090
July ’12
June ’12
July ’11
Change from June ’12 July ’11
2,150 6,570 8,590 360 1,280 3,100 4,650 3,030 1,300 340 1,210 4,500
2,050 6,540 8,510 360 1,260 3,030 4,860 3,060 1,310 330 1,200 5,730
2,310 6,820 8,410 380 1,260 3,050 4,630 3,080 1,290 350 1,240 4,530
100 30 80 0 20 70 -210 -30 -10 10 10 -1,230
-160 -250 180 -20 20 50 20 -50 10 -10 -30 -30
37,080
38,240
37,350
-1,160
-270
Linn County Nonfarm Payroll Employment Source: Oregon Employment Department Mining, logging and construction Manufacturing Trade, transportation and utilities Information Financial activities Professional and business services Educational and health services Leisure and hospitality Other services Federal government State government Local government Total nonfarm payroll employment
in Denver, where she was Speech therapists at Samarichief resident. tan Physical Rehabilitation in She received Corvallis have a new way to iden- her medical tify problems with swallowing. degree in With fiberoptic endoscopic evalu- 2009 from ation, a tiny fiberoptic scope is in- Texas College serted into the nose and posiof Osteopathic tioned so the back of the throat Medicine in Lauren Gray can be viewed on a monitor. This Fort Worth, test is commonly done on paand was tients who have suffered a stroke; named outstanding student in have a neurodegenerative disfamily medicine in 2009. She is ease, pneumonia, head and/or certified by the American Board neck cancers, traumatic brain in- of Family Medicine. juries or a chronic cough; or exGray is accepting new patients. perience coughing while eating. To schedule an appointment, call With this tool, speech thera541-929-2922. pists can find out if food is going into the airway instead of the Keller Williams Realty has anstomach (aspiration); which nounced the parts of the mouth and throat addition of a may not be working well; which new agent to kinds of food are safest for the its Albany patient to swallow; and if certain branch: Matt positions or strategies help the Junge. Origipatient swallow better. nally from For more information, call 541- Madras, Junge 768-5157. has been in the Willamette Officers & Directors Valley for 12 Matt Junge years and has Grace Center for Adult Day Services has welcomed Deanna six years of real estate experience. His specialties include resiDyksterhuis to its board of didential, acreage, farm/ranch, rectors. multi-family, and investment Dyksterhuis properties. and her husJunge has joined the Andrea band farmed Beem Team as a buyer’s special1,500 acres of ist and can be reached at 541strawberries 760-9071 or matt@ansouth of Cordreabeem.com. vallis before retiring in Longtime Albany accounting 2003. Deanna firm Koontz & Perdue P.C., at 920 Deanna joined the Elm St., has added a third name board of Grace Dyksterhuis to its marquis and is now Koontz, Center after Perdue, Blasquez & Co. P.C. losing her husband to The new name became official Alzheimer’s dementia. She valon July 1. Debbie Blasquez, CPA, ues the center’s services to the who has been a minor owner of elderly and disabled as a help to the firm for 11 years, is now halfcaregivers as well. owner with Richard D. Perdue, CPA. They will share the comPeople on the Move pany name with retired Fred Ellen Kraus Koontz, who maintains the role has joined of shareholder emeritus and Coldwell continues to be available to clients. The firm opened in 1954 Banker Valley and has operated under various Brokers in names in Albany for 60 years. Corvallis. She can be Powell Construction in Correached at vallis recently welcomed Oscar 541-224-3590. Martinez to its team of design Ellen Kraus and remodeling professionals. Lauren Gray Martinez is a craftsman with 20 is the newest physician at The Corvallis Clinic years of carpentry experience. From framing to finish carpentry, Philomath Family Medicine. he takes pride in his work. Gray joins Bruce Byram, Shawn Powell Construction is a fullFoley and Lorri Hendon. service design/build company She recently completed her residency and internship in fam- established in 1990 and specializing in kitchen/bath remodeling ily medicine at the University of Colorado Health Science Center and additions.
News & Notes
299,687
Mid-Valley Residential Report Units sold past year
MOVERS&SHAKERS
Residential Average Sales Price by Area
Unemployment Rate 16% 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0
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U O I N D E X O F EC O N O M I C I N D I CATO RS The numbers: The University of Oregon Index of Economic Indicators slipped 0.3 percent in June to 91.5 (1997 = 100), its first decline since November 2011. The good news: Not too much in June, said the report’s author, Timothy Duy of the University of Oregon Department of Economics. Of the seven components in the index, only the weight-distance tax, a measure of trucking activity, posted even a modest increase. The bad news: All the other components in the index were either flat or weaker, including initial unemployment claims, employment service payrolls (mostly temporary hiring), residential building permits, U.S. consumer sentiment, new orders for capital goods and the interest rate spread.
the economy is growing at an above-average rate.) Duy noted that growth “should 92 continue to be supported by the national economy, but 91 here again activity remains muted relative to that neces90 sary to rapidly reduce the unemployment risk.” In addi89 tion, he said, “it remains important to monitor risks to 88 the forecast,” including a cooling economy in China, 87 the continuing European financial crisis, and uncer86 tainty about domestic fiscal Jan.-12 Feb.-12 March-12 April-12 May-12 June-12 policy in 2013. “In short,” he concluded, “while slow but steady growth remains the The upshot: Duy said the Economic Activity, slipped to baseline scenario, there appear to be more downside numbers continue to suggest minus 0.45 in June from than upside risks at the continued growth in Oregon, May’s plus 0.27 mark. (A “albeit at a rate below what measure of zero corresponds moment.” To learn more: Check out would normally be associated to the average growth rate for the full report at the website with expansion.” the period, in this case from http://pages.uoregon.edu/oe Another view: Duy’s other 1990 to the present. A numindex, the Oregon Measure of ber above zero indicates that fweb/
Index, 1997 = 100
Investing Continued from page A5 For the last several years, hundreds of community members have participated in Serve INC, a work day in which giant teams of service-minded folks spend a weekend painting and beautifying entire schools in Albany and Jefferson. Without the Serve INC effort, the school painting jobs would simply sit on a list of deferred projects. In a written statement thanking the organizers of Serve INC, superintendent Maria Delapoer estimated the value of their contributions in 2012 alone at $50,000. Business representatives say that while these partnerships may not provide any immediate financial payback, they are valuable because they create a stable, healthy community — and that’s an environment that’s beneficial to any business’ bottom line. “School partnerships are about developing a connection to the community,” Kirks said. “It’s letting kids know that it’s not just the school, it’s the entire community that is there to support them.”
Jennifer Rouse is a freelance writer who lives in Albany.