In 2008, Diana Marsden made her dream a reality, and opened Aries Apparel, a sporting goods and apparel store just for women and girls.

Don’t let the office size fool you. Pacific Networks has big plans outside of the Portland Metro region. Nuon Suon started the company in 2006 providing telecommunication systems to businesses, but his plan has always been to export to his home country of Cambodia. Soon after Nuon hired Charles King as office manager, they formally started looking into exporting to Cambodia as a separate division of Pacific Networks.  The economy in Cambodia is booming and “they want American-made products,” Charles explains.

Nutcase Helmets’ story begins at the Oregon State and University of Oregon rivalry game. Michael Morrow, former creative director at Nike, wanted to properly cheer on his team, the Beavers; he took an old helmet and bolted rubber ducks with drawn-on uniform numbers and crossed out eyes. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Michael stumbled upon niche – helmets that are fun to wear and an outlet for self-expression. And so, with his wife Miriam Berman, Nutcase Helmets was born in 2000.

Mark Newman’s business story starts in Columbus, Ohio.  While working for a major tool manufacturer, Mark started a miniature-horse cart company. He wanted to grow his business, but realized the cart business would not generate the profits he desired to support his family. With some insight from a friend, Mark decided to buy a business.