This content was published: May 9, 2008. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Babicky-Peterson earns President's Award from Portland Business Alliance
Photos and story by James Hill
Jackie Babicky-Peterson of the Portland Community College Small Business Development Center is set to receive the Portland Business Alliance first ever President’s Award at its annual breakfast meeting, 7:30 to 9 a.m., Wednesday, May 14, at the Oregon Convention Center. 
The Alliance’s annual meeting is one of the state’s largest gatherings of business professionals and civic leaders. This year’s meeting, “A Celebration of Business,” recognizes Babicky-Peterson and several other area business leaders who have made Portland’s business community what it is today.
“The President’s Award gives special recognition to an individual who, year after year, has supported the work of the Alliance on behalf of business in our region,” said Sandra McDonough, president and CEO of the Alliance. “It is fitting that Jackie is the first recipient of this award as her career has been marked with firsts, including serving as the first woman to chair the Portland chamber.”
Babicky-Peterson, a resident of Northeast Portland, has been a leading advocate for small businesses in the metropolitan area. In 2002, she joined the Small Business Development Center as the director of education to bring entrepreneurial development and technical assistance to small business. Through a combination of classroom teaching and one-on-one individual counseling to businesses, her work with the SBDC has helped numerous businesses achieve growth and success. She has also developed entrepreneurial programs such as “Bringing Your Recipe to Market,” which teamed the SBDC with the Food Innovation Center of Oregon State University to help aspiring food entrepreneurs.
Through her involvement with the Alliance, Babicky-Peterson founded several small-business committees, activities and programs, including a program that is now the successful Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. She was a founding member of the Alliance Board of Directors and also chaired the Small Business Council. She is the chair of the Small Business Advisory Council to the Portland City Council and was instrumental in the recent development and passage of the city of Portland’s “Small Business Bill of Rights.”
PCC President Preston Pulliams said, “Jackie Babicky-Peterson defines leadership when it comes to small business. This honor is richly deserved. All of the members of Portland Community College and the Small Business Development Center are privileged to work with Jackie and join me in congratulating her on receiving the President’s Award.”
Babicky-Peterson, a certified public accountant, owned her own company prior to her position with Portland Community College. She was also the chief financial officer for Yolo Colorhouse, an environmentally friendly wall paint company. Recently retired from Portland Community College full time, she continues to teach and coach small businesses at the SBDC’s Lloyd Center offices.
The Small Business Development Center of Portland Community College is part of a statewide network of SBDCs that help small business growth and development in Oregon. The Portland Business Alliance, founded in 1870 as the Portland Chamber of Commerce, is made up of 1,300 members representing more than 325,000 business people in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »