Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

CLIMB Center chosen to help small businesses in North, East Portland

Photos and story by James Hill

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

On Tuesday, Oct. 18 at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization in East Portland, Multnomah County Chair Jeff Cogen and Portland Mayor Sam Adams announced that in partnership with the Portland Development Commission, their governments have new initiatives that will infuse resources into underserved Portland-area neighborhood business districts, boosting small business growth and neighborhood prosperity in priority areas of east Portland and Multnomah County.

“More people are hurting and the population we serve in Multnomah County, children, families, immigrants and seniors, are becoming more and more vulnerable,” Cogen said. “To that end, we have been working on a number of ways to help people survive this staggering economic downturn. And these times, when financial resources are so constrained, we must increasingly rely on fresh ideas and new determination to help.”

Since the City Council endorsed PDC’s Neighborhood Economic Development Strategy, they are moving these fresh ideas forward. One of the ideas is the Small Business Development Program and it involves PCC’s CLIMB Center and it’s Small Business Development Center. The program was developed by the City of Portland and PDC to grow and strengthen existing small businesses through technical assistance and training. A total of $450,000 will be allocated among five non-profit organizations, which includes PCC’s CLIMB, to support assistance for approximately 150 to 200 businesses over the course of the next year.

“This shows how critical PCC’s services are to the health and wealth of the small business community in Portland,” said PCC District President Preston Pulliams. “We are pleased that we have this grant funding from the Portland Development Commission to extend our services to businesses that have been historically underserved.”

The help that will be provided to these small businesses includes assessments, marketing and business plan preparation, cash flow analysis, loan packaging, marketing basics, bookkeeping, sustainable business practices and legal services, to name a few. Businesses eligible for these services will have 50 or less employees and be owned by a person of color, with limited English proficiency and has a modest income and living in the target area of North, Northeast and East Portland.

“This is a win-win on so many levels,” said Mayor Adams. “This is about providing financial and technical assistance, and if you are a street level business, it’s also about providing you with the kind of investments and grants that make your businesses more competitive.”

The CLIMB Center is one of many organizations that will help these businesses, including the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce of Oregon, Urban League, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, Native American Youth and Family Center, Oregon Micro Enterprise Network, Oregon Native American Chamber, Mt. Hood Community College SBDC, Micro-Inventor’s Program of Oregon, Oregon Microenterprise Network and Small Business Legal Clinic of Lewis & Clark Law School.

“I believe this will make a difference throughout the community,” Cogen said.