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Portland Business 2.0
How to do Business in the 21st Century
The annual APNBA conference is scheduled for October 23, 2007 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Oregon Convention Center. The conference offers education and networking opportunities for Portland’s association business leaders, as well as the 35,000+ small and microbusinesses served by these associations. For more information, contact Eva Schweber at eva@cubespacepdx.com.

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Save Lives - Save Money
Commissioner Adams took his ideas of how to find the funding to mend our broken streets to the public and met the expected resistance. Everyone wants the streets fixed and no one wants to spend any money doing it. The next series of meetings are to find ways to make the necessary more palatable. Still under consideration are a gas tax, a monthly business fee based on traffic generated, and any other feasible idea to come before the group.

APNBA is actively engaged in the discussions, which will continue through the rest of the year. Public meetings will provide an opportunity for citizen response before it goes to council for their approval.

Emergency Preparedness
The Northwest Industrial Neighborhood Association (NINA) with the cooperation of the Portland Office of Emergency Planning (POEM) is sponsoring a no-charge Business Emergency Preparedness Fair from 10am-2pm (lunch is included) on September 12, at Montgomery Park, 2701 NW Vaughn Street.

The event will help neighborhood businesses and their employees prepare for a catastrophic event such as an earth quake, a natural or man made emergency, or even a localized emergency such as a flood or fire.

Please RSVP before August 31 to Angela at angel@nwnw.org or 503-823-4211.

Crime Prevention
Any small business owner can invest in a video surveillance unit. These can now be purchased online cheaply and they are a significant deterrent. One very easy system may be found at http://www.wilife.com. It doesn't require wiring and allows you to monitor remotely.

A variety of surveillance options, including clever hidden cameras may be found at http://www.surveillance-video.com. If you're going to buy a system, google the model and find the best price. Dummy surveillance cameras are on the same site at http://www.surveillance-video.com/cacareloimse.html. These cost about $15 and run on batteries. When motion is detected, they pan and a red light comes on. An inexpensive surveillance option is to put one real camera directed on your cash register and dummy cameras in other parts of your store.

An idea for a one-person business is to install a wireless doorbell that rings in the store next door and set up a code where one ring asks the next door neighbor to check or two rings asks the neighbor to call the police. This would be helpful in situations that are disturbing or suspicious but don't quite justify calling the police or when one can't risk being seen calling the police. If you go to http://www.homedepot.com and search by "wireless doorbell" you'll find at least ten models starting at just $14.99. Home Depot also has a few surveillance cameras; just search under "surveillance".

This article is contributed by Wendy Ice, former editor of the Business Voice, who is willing to speak about her research on crime prevention for neighborhood merchants. For more information, contact her at delamare@teleport.com.

visionPDX update
Portland's long overdue vision report will be introduced to City Council on September 19th sometime in the evening.

Before it goes to council the report, containing the final vision, the top 3 - 5 initiatives on the community's list, and an engagement report will be made available to the community to review.

New Project Manager Stephanie Stephens points out two early results of community engagement. The Children's Bill of Rights is a youth led group working on an initiative for children's rights. Another group formed from those who responded to the survey is the Immigrant/Refugee Task Force, a group of 15 immigrants from all over the world who are bringing forward their common issues and their suggested solutions.

All the 30 business districts that took part in the survey are undoubtedly interested in what came of their time and thought.

Business District Events
July 26: Last Thursday, NE Alberta, www.artonalberta.org.

July 28: Division/Clinton Street Fair, 10:00 - 5:00 PM, Nancy Chapin, 503.774.2832.

July 29: Hillsdale Pancake Breakfast, Mike Roach, 503.246.3417.

July 29: 10 - 2 PM, Farmers Market, 7700 SE Stark, Alema McCrea, 503.318.5741.

August 2: First Thursday, Pearl District, 5:00 - 9:00 PM, http://www.firstthursday.org.

August 3: First Fridays
Multnomah Village, 5:00 - 9:00 PM, Joan Steinbach, 503.245.3936.
Division/Clinton, 6:00 - 9:00 PM Rin Carroll Jackson, rinzart@spiritone.com.
Greater Brooklyn, 5:00 - 9:00 PM, Madeline Janovic, 503.231.8346.

August 4:Fremont Fest, NE Fremont 40th - 50th, Matt Schumacher,503.460.9025.

August 4:Stark Street Stroll, SE Stark, 72nd - 82nd, Alema McCrea, 503.318.5741.

August 5:First Sunday, Old Town Chinatown, June Schumann, 503.224.1458.

August 9:Second Thursday, Hawthorne Blvd., Justin, 503.963.8200 503.224.1458.

August 16: Third Thursdays, Hollywood District, Jeffrey Baird, 503.331.7650.

August 18: Hawthorne Day, Hollywood District, Jeffrey Baird, 503.331.7650.

August 18: Nob Hill Street Fair, NW 21st & 23rd, Peggy Anderson, 503.706.6532.

August 18: Lents Founders Day, Lent Park, Ken Turner, 503.771.3817.

August 25: Upper Hawthorne Block Party, Hawthorne 40th - 55th, Karin Edwards, 503.230.0087.

August 30: Last Thursday, NE Alberta, www.artonalberta.org.

August 31 - Sept 2: Art in the Pearl, NW Park Blocks, Adele Nofield, 503.223.0070.

Tell us about your event - Contact the Editor.

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