I am often asked how it is to do business in Portland. In response, I immediately begin talking about the collaborative nature of business in this city. There is a sense of opportunity and of building an even better place that pervades so many conversations associated with our business landscape and I am constantly amazed at how willing Portlanders are to welcome a fresh idea - especially one that lifts us all.
Today B-Line launches the B-Share program (www.b-shares.com) - a fresh idea that couldn’t exist without strong partnerships and collaboration. By leveraging a business model that puts our trikes into and around the urban core several times a day we are able to glean local, healthy food from partner’s like Whole Foods Market, the farmers from the People’s Co-op Farmer’s market, Dave’s Killer Bread, and R & K foods, and immediately transport this product to our agency partners dedicated to alleviating hunger and extreme poverty. We continue to connect to the community at large by opening up the funding of the program to all through a combination of crowdfunding and donations to our 501c3 partner, Sisters Of The Road. The B-Share program thrives on a sense of community involvement and collaboration and has the potential to connect our regional food network with everyone. Transportation is a vital component to this network, but without the local farms, socially and environmentally conscious stores and restaurants, and organizations committed to breaking the cycle of hunger, the B-Shares program would not exist. This sense of working together for the common good is why doing business in Portland fills me with excitement and hope.
I invite you to join me and the hundreds of people in Portland and beyond that believe in creating livable, thriving communities for all. Have a meal at Sisters Of The Road Cafe and pass a meal ticket along, check out the extraordinary work that the Oregon Food Bank does on a daily basis, drop a canned good into the Portland Police Department’s Sunshine Division’s bin at your local store, support the efforts of Blanchet House and St. Francis Dining Hall, or consider purchasing a B-Share. Be a part of this Portland, today.
