Companies of All Sizes Interact for Mutual Benefit
Published Feb 13, 2009
The size and scope of Portland’s business community is impressive, even more so when examining how companies interact.
“Keep it local” is a catchphrase from billion-dollar boardrooms on down, with small companies getting a crack at large contracts while the area’s bigger players can discover key entrepreneurs.
“We deal with bigger companies, but we also have a number of smaller businesses that we patronize in the Portland area,” says Baruti Artharee, president of Coast Office Products, a subsidiary of Coast Industries Inc., a janitorial and security service firm.
Being able to forge such relationships is a fundamental lesson at the Small Business Development Center at Portland Community College.
“People have always paid attention to local services for things like restaurants and beauty shops. But now they are looking at other businesses and beginning to network,” says Jackie Babicky-Peterson, senior business adviser at the center and chair of the Portland City Council’s Small Business Advisory Council.
The ability to rely on local networking also helps new companies during economic slowdowns – “to hang around until times are better,” says Sam Brooks, president of S. Brooks and Associates and founder of the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs. “Then they can grow.”
Story by Joe Morris
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