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School Choice is the Solution to Oregon's Failing Public Schools
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 04/30/2023 With the upcoming election, there's much focus on schools and school boards. However, we have a much deeper problem. By nearly every meaningful measure, Oregon's public school system is failing ... and it has been on a downhill slide for a long time. Recent reports, by the Oregon Department of Education, show only 30% of Oregon students are proficient in math and only 43% in English/Language Arts. Public school enrollment is falling. For example, Portland School District reports elementary school enrollment has declined by 17.3% since 2018-19. The state's "solution?"...[keep reading] |
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"Bank Failure" Two Very Scary Words. How to Tell If Your Bank Is Safe.
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 03/30/2023 Few words strike fear into people like news of a bank failure, especially the failure of very prominent banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. It’s especially scary for small business owners. The cash to pay employees, vendors, landlords and lenders is on deposit in a bank or credit union – frequently a relatively small local financial institution. News of a bank failure is like a punch to an entrepreneurial gut. Fear-filled imagination can run wild. Some people panic…which is the worst response...[keep reading] |
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Building Enterprise Value with Standard Operating Procedures
As seen in Cascade Business News - 03/15/2023 Most of the strategies we employ to help clients build enterprise value involve steps to mitigate a potential buyer’s perception of risk. The lower the perceived risk, the higher the price a buyer is likely to pay. Minimizing risk factors takes deliberate attention, time and specific strategies. One of the most straightforward ways to improve operating efficiencies, increase short term profitability, and simultaneously enhance enterprise value, is to establish and document Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)...[keep reading] |
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Focus: Essential for Success
As seen in Cascade Business News - 03/01/2023 The ability to focus is essential to achieving success in any area of life. For business leaders, maintaining focus is especially important. Focus helps us remain on track and ensures that we use our time effectively, leading to more successful results. Achieving and maintaining focus, however, is not always easy ...[keep reading] |
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Making Money in a Tough Economy
As seen in Cascade Business News - 01/18/2023 Pricing is one of the most important, and perhaps one of trickiest aspects of business design and operation, but it’s critical to profitability. Price too low, and you leave money on the table and reduce the legitimate profit you could have had. Price way too low...and you go out of business. Price too high and you risk customers shopping your competition, you risk losing sales, you risk diminishing customer satisfaction, you risk producing overly demanding customers, and you risk alienating customers forever...[keep reading] |
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Launching 2023 with a Sense of Direction & Accomplishment
As seen in Cascade Business News - 12/21/2022 If you’ve been in business awhile, you have undoubtedly done goal-setting exercises. Perhaps you are doing one now in preparation for 2023. It’s well-established thatbusiness leaders who establish and write down their goals are more likely to achieve them, and that those who don’t set and write down goals fall short of their potential. This is also ancient wisdom. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in the Book of Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The issue is not whether we should set and communicate goals, but perhaps how best to do so ...[keep reading] |
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Quarterbacking Your Business 2023 - Scrambling or Scoring
As seen in Cascade Business News - 12/07/2022 Imagine for a minute that the last three years have been the first three “quarters” of a football game, and you are the quarterback. Now you’re coming up on the fourth quarter (2023). Your first quarter (2020) started great with an eighty-yard kickoff return and a quick surgical pass to the endzone for a touchdown, followed by a picture-perfect field goal ...[keep reading] |
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Turning a Service into a Product
As seen in Cascade Business News - 11/16/2022 Many businesses I work with offer a service or a product that they attempt to differentiate through offering a higher level of service. Perhaps you do too. If so, you’re probably being disproportionately impacted by the economic disruption caused by the pandemic year ...[keep reading] |
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Highest and Best Use of Central Oregon Land
10/31/2022 Often people point to land use laws and regulations as if they are God-given rights or Constitutional provisions. The truth is, they are alla made up. When Central Oregon was settled, there were no property boundaries, zoning laws, environmentally protected zones or urban growth boundaries. These artificially created distinctions evolved to meet the changing needs of a growing population. It’s time for them to change again...[keep reading] |
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Innovation vs. The Entrepreneurial Centrifuge
As seen in Cascade Business News - 10/19/2022 As a business owner, it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy for your employees to get distracted as well. With limited time and resources, how do you prioritize your efforts and keep your team focused on activities that yield the highest return? ...[keep reading] |
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Solving the Child Care Crisis for Small Businesses & Working Families
As seen in Cascade Business News - 10/05/2022 The lack of safe and affordable childcare has a major adverse impact on parents and children, and in the workplace. The problem is well-recognized. Our state has even been called a childcare desert. The question is, “How do we fix it?”...[keep reading] |
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Breakthrough Strategies for 2023
As seen in Cascade Business News - 09/21/2022 I believe a pro-business legislator should produce events that support and bring together the business community. Thus, I’m producing the first annual Central Oregon Small Business Forum on October 11, 2022. We need business sense in Salem, and the same tool that I use to help business leaders enjoy innovation and breakthrough success is applicable to bringing fresh ideas and strategy to Salem...[keep reading] |
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Deal Guides – A Merger and Acquisition Intermediary's Role
As seen in Cascade Business News - 8/17/2022 As a State Representative, the job is to advocate for constituents while negotiating with a variety or special interests, all vying to get their way. It’s a lot like putting together deals as a mergers and acquisitions advisor, serving buyers and sellers of small businesses, which has been my career for over 30 years. To get a sense of the skill sets that must be developed to succeed in this career, read the short article below that was published in our local business paper... [keep reading] |
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Establish Your Exit Plan On A Firm Foundation
As seen in Cascade Business News - 8/03/2022 My professional life has been devoted to serving small business owners. After decades of consulting and coaching entrepreneurs, I have a deep appreciation for and understanding of business. Consequently, I’ll be a strong champion for small business as a State Representative. Here’s an example of the practical advice I offer to small business owners... [keep reading] |
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Negotiating Lessons From Big Whitewater
As seen in Cascade Business News - 7/20/2022 Tons of books have been written about negotiating. Many of them focus on manipulative tactics or hard-nosed, hip-shooting techniques that you're supposed to use to beat the other guy. Most of this stuff is useless or detrimental. Fortunately, there are better and more effective ways to think about negotiating... [keep reading] |
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Taxpayer alert: Your home mortgage interest deduction is at risk
As seen in the Bend Bulletin - 7/14/2022 Wouldn’t it be great if our government officials had to take the political equivalent of the medical doctor’s Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm?” If they did, we would not see the growing interest among state political leaders in eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction. This is a tax deduction available to every single homeowner and potential homeowner in the state of Oregon, regardless of demographics. At a time when many Oregonians are just scraping to get by, and with tougher times ahead, it’s foolish of our state leaders to consider eliminating a tax benefit available to all working-class Oregonians....[keep reading] |
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Small Business Resilience – Strategies for Challenging Times
As seen in Cascade Business News - 7/6/2022 These are challenging times for small businesses in Central Oregon. We face inflation, labor shortages, lingering employee COVID fears, employee motivation issues, retention challenges, rapidly escalating wages, skyrocketing cost of goods sold, supply chain shortages and delays, increasing taxes, and never-ending government regulations. Unfortunately, things will likely get worse before they get better....[keep reading] |
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Oregon: An Expensive Place to Live – An Expensive Place to Die
As seen in Cascade Business News - 6/15/2022 Oregon experienced a flood of collections during the 2022 tax filing season, far outstripping projections. Following a record year for payments during the 2021 tax season, final payments this year came in $1.2 billion (70%) larger. Along with large personal income tax collections, corporate and estate tax collections continue to set records as well.” However, it’s not just high tax rates causing the flood of state revenue. It’s inflation. ...[keep reading] |
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It’s Time for True Equity in Oregon Transportation Funding
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 5/23/2022 If you drive in and between Bend, Redmond and Sisters, you know that traffic has never been worse. Central Oregon is growing quickly, and Highway 97 and Highway 20 are important freight corridors for goods moving through the region. They are also becoming increasingly dangerous. Oregon state statistics show our statewide fatalities are four times higher than other developed countries and two times higher than Canada. Locally, in just the last 6 months of 2021, there were over 250 reported crashes on Highway 97...[keep reading] |
