Phil Bernstein
Portland's Finest Marketing Rep
Clear Channel Radio
philbernstein@clearchannel.com

Phil Bernstein is Portland's Finest Media Rep. It says so on his business card, so it must be true.

After eleven years in professional baseball (working in marketing for the Portland Beavers and the New York Mets), Phil has spent the past 14 years in radio, designing campaigns to help Portland and Vancouver businesses tell their stories, find more customers, and make more sales.

Phil has studied the advertising masters, from Claude Hopkins and John Caples to Joseph Sugarman and Dan O'Day. He's worked on campaigns that have succeeded wildly, and on campaigns that have failed miserably. The successful ones have traits in common, and so do the failures. Phil Bernstein has learned the difference, and that experience can change your marketing effort from an expense to a profit center.

Linda Cahan
Retail Design Consultant
Cahan & Company
503.638.6727
lindacahan@verizon.net

Linda Cahan, is an internationally known retail design expert specializing in visual merchandising and store design. Her 37 years in retail design includes extensive experience with large and small retailers and with all types of merchandise. Her client list includes Meijer, American Express, United Rentals, Saks Fifth Avenue, Lancome, The Mills Group, Singer, Intel and many others retailers of all types and sizes.

Linda consults with retailers on increasing sales through improved visual strategies including help with overall presentation, fixturing, store layout and design, renovations, color and materials, display, lighting and signage.

Linda Cahan gives seminars & workshops, is a columnist for several retail magazines, writes custom visual standards manuals, trains retailers in all aspects of VM & SD and is the author of "Feng Shui for Retailers." Linda also taught at Parsons School of Design in NYC for 12 years and now lives in West Linn, OR.

Nathaniel Clevenger
Chief Marketing Officer, Co-Founder
Speed | Panel N.A.
nathanielclevenger@gmail.com
503.753.2120

Father of 3. Nervous Painter. Carpenter, builder, forklift driver. Published children's book co-author. Day job: outsource Chief Marketing Officer for companies in Canada, the United States, France, Central America and St. Kitts/Nevis (among others). Former Press Secretary for the Mayor of Washington, D.C. Speech writer (occasionally). Former registered foreign agent for the State of Kuwait, etc. Currently leading a multi-year effort to establish three manufacturing plants for the creation of engineered wall panels for low story commercial and residential construction projects in North and South America. Current offices are based in Williamsburg, Virginia; Amherst, Nova Scotia; and Portland, Oregon.

Ascend, The Conscious American

Tom Cochrane
Executive Associate
TKC Solutions
tom@tkcsolutions.com

Tom Cochrane brings over thirty years of experience in large, mid size and small business, as owner, executive and consultant across a mix of industries. He is an accredited Executive Associate by the not for profit Institute for Independent Business, a group dedicated to the success of small business owners.

Mr. Cochrane has held executive positions in General Management, Marketing, Supply Chain, Customer Service and Information Technology.

Accredited Executive Associate - Institute For Independent Business
Management Science degree (B.S.) from State University of New York

Member of the network of over 4000 Executive Associates worldwide all accredited by the Institute for Independent Business covering Asia, Australia, Europe and North America

Member

• Portland Business Alliance
• Better Business Bureau
• Oregon Software Association

Cleon Cox
Facilitator
Jobfinders
cleon@jobfinderssupport.com

Member of Wallmasters International Toastmasters-Nine consecutive years of Presidents Distinguished Club currently.
 
Networking professional making connections or options.
Motivational speaker and positive influence.
Authority in unemployment and how to get back into the workforce. Author of "The 50 Most Asked Questions From the Newly Unemployed"
Knowledgeable professional in Bus transportation and truck transportation
What's right!
 
Cleon's Specialties:
Motivational Speaking, Visionary, Transportation, College Financial Planning, Publishing, Toastmasters Evangelist, Networking Evangelist, Reticulation Specialist, Job Finding, New Opportunities, What's right, Positive Attitudes, Leadership Forum, Imprimus

Bob Craft
Executive Director
Northwest Education and Training Institute
bob@yourclassroom.com

With over 30 years in education and training for various institutions and organizations, Bob brings a unique perspective focused on bridging the generational gap in teaching methodoligies.
 
After a career instructing at many different levels, Bob has spent the last few years focused on the establishment of the Northwest Education and Training Institute looking to improve the opportunities individuals have in the continuing education space for many different markets.

Taylor Ellwood
Business and Writing Coach
Imagine Your Reality
imagineyourreality@gmail.com

Over eight years experience working in the technology industry. I know technology can be daunting, but I can show you how to automate it and make it work for you! As a former trainer and technical writer, I bring training, skills, and the necessary motivation to help my clients understand how technology works and more importantly how they can use it effectively in their businesses.

Over seven years of experience as a published author and the managing non-fiction editor of a small press. I know the ins and outs of the publishing industry and all the hoops writers have to jump through to get a book published and to market it, once it is published. I also know what's it like to be the author who is marketing his or her work and needs some additional resources to make that writing visible to other people.

Over ten years experience running small businesses. I first started learning about small businesses when I'd help my mom with her business, Quilligraphy. I'd help her vend, pack orders, and occasionally even set up events. When I became a published author, I learned that being an author was also a small business. Running an online book store, and helping to run a small press has additionally given me experience with what it's like to run a small business. I'm intimately aware of the challenges a small business owner faces, as well as how to over come those challenges.

Gary Ernst
CEO
IS2 Systems
gary@is2systems.com

Gary began his career with General Motors on a "Co-Op" scholarship where he received his BS in Industrial Engineering from Kettering University. While at General Motors he also worked and went to school to receive a MS in Industrial Engineering. In his early thirties he ran an assembly plant in California. He was recruited away to begin a new career in medical device start ups. Gary was involved with five start ups all of which sold – one for almost $500,000. Even though his background was in the "operations" he was able to contract with Fisher Scientific Products to represent the products of the startup company he was involved with. This was his first taste of sales. He held many titles, including COO. All of these start-ups were in Southern California. Today, Gary brings all aspects of sales under one umbrella. – selling skills, prospecting skills (focus on strategic introductions), marketing (web development), sales tracking, and automated annual marketing systems.

Kerry Finsand
Social Media Strategist
GoSeeTell Network
503.869.7408
kerry@goseetell.com

Mr. Finsand spent nearly 4 years working for Citysearch, an online city guide, as a Senior Account Executive responsible for developing business at the local and national levels. While at Citysearch his focus was on the promotion of business in the "local space" of online search. Mr. Finsand then joined neutralSpace as their Director of Marketing & Business Development where he worked on the creation and development of a new type of community based city guide where the wisdom of the crowd (users) would determine the relevancy of the search. In addition, Mr. Finsand has been studying online platform's and web 2.0 technologies for the past two years to better understand how businesses can leverage new technologies and media to promote themselves and maintain a positive online reputation. His experience with online platform's and online marketing led him to work as a marketing consultant at AboutUS.org, an Alexa top 1000 website, Mr. Finsand helped developed their product offering mix and recurring revenue streams. Recently Mr. Finsand joined GoSeeTell as a social media strategist to help educate businesses how they can use social media to find the right people, communities, and conversations that they should engage in. Mr. Finsand has a BA from Portland State University in Communications with a focus in PR. He is on the advisory board of SEMPDX, a search engine marketing group, a founding member of Social Media Club Portland and a former Chair Person of the WYP, a Beaverton based young professionals networking group.

Dick Fluter
CEO
Pacific Sports Turf
dick@pacificsportsturf.com

Jim Franceus
President, Senior Financial Advisor
Summit Financial Advisors

Jim is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designee. He has been an active participant in the financial services industry for over 30 years. Jim specializes in the design of financial plans that use traditional and alternative investment strategies. A focal point of Jim's work is to help minimize taxes and maximize retirement dollars for investors and their families.

Lura Frazey
Writer / Communications Consultant
www.lurafrazey.com
lura@lurafrazey.com

Lura Frazey is a writer and communications consultant who specializes in writing marketing and informational content strategically designed to move prospects through the sales cycle. Whether she is planning an ad campaign, penning articles for online magazines, or ghostwriting for celebrities, Lura is known for her ability to adapt time-tested copywriting methods to modern distribution methods.

During the last 20 years, Lura has written everything from egg cartons to online magazines. She sums up her experiences as a copywriter by explaining, "Writing a grammatically correct sentence isn't enough. You have to write sentences that sell. Once you manage that, go out and deliver your message over and over wherever your target market is—wherever they hang around. Every time I've seen that happen, sales have gone up."

Lura is based in Portland, Oregon, but works with clients all over the United States who need marketing and informative content that gets results.

Lynn Gray
Owner
Vankka Merchant Management, LLC
lynn@ppdnorthwest.com

George Grijalva
Owner
Checkmate Carpet Cleaning

George is the owner of three successful small businesses. Through trial, error, and hard work he has successfully found ways to utilize new media for a less then obvious business type.

Eric Halleen
Owner
Empower Digital
Eric.Halleen@EmpowerDigital.com

Eric comes to Empower Digital Solutions with ten years of Solutions Architecture experience. He has worked with start-ups in the beginning phases of their growth, all the way to fortune 100 companies in need of a better, more efficient infrastructure. This well rounded background makes him the perfect fit for Empower Digital Solutions where we strive to provide the perfect fix for our customers' problems no matter their size and back it up with our commitment to customer support.

Erik Hopkins
Owner
Empower Digital
Erik.Hopkins@EmpowerDigital.com

Erik has a decade of experience in the video security industry serving a wide variety of clients nationwide. Customers of Erik's include: restaurants, hotels, food processors, as well as auto dealers, steel mills, and trucking companies. Prior to Empower Digital Solutions, Erik worked in sales, marketing, and business management.

Kent Lewis
President
Anvil Media
kent@anvilmediainc.com

With a background in integrated marketing, Lewis left a public relations agency in 1996 to start his search engine marketing career. Since then, he has focused on helping clients solve business problems via the Internet. Lewis founded Anvil Media, Inc. in 2000 to help clients enhance their Web site performance, increase their visibility and generate sales online. In recent years, he's worked at Portland full-service agencies including Young & Roehr Group, Wave Rock Communications and KVO. Lewis was also Director of Marketing and Business Development at goodguys.com and co-founder of eROI. He is co-founder and president of SEMpdx , a local professional organization. Lewis is creator and Editor-in-Chief of Anvil, a free monthly e-zine. He is an adjunct professor at Portland State University and sits on the board for SMART. Lewis is actively involved in local charitable organizations like Loaves & Fishes and SMART . In 2003, he founded Anvil's Annual Get SMART Gala to raise awareness for children's literacy and created pdxMindShare to help connect Portland-area employees and employers through a networking event and weekly emails. Lewis is the recipient of Portland Business Journal's Top 40 Under 40 Award in 2004.

Hallie Janssen
Vice President
Anvil Media
hallie@anvilmediainc.com

Janssen currently manages overall client strategy and oversight of the team of search engine marketing (SEM) professionals at Anvil Media, Inc. With a background in consumer and technology marketing, Janssen originally met Anvil's founder, Kent Lewis, as a client at Wave Rock Communications. She eventually joined the Wave Rock team in 1998 as an account executive. She later transitioned in-house as Marketing Manager at VersionTracker.com, where she received awards and recognition for her efforts from Time Magazine, Yahoo Internet Life and TechTV. In 2002, Janssen rejoined Lewis at Anvil as an SEM consultant and full-time in 2004. Since then, she has gained a reputation locally and nationally as a seasoned SEM professional and executive at Portland Business Journals's 10th Fastest Growing Companies in 2007. She regularly speaks at industry events and writes for industry publications like Search Marketing Standard. She is also on the board of SEMpdx, a Portland trade association for search engine marketers, where she is responsible for events. Janssen is also active in other professional organizations like Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, Portland Advertising Federation, American Marketing Association and Web Analytics Association. She is actively involved in local charitable organizations through the Junior League of Portland, and was recently chair of the golf tournament and auction, which raised over $75,000 for the League's programs. Outside of Anvil and charity work, Janssen competes as a marathoner, recently qualifying for the Olympic Trials and winning the Royal Victoria Marathon.

Matt Kish
Managing Editor
Portland Business Journal
mkish@bizjournals.com

Matthew is the Managing Editor for the Portland Business Journal. Previously, he wrote for the Indianapolis Business Journal, where he won a SAVEW award for a story about conflicts of interest on the board of a public company. Prior to his work in Indianapolis, he edited Oregon Health News, a monthly health policy publication. He has also written for The Arizona Republic and freelanced for The Oregonian. He holds a master's degree from Reed College, where he studied the work of the Beat poet Bob Kaufman.

George Rode
Owner
Autohaus
az@ordata.com

Hannah Smith
Public Relations Associate
Conkling Fiskum & McCormick
hannahelainesmith@gmail.com

Hannah Smith, Associate, knows her way around new avenues of communications that are just beginning to emerge. She's already a social networking veteran, assisting on client projects that use new interactive tools to reach target audiences and manage issues.

Hannah joined the CFM team in November 2008, after serving as an intern for five months earlier in the year. She specializes in social media and Web 2.0 technologies. She is a 2008 graduate of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communication, with an emphasis in public relations.

Prior to interning at CFM, Hannah participated in the Senior Experience, a program that allows public relations students to complete their last term of college interning and taking courses in Portland. Hannah developed an interest in government and public affairs during her internship with the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

In addition to supporting CFM's consumer public relations clients, she is a member of the public affairs team representing clients in Salem during the 2009 Oregon Legislative Assembly.

Dave Westmark
Executive Advisor
Firm Foundations Business Advisors
davidwestmark@oregoncoast.com

Let me take a moment of your time and tell you a little about myself. I joined the Institute for Independent Business in late 2007 and now am a full time business advisor. My network includes 4800 other business advisors around the world. We bring an enormous wealth of knowledge to small business owners. We work with business to increase profitability, raise productivity and performance and build solid financial foundations for future growth.

I also have a multifaceted 25 year career with Tillamook Cheese in which the company grew from $50 million to $250 million in sales. As one of their Vice Presidents, I have numerous experiences solving the tough issues businesses experience. My career has included expertise in quality assurance, production, environmental services, administration, human resources, marketing and business planning.