Christine Hamilton-Pennell | Founder and President | Growing Local Economies
An accomplished speaker and trainer, Christine has a background in both economic development and business research services. Her workshop topics include Supporting Local Entrepreneurs as an Economic Development Strategy, Starting an Economic Gardening Project, Meeting the Research Needs of Small and Growing Businesses, and The Role of Public Libraries in Economic Development. Over the past five years, she has made dozens of presentations to local, state, national, and international groups.
Christine has also provided consulting services to large and small communities to assist them in implementing an entrepreneurship support program. Recent clients have included the Association of Regional Economic Development Partners in Portland, Oregon; the Economic Development department of Douglas County, Colorado; and the Economic Develoment department of Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.
Previously, she served as the Economic Intelligence Specialist for the Business/Industry Affairs department of the City of Littleton, Colorado. In this position she provided strategic consulting, competitive intelligence, marketing support, and customized research to businesses within the city as part of their Economic Gardening project. Prior to joining the City of Littleton, she owned an independent research company for five years and directed the professional Resource Center at the Colorado Department of Education for eleven years.
Since Christine’s expertise encompasses both economic development and business research services, she is uniquely qualified to assist communities in implementing a local economic development project. Her particular passion and expertise is Economic Gardening, an entrepreneurial approach to economic development that seeks to support local entrepreneurs by focusing on the three pillars of information, infrastructure, and connections. She is also very interested in linking local and regional community economic development efforts with public, community college, and university libraries.
Christine holds a master’s degree in Library and Information Science from UCLA and a master’s degree in religion and ethics from The Iliff School of Theology. She also holds a graduate certificate in Developing Web-Based Learning Environments from the University of Colorado, Denver, and has created and facilitated several online courses on marketing and developing internal locus of control, as well as an online tutorial on scholarly publishing.
Her article, “CI for Small Businesses: The City of Littleton’s Economic Gardening Program,” was published in the December 2004 issue of Competitive Intelligence magazine. She was profiled by the Special Libraries Association in the article, “Growing Businesses in a Colorado Garden,” Information Outlook, April, 2007. Christine’s articles have also appeared in magazines and journals such as FreePint, the Rural Research Report, Library Journal, and CyberSkeptic.
Maurissa Fisher | Executive Director | Young Entrepreneurs Business Week
Maurissa is one of the founders for the Young Entrepreneurs Business Week. She serves as the only administrative personnel, running day to day operations and strategic planning. Maurissa brings a combination of educational expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to the organization. Her Qualifications include graduating Cum Laude from Gonzaga University with a Bachelor of Education in Special Education, and teaching licenses in education from the states of Washington and Oregon.
Maurissa began her career as an educator in Washington State. While teaching she realized that experiential learning and real life applications were often difficult to fit in to the already very demanding structure and was thus was driven to explore the world of entrepreneurship. In 2003, she chose to leave the typical classroom to begin developing plans for Young Entrepreneurs Business Week. Just as the students will learn during their week experience with YEBW, the road of an entrepreneur is up and down…however persistence, faith, and getting the right people “on the bus” have paid off, thus YEBW was launched July 16th-22nd, 2006. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her husband Nicholas and raising their sons Oliver and Nicholas Jr.
Patrick Sanderlin | SEAP Coordinator | Oregon Employment Department
Pat Sanderlin is currently a Program Analyst II (Statewide Claimant Reemployment Coordinator) for the Oregon Employment Department. He received a Masters of Public Administration from Lewis and Clark College and also served in the U.S. Peace Corp in Nepal. Patrick worked as a Field Project Associate in Ghana, West Africa for Technoserve Inc. and was a Volunteer Program Manager (Yamhill, Polk, Marion, and Multnomah Counties) for 12 years with Oregon DHS.
John Saris | Business Services Manager | Business Oregon (Oregon Business Development Dept)
John Saris has been the Business Services Manager at Business Oregon since March, 2009. Business Services is composed of the department’s business finance programs, and the Office of Minority, Women and Small Business which provides state and federal certifications to Oregon businesses. Prior to joining Business Oregon, John worked for 8 years with U.S. Bank, most recently as the regional SBA Business Development Officer serving rural market in Oregon, SW Washington and Northern California. At U.S. Bank, John experienced many obstacles common to small businesses in various stages of start-up, expansion, restructure and acquisition. These experiences led John to pursue opportunities within the public sector to further support Oregon’s emerging businesses and the resources available to them.
John has presented at a number of Economic Development events including OEDA, CDFA and small business forums across Oregon.
Craig Smith| Executive Director | Rural Development Initiatives, Inc (RDI)
Craig began his professional life as an entrepreneur, small business owner and manager of a nonprofit: the Portland Saturday Market. In 1990, he received an MBA from Portland State University, sold his business to his employees and moved to La Grande to work with the Regional Services Institute at Eastern Oregon University. Through his work with The Rural Oregon Marketing Project, he met RDI’s first executive director, Lynn Youngbar. Lynn hired him as the first RDI staff member in 1992. Since that time he has seen RDI grow from 1 to 26 employees and has been executive director since spring of 2009.
Nathan Teske | Director of Community Economic Development | Hacienda CDC
Nathan oversees programs designed to create opportunities for economic development and asset building for residents of Hacienda properties and other community members. Nathan worked with Catholic Charities-El Programa Hispano for 9 years before joining Hacienda CDC. He has traveled extensively in Mexico and has received a B.A. from Reed College and a PhD from the University of California-Berkeley
Kristin Thompson | Thompson Professionals
Kristin Thompson has a degree in psychology and ten years of sales experience in media, neither of which qulaifies her to teach you about memory! She won awards for new business development at NBC and CBS in her own sales career, yet she was plauged by an amazing inability to recall important names, facts, and figures. Kristin stumbled on Memory Training, due to her lifelong interest in personal and professional development, and became a raving fan when she realized what these strategies can do to help shine a light on the expert that lies inside each and every one of us. She has entertained and educated many companies you know like West Coast Bank, Hasson Company Realtors, Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, Chemeketa Center for Business and Industry, Women Entreprenuers of Oregon, and more!
Jean Wall | PRIME Program Manager | Umpqua CDC
Jean Wall intentionally relocated, after 33 years in Alaska, to Oregon in November 2006 to enjoy semi-retirement on 10 acres near Umpqua. She joined Umpqua CDC in November 2009 as PRIME Program Manger with responsibility for developing best practices for training and counseling UCDC’s Dream$avers IDA participants. Jean works 30 hours per week at UCDC, currently has over 30 clients and has assisted another 7 recent graduates and 2 former graduates from Dream$avers. Jean “retired” from the Alaska SBDC after serving as State Director for two years; her earlier ten years split her time for five years as the Anchorage SBDC Director and five years as Associate State Director for the Alaska SBDC. Prior to her 12 years with SBDC, Jean owned her own production business for 8 years in Alaska; exporting a gourmet food product to Japan as well as wholesaling product throughout Alaska to retail gift shops targeting Alaska visitors. Jean has developed numerous workshops, delivered ‘Business Planning’ many times, written curriculum for commercial fishers interested in vertical integration and development of business skills to better manage income and survival in changing wild fisheries markets (week-long course accredited by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and delivered 3 times in Valdez with later outreach into other rural Alaska communities dependent on ocean resources). Jean was recognized as the University of Alaska’s ‘Employee of the Year’ in 2004 as a University employee in their Small Business Development program. Jean believes in small business as THE economic backbone of all communities world-wide. When not working with small business Jean very much enjoys living her lifetime dream of owning a farm – preserving one small portion of land, forests and meadows and the diversity of all matter of life there located.
Jody Christensen | Executive Director | McMinnville Economic Development Partnership
As Executive Director for The McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP), Jody Christensen provides professional leadership developing programs and resources that promote a sustainable economic vitality for the McMinnville Community. Christensen has received extensive executive training in economic development including a Business Retention and Expansion International Project Professional certification.
Christensen comes to MEDP with a background in high-level sales execution, strategic marketing, hospitality and a passion for the McMinnville area. She has served as the Sales Operations Manager at Cuneo Cellars (dba Cana’s Feast Winery), starting in 2002 as Tasting Room Manager. She was successful in growing the retail sales program at the winery over 60% in 2005. Christensen’s prior experience includes marketing, sales and local network television promotion and production.
Christensen currently represents The McMinnville Economic Development Partnership on the Oregon Economic Development Association Board, Job Growers, Incorporated (formerly Enterprise for Employment and Education) Board of Directors, The McMinnville Leadership Council, the McMinnville Downtown Association Economic Improvement Committee, the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce Business Education Committee, Yamhill County Employer Council and Yamhill County Economic Forum.
Lisa Dawson | Executive Director | Northeast Oregon Economic Development District
Lisa Dawson has worked in economic development, serving both organizations and businesses, since 1989. She enjoys helping organizations flourish by improving their long-term viability. She has worked with elected officials, non-profit organizations and community groups throughout northeast Oregon. Lisa also enjoys working with entrepreneurs and business owners and appreciates their role in growing the region’s economy. She is proud to be part of an effort to increase technical assistance, networking, skill-building and financing for entrepreneurs. She teaches business planning classes and helps organize regular business networking and learning events.
Lisa has served as the executive director of the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District since 1993. She graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a major in economics and minors in computer science and mathematics. She grew up on a farm in the Wallowa Valley and enjoys working with the people and communities that define the rural region in which she makes her home.
Kathleen Flanagan | Business Service Center Manager | Wildhorse Resort & Casino
Kathleen Flanagan began working for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in 1998. Kathleen was tasked with starting a full-service small business development center to serve tribal members and other Indians living on or near the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The Business Service Center offers business classes, counseling, technical assistance, a resource library, access to office equipment, and assistance accessing capital. Kathleen has also been actively working on youth entrepreneurship for nine years.
Over the past couple of years, Kathleen’s focus has been on development of a small business master plan, beta testing a 2-year small business management program, integrating youth entrepreneurship into area high schools, and raising public awareness of and support for Native American-owned small businesses.
Kathleen has been an active volunteer for a number of nonprofit organizations. Currently, she serves as President Elect of the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Oregon Microenterprise Board of Directors. Kathleen is a recent graduate of the Ford Institute Leadership Program and Leadership Pendleton. She played a vital role in the start-up and early operation of the Pendleton Farmers Market.
Kathleen has two daughters, Andrea and Alena. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration/Economics from Eastern Oregon University.
Kathleen Hutchison | Executive Director | The Business Enterprise Center
Kathleen served as Executive Director from 1996-2006 for CASA, Voices for Children.
She established CASA as a 501(c)(3) in Benton County and formed a board of directors. Her duties included recruiting and maintaining relationships with donors and grantors, and coordinating fundraising, and volunteer & donor appreciation events. Kathleen recruited, trained and supervised more than 60 volunteers and a staff of 4. Since 2004, Kathleen has been a real estate broker with RE/MAX Integrity. Her community involvement includes volunteering for a variety of non-profits and she is currently serving as the President of the Rotary Club of Greater Corvallis. Kathleen is currently the Executive Director of the Business Enterprise Center in Corvallis.
Dennis Ross | Mayor | City of Maupin
Dennis Ross graduated from Maupin High School in 1958. He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Portland and received his Masters in Public Administration in 1979 from Boise State University. Dennis served as an Air Force Pilot and is a retired Lieutenant Colonel. Starting in 1984, Dennis worked for Boeing in their Military Aircraft Division. After retiring as an acting Training Manager for the F-22 Test Program, Dennis returned to Maupin, where he served on the School District Board (6 Years); Credit Union Board (10 Years); City Council (4 years) and in 2003 became Mayor of the City of Maupin, a position he currently holds. Dennis also served on the League of Oregon Cities Board of Directors from 2007 to 2009, returning to the Board in 2011 as Treasurer. Dennis is also a member of the Oregon Mayors Association, 2008-2010. In his spare time, he enjoys playing in local bands – Cheap Local Band (country western, blues, geezer rock), 1999 – 2009; Coalbird (classic and current rock), 2009 – present.
Dennis has been working with economic development in the local and regional area since 2005, using the Sirolli method as his model. Maupin sponsored the Central Oregon Micro-enterprise Project starting in 2007. The project was put on hold last spring when the funding dried up. Up to that time the City of Maupin saw success in the region and especially in the Maupin area. Working with Wy’East Resource and Conservation and Development District, they anticipate rejuvenating the project within the next year.