Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic Portland's Bricks and Minifigs store focused primarily on walk in sales. When the State of Oregon required people to stay home the store's owner, Spencer Crandall, had to make some adjustments in order to survive. Working with the PCC Small Business Development Center's Advisers, Spencer was able to gain important information about what he would need to do to take a portion of his business online. This is his story. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic nearly 100% of Mimi Martin's Wine & Spirit Archive's revenue came from in-person classes. The restrictions on gatherings in Oregon forced her to redesign existing courses to offer online training. Mimi was able to develop new classes suited to the stay at home orders. Her “Wine Class in a Box” provides a unique antidote to the isolation many people are experiencing. This is her story of resilience and adaptation.

Making the leap towards pursuing your dream of running a restaurant, or food cart, or breaking into the food service industry takes a lot of hard work, patience, preparation and planning before you even hit the "start" button. The competitive industry requires a steadfast focus for all of the aspects that come with running your own business. You must prepare to face unexpected challenges, and learn how to become a master marketer.

Amy Boggs owns and operates a local cleaning company that is on the cutting edge of innovation.  Amy opened Sparkling Places in 2002 in an effort to afford to continue her college education and has turned to cutting edge technology to expand her business to address the needs of customers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. 

Oliver Alexander started the co-working space (Remote.ly) just over a year ago on March 7, 2019. They were just beginning to turn a profit, hitting the black for the first time in February 2020. Then Covid-19 hit and their momentum was wiped out. The Federal PPP and EIDL programs helped them survive. Now Remote.ly is looking forward to reopening their doors as Multnomah County enters Phase I of reopening, but things will look very different for Oliver and his customers. This is the story of how Remote.ly is building resilience during challenging times.

The newly designed Business Builders program is designed to help our clients put a strong foundation under their growing businesses. This unique program consists of 10 sessions, each three hours long, each focused on one of the critical elements necessary to help you develop strong roots for your growing business while creating  systems and processes to ensure long term resiliency, flexibility and success.

Being forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to pivot sales to 100% online was tough for Rita Hudson-Evalt (owner of Portland's Union Rose), but she was able to make it work with the help of her customers, staff and PCC SBDC Advisers. Now, as the state of Oregon begins to open back up, she faces a similar set of challenges. This is how she is responding to them. 

Meegan Gregg started Backbody Project in 2016 to meet her own personal workout needs. The business grew and she was ready to lease her own space until Covid-19 hit in March, throwing a curveball her direction. Taking her business online (reluctantly) has proven to be a tremendous success. April was one of her strongest months ever! This is her story...

Celeste Sipes joined the PCC SBDC team in February of 2020 -- Just in time for a global pandemic to hit Portland that has dramatically influenced small retail businesses. But Celeste, who also owns a successful online retail business, is up to the challenge! These are indeed difficult times for brick and mortar retailers who are trying to figure out how to continue to operate without the normal flow of physical customers. Below is the story of how Celeste is able to provide a sense of sanity in a time of upheaval.