April 2007: Dispatches
MEDFORD — Gift-basket powerhouse Harry and David earned a
record $115.4 million during the second quarter of the 2007
fiscal year. Oft-delayed plans to take the company public with
an IPO have been put off again until June at the earliest,
according to company executives. Harry and David employs about
1,300 people year-round but depending on the season the number
of employees can swell to around 10,000, making the company the
largest employer in Southern Oregon. Harry and David owns about
130 stores throughout the country.
MEDFORD — For 15 years the eight-person staff at the
Southern Oregon Women’s Access to Credit (SOWAC) helped
new and existing business owners establish their companies.
About 700 people per year came through the center’s doors
before it was forced to close in mid-February along with the
Medford and Grants Pass offices due to a lack of funding. David
Tally, an instructor and consultant with SOWAC, says that as
the center’s funding decreased after the 2005 death of
executive director Helen Wallace, former trainers and
consultants began to form a consortium to offer the same types
of services as SOWAC. The consortium, The Business Center at
Tally Media Group, will function like a Rolodex, using the pool
of consultants who worked with SOWAC to assist small businesses
with a specific problem.
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