Does your company invest in professional development for its employees? If not, now is a great time to reconsider. Investing in the professional growth of your employees has many benefits that more than justify any associated costs. In this post, we’ll look at five different reasons managers should make skill development a priority.

If you've ever left the Portland area to live where English wasn't the main spoken language—or even lived in a neighborhood of Portland where English was less common—you know the challenge non-native English speakers face daily. Even people with impeccable language skills must process many cultural, contextual, and idiomatic elements of the workplace while also doing whatever work you hired them to do.

The United States gains a lot of strength from being a place where people from anywhere can find their place and succeed. If your workplace has hired non-native English speakers, you must make an effort to promote strong communication between colleagues of different backgrounds. You may also need to account for more considerable language barriers, such as when coworkers or employees do their work well but with intermediate English language proficiency, resulting in misunderstandings.

By improving office communication and helping everyone get on the same page, you can make your workplace a safe and prosperous environment for native and non-native English speakers.

Catalyst Trade believes that "coffee is a sacrament," inviting us to grab a cup and join them as they revolutionize the way coffee is traded. Co-owner Emily McIntyre was looking for help growing her international business when she found the Oregon SBDC Network Global Trade Center and participated in the Global Trade Management program in the spring of 2020. Faced with the challenges of building a business across multiple continents and cultures, compounded by a global pandemic, Emily was inspired by the class sessions on cultural competency taught by David Kohl. After years of preparation, Catalyst Trade is excited to finally launch their vertical integration in Ethiopia, along with introducing Kenya and Peru as new coffee origins. As Catalyst Trade continues to lean on the PCC SBDC to help them grow, Emily and her team work hard to transform the future of coffee.

Learn more about Emily's story below!

Kayla Banda moved to Portland from Reno, Nevada during the COVID pandemic. Having worked at the Small Business Development Center in Reno, she reached out to inquire about assisting small businesses in Portland and was immediately welcomed to the PCC SBDC team.

After 22 years at the PCC SBDC, Jackie Babicky Peterson still has enthusiasm! Sean Harry sat down with Jackie in March 2022 to catch up on what she is up to these days. 

Becca Schultz started developing her piano pedagogy while still a student at Portland State University. Since then she has helped hundreds of students learn to play and enjoy music, while simultaneously employing multiple musicians as teachers. Her business has grown so much in the past couple of years that they have recently had to move to a newly renovated location with the help of the PCC Small Business Development Center team.  This is her story...

Five clients of the PCC Small Business Development Center have been selected as 2022 recipients of the Good Food Award by The Good Food Foundation. These 5 business owners are all graduates of the Getting Your Recipe to Market program that teaches entrepreneurs how to produce, promote and sell their culinary recipes. Here is a list of the 5 winners and their products. Please join us in reaching out and saying "CONGRATULATIONS" to these winners -- and don't forget to look for them in your local grocery and/or farmer's market!

Mathilde Wilson owns Mathilde's Kitchen beverage company using fresh and locally sourced ingredients that showcase the vibrant Haitian/Caribbean flavors. Mathilde is a graduate of the PCC Small Business Development Center's "Getting Your Recipe to Market" program and proud recipient of the 2022 Good Food Award. This is her story...

Bruce works on the OSBDC Network Capital Access Team and teaches segments on lending for every program. With a wide variety of background in a broad swath of industries (from journalism, to energy efficiency companies), Bruce brings insight, knowledge, and experience to Oregon businesses looking for capital to grow.