A Few Words

May 2022 It’s what you do in Southern Oregon. Raise a Family, Grow a Business and Give Back where you can.  Thank you for all the wonderful feedback about last months journal. I’m blown away at how the stories I have published and/or written have impacted you and helped you.  This month I want you…

All In… Gene Pelham retired as CEO of Rogue Credit Union. It grew 10X during his tenure because of a simple strategy he had adopted when he became CEO. “Our strategy was to create the most loyal members in the nation.” He used poker chips to explain his idea. The board, the exec team and…

Last month’s issue celebrating Black History month was mostly dedicated cover to cover to Black owned businesses in Southern Oregon. It was wildly successful. It is the most read issue so far and the most commented on. It was the most shared on social and the most positively responded to issue. It was surprisingly also…

Every February for the last 5 years we have been celebrating Black History Month at 1000Museums.com by showcasing Black artists and their amazing art. It’s pretty cool and I’m proud of our little company for doing that. This year I’m excited to do something just as cool. I interviewed several Black small business owners in…

January 2022 WOW! It’s 2022 It’s the crazy issue. I’m always eager and excited to start a new year. I’m excited about doing a lot of new things in the journal this year.  I’m already hard at work on next months issue and it’s going to be epic.  I’m also considering retiring the virtual print…

I’m Excited for 2022 I know, I know, it’s the end of the year and I should be reflecting on what happened in 2021, but I have been working on a couple of exciting projects for the journal that will launch in 2022 and I can’t wait for you to see them.  But since it…

Buy Local Online One of my companies, Project A, is known for helping companies all over the world sell hundreds of millions of dollars of goods online. Over the years I have adopted Oregon women run businesses and do everything I can to help them succeed. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. If they…

The Oregon Connections Conference is celebrating 25 years of pushing and inspiring Oregon to be a leader in Broadband. I have been a part of the internet industry since it started and I wanted to focus this issue on something we all take for granted.  Broadband.  The always on, always available internet service that we…

Umpqua Bank published their 2021 business barometer report this month.  They titled it “Embracing Uncertainty” and it’s a great recap of how we all feel. I recommend you check it out. The recap is on page 12 and there is a link to the full report.  September marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I remember…

Internet!  With all of us now being able to meet in person, Zoom meetings are still a great way to meet. No drive time. Efficient. Covid accelerated our use of it and it is now a standard.  But none of it works if we don’t have internet. You can still meet in person or over…

WooHoo!  This fun phrase is used often by Helen Funk when exclaiming the great news during board meetings of the Jackson County Fair, of which I proudly serve on. She is the director and even through COVID shut the fair and expo business down for over a year she has much to celebrate, but I…

Moon Shot Chad Sobotka’s stunning photo of the full moon over Pilot Rock is on the cover of this months journal and it sets the tone perfectly for what I have been thinking about recently.  What’s my next Moon Shot? It’s been a year since Greg retired from the journal and I took over 100%…