Oregon Business

BY TY KIISEL | BIZ TIPS CONTRIBUTOR

Should small business owners consider blogging and social media to promote their businesses? Yes—and maybe, provided you do it right. 


 

BY LINDA BAKER | OREGON BUSINESS EDITOR

New business accelerators sprout, underscoring their importance to the entrepreneurial ecosystem while raising questions about incubator success rates.
 
 

What can a private company do, to harness the kind of intellectual firepower that most of us can’t even access in our wildest dreams? Recruit an Advisory Board.

About 53% of CEOs said that they see a lack of skills as a major challenge facing their organization. Nearly 55% of workers feel pressure to acquire new skills. But here’s the catch, only 25% of them actually feel like they are getting the support that they need. It’s simply not working. We’re not preparing for the future if we don’t invest in the present.

As plans for new stores and developments move forward, Portland's downtown retail district is undergoing a new, iconic growth phase.

Now that our neighbors to the north have legalized same-sex marriage with Referendum 74, supporters hope Oregon will do the same on the next ballot in November 2014. The economic impact to Oregon could number in the millions. 

Twenty years after the Pacific Northwest was designated a high-speed rail corridor, Oregon begins planning a Eugene-to-Portland high-speed rail project.

For 10 years, Jill struggled to make a profit. At over $8 million in sales, her specialty call center should have been providing her with annual profits of 8-12% or between $640,000 and a million dollars. Instead she paid herself a “good-enough” salary and saw profits trickle in at 1/2% — just $50,000.  She didn’t own a business, she owned a job. Jill had done strategic planning of the “blue sky” variety many times. That kind of planning is worthless, says leadership expert Tom Cox.

During a talk at the Portland Business Alliance Forum, Oregon economist John Mitchell predicts slow progress for 2013, long-term stagnation and an epic clash of generations.

HP's profitability is getting crushed and Microsoft's Windows 8 gamble hasn't exactly revolutionized the computing world.  Each of these companies has pursued a misguided path in the name of "strategy".  The truth is that this direction wasn't a viable strategy for either company because it didn't address the real problems either one faced.

Good strategy lets you outmaneuver your bigger competitors. Bad strategy can sink your business. Here are three insights from leadership expert Tom Cox that you can use to harness strategic thinking and planning for your small business.

With elephant calf Lily nearly three weeks old, the Oregon Zoo has a more tangible reason to expand their elephant enclosure. On Tuesday, Metro unanimously approved two resolutions to help the state’s most popular paid tourist attraction expand.

Create and measure success, month by month, with a CEO (or Executive) Calendar.

In the aftermath of recent shootings, Oregon gun businesses report an increase in sales, and a surge in the personal protection market.

An influential Salem lobbyist weighs in on Gov. John Kitzhaber’s health care and early childhood learning plans, the future of Oregon Head Start and the inner workings of that mysterious entity, the Oregon Committee.

Oregon prides itself on having the longest ski season in the U.S., with November-May openings. But a new report projects climate change will warm winter temperatures 4-10 degrees by the end of the century, threatening the long snow season that allows Oregon's winter sports industry to thrive.

Part of your end-of-year routine should be to take stock. What did you learn in 2012? How will you make 2013 better? This is a form of benchmarking. Comparing yourself to yourself, and to others, and looking for ways to do better. Leadership expert Tom Cox tells you how to do it.

A new 19,000-square-foot indoor development is being built in downtown La Grande that mixes retail, education space and a business incubator all in one venue.

Humans are highly impacted by having even their small successes noticed. You don’t need to give awards or assemble the team for a public presentation. Just notice and acknowledge. You don’t have to say “good job” — just acknowledgement by a person in a position of authority is pleasant. And being ignored is unpleasant.

Five Oregon companies were honored by the Oregon Governor's office as leaders in the sustainability field at the NWEC conference.