Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Small Business Network names 'Champion'

Photos and story by James Hill

PORTLAND, Ore. Charles P. (Chuck) Jones, president of the small business consulting firm Chuck Jones and Associates, Inc. is the 2006 recipient of the Oregon Small Business Development Center Eldon Guy Schafer Award.

Tom Lowles, the SBDC director at Portland Community College, nominated Jones for the award. The honor recognizes individuals who make a significant difference to small business in their community and help champion small business innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Chuck is a serial entrepreneur and he’s a real inspiration to others,” Lowles said. “He has founded nine companies and is now working on his 10th, having started his first company when he was 12 years old. But Chuck has also donated countless hours to helping other small businesses succeed. He’s been a strong advocate for small business. We wanted to recognize his contributions to Oregon.”

The award from the Oregon Small Business Development Center Network was created in honor of Eldon G. Schafer, former president of Lane Community College. Schafer was an educational entrepreneur who encouraged innovation, believed small businesses were the foundation of Oregon’s economy, and established the small business assistance center at Lane, which eventually became the statewide SBDC network.

“I am honored to be part of Dr. Schafer’s legacy,” Jones said. “He was an educator and a visionary. I advocate for small business success because it empowers individuals and also helps makes our region economically strong.”

In addition to founding and directing his own companies, Jones has also held top corporate management jobs in the medical field, including Baxter Laboratories and Beckton Dickenson. He was one of the first non-specialists admitted to the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs, an organization of physicians and engineers.

Jones has mentored a number of businesses throughout his career, which began in 1958 with Baxter. He currently consults small businesses in the finance, medical, restaurant, beverage distribution, general manufacturing, land development and real estate fields.

Jones has been an active member of the Portland Business Alliance (Portland’s Chamber of Commerce) since 1984, and currently serves on the group’s board of directors. He helped found the Portland Metropolitan Small Business Alliance within the chamber, which became the Small Business Council. The council helps address small business issues and needs and Jones is chair emeritus. He is also an ex-officio member of the Governor’s Small Business Council and a member of Portland’s Small Business Advisory Council.

In 1992, Jones started the chamber’s CEO Connection to give small business owners an opportunity to exchange ideas and learn from one another. He was also involved in the formation and development of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum, a group that serves start-up enterprises and provides networking and other activities to help businesses develop.

In addition to small business consulting, Jones is a certified financial planner and advisor with the wealth management firm The H Group.

“Chuck has been a great advocate to men and women of small business in the state of Oregon for many years,” said William Carter, State Director of the Oregon Small Business Development Center Network.

Portland Community College is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon, serving approximately 91,000 full- and part-time students. For more PCC news, please visit us on the Web at www.pcc.edu/news. PCC has three comprehensive campuses, five workforce training and education centers, and 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The PCC district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.