This month we celebrate Mercy Flights 75th year on the “cover”. 

Mercy Flights, based in Medford, Oregon, is celebrating 75 years of service as the nation’s first not-for-profit air ambulance. Founded in 1949 by George Milligan, a pilot and federal employee, the organization was created to provide life-saving medical transport to rural southern Oregon residents during the polio epidemic. Today, Mercy Flights has grown into an integrated mobile healthcare organization, responding to over 30,000 medical transport requests annually and serving communities in southern Oregon and northern California.

I’m excited to share their story with you.

The winds smell like a huge economic downturn is brewing. The signs are there. The headlines are saying it. Are we ready for it? Cash is king in a downturn. What are you doing in your business to get ready for it? 

I also take a quick look at the plurality behind the word, “Close”, which is a positive word in real estate and many times a negative word in business. 

Dena and I listened to a great and timely audiobook on a recent road trip. Normally road trips are our “meeting” times. We “discuss” each of our businesses and she lets me know her challenges and concerns. I reassure her. It’s what we do. A couple of months ago, she got a cold call about selling a business and the salesperson chatted with her to learn more about what her goals are and the discussion about “retiring” someday came up. He recommended to her a book “Failure is not an option” and I downloaded it and we both listened as we drove after our “meeting”. 

The author read his own book and he is compelling, funny, intelligent and lives in Bend. Here is a quick review of his book. The book was timely and we made an appointment and on our next road trip through Bend, visited with him. He is just as awesome in real life as he is in his book. Trust me, the book is worth reading or listening to. His stories are as inspirational as he is awesome. Anyways, he sent a letter with a story he wrote about CRUTs to Dena and I. I asked if I could publish it in the journal. He agreed and you can read it here. 

Project A upgraded the Southern Oregon Business Journal Website design. Take a look and let me know what you think. We tried to keep the homepage simple and easy to navigate and professional..

The journal is filled with stories collected from around the state that I feel are educational, relevant and inspirational. 

Last month I focused on Arcimoto and asked the question, “What happened to Arcimoto?”. It was shared and read by many people including investors and fans of the brand. That caught me off guard. I always assume readers are small business people just like me. But looking back at this, I realized that I am also an investor and fan of the brand so it’s true, the readers are just like me. 

Thanks for reading. 

Jim
Jim@SouthernOregonBusiness.com

Also don’t forget to attend the SORIN Innovation Expo on August 24th from 8 AM to 4 PM at Rogue X in Medford, OR, for a groundbreaking event in Southern Oregon. Discover the future with self-driving cars, Al like ChatGPT, and large-scale automation. Connect with passionate educators, employees, and business owners to plan, learn, and collaborate. Learn more at https://sorin.charity/expo/.