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Portland Business Alliance, Mercy Corps Team Up
Published Mar 24, 2008

In the business world, collaboration can lead to productive results.

That’s certainly the case with a new partnership between the Portland Business Alliance and Mercy Corps Northwest, which teamed up to help small businesses raise their profiles during their formative years.

It works like this: Ten Mercy Corps clients are able to join the Alliance at a discounted rate, enabling them to make contacts and have access to vital resources. Over a three-year period, they will become full-scale members of the organization, with its many programs and events that will help them grow.

For Mercy Corps, which works with low-income and underserved populations, the program gives clients entrée into the regional business community, says Sarah Chenven, community development manager.

“We wanted to get our loan clients access to more traditional business networks, and the Alliance is the key for that,” Chenven says. “We submitted a proposal to allow some of
our clients to get reduced memberships and fees for events, and they just took it from there.”

Launched in September 2007, the partnership quickly began attracting enrollees. Aside from the obvious financial benefits, the opportunity to put a new business in front of large groups is extremely valuable in multiple ways, says Pam Knowles, the Alliance’s chief operating officer and general counsel.

“There’s all kinds of visibility and opportunity for them, from being on our Web site to promote their events to articles we’ve written about them for our newsletter and community papers,” Knowles says.

She adds that Mercy Corps clients bring diversity to the table, both in terms of their businesses and their racial and ethnic backgrounds.

From her perspective at Mercy Corps, Chenven says one indicator of “success for our clients is that they integrate in some way into the larger community. If they can join some kind of peer network group, or participate in a local community in some way, it’s a way for us to be sure they’ll be successful.”

Story by Joe Morris

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Magazine:
Business Images of the Portland Region, 2008 Edition

Headline:
Portland Business Alliance, Mercy Corps Team Up

Summary:
In the business world, collaboration can lead to productive results.

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