The team behind Oregon Entrepreneurs Network are once again getting office space, and it’s a bit of a full circle for the nonprofit that is on a comeback.
OEN is taking a couple of desks in the Portland Metro Chamber office downtown in the World Trade Center. It’s the first office the nonprofit has had since early 2020 when it gave up a co-working space as the group retrenched.
“We at OEN want to be a part of the solution of getting folks into the businesses we support through the state and in downtown Portland,” said Cara Turano, executive director of OEN.
OEN’s team is now three people, including Turano, and they will rotate through the space.
“At the World Trade Center, Business Oregon’s office is there, state representative offices are there, the SBDC (small business development center) is in the chamber office too. It’s all the agencies that support economic development and we hope for our entrepreneurs it provides a location we can gather and for the rest of our community to get out and bring people back into downtown,” Turano said.
When OEN started in the early 1990s its first office was in what was then the Portland Metro Chamber of Commerce, Turano said.
“We have this comeback story at OEN, and it’s like we are new again,” she said.
The nonprofit has shored up its finances. Its current budget is about $450,000. It landed a technical assistance grant from Business Oregon and expects to hire one more person in Q1 of 2024.
Looking ahead to next year, the group is focused on how it can serve more entrepreneurs. Turano is also looking at how the group can become the first step in someone’s entrepreneurial journey.
Over the years founders and others have noted there isn’t one place in the community where someone can go and find out about resources that are available for entrepreneurs. Turano said she has heard similar feedback from the community.
The group plans to continue its Angel Oregon events around food and beverage, technology and biotech. It also plans to host its PubTalk program monthly with six occurring in Portland and the rest in other cities.
New next year will be the reintroduction of its Business Essentials program. This time around the program will be an online five-week program designed to equip entrepreneurs with the essential tools to grow their businesses, Turano said. There will be sessions on finance, different options for fundraising, legal, hiring and sales and marketing.
“It’s all in service to get people to understand their growth strategy,” she said. People should be able to answer the questions: is it a brick and mortar business, are you building it for your children to take over, do you want to be acquired, or are you building for rapid growth?
The group is also adding an event to help entrepreneurs practice their pitches, whether it's for funding, for potential acquisition or for sales.
The team will move into its new space later this month and the first day in the office will be Jan. 3.
