SOU's Small Business Development Center

SOU Small Business Development Center helps local businesses weather COVID-19

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Southern Oregon University’s Small Business Development Center, in Medford at the RCC/SOU Higher Education Center, has done more than its part to make sure businesses in Jackson County survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown declared a state of emergency in Oregon to address the virus outbreak on March 8, and President Trump declared a national emergency five days later.

“We noticed a marked increase in the number of calls into our SBDC Center immediately upon the president’s declaration of the national emergency,” said Marshall Doak, the center’s director. “Initially, our volume doubled, then continued to rise until we were dealing with a ten-times increase in our workload, trying to respond to the panic we heard in the regional business people’s voices.”

The flurry of calls from local business owners typically focused on accessing Small Business Administration programs or unemployment services, how to deal with landlords who wouldn’t offer rent leniency and the closure of businesses. Confidential, one-on-one business advising is a core feature of the national SBDC model.

One of the local businesses that reached out to SOU’s SBDC for help is the Talent Café, which focuses on a diverse selection of breakfast and lunch comfort food. The walls of Talent Café showcase owner Denise O’Brien’s paintings, which she creates while working there.

“I moved to Talent from Kona, Hawaii,” O’Brien said. “I had owned salons for 30 years but got really tired of the dynamic. I saw the cafe for sale in Talent, got a job as a hostess on the weekends and then bought it.”

Then the pandemic hit Oregon. Gatherings of 25 people or more were banned, along with on-premises food consumption at restaurants, bars and coffee shops.

O’Brien’s dedication to her customers, some assistance from the SBDC and some changes in direction have enabled the Talent Café to stay afloat.

“(COVID-19) closed us down for three months, right as it was getting busy,” O’Brien said. “I have completely redone the café to be more geared to to-go food.”

Her cafe isn’t the only local business to benefit from the SBDC’s assistance. Even with the increase in calls, the center has maintained its caller satisfaction rate, according to surveys of clients. 

“Our SBDC has distinguished itself in the amount of client contact we have had,” Doak said. 

The SBDC itself was also affected by the coronavirus, beyond the increase in calls. Doak and others take pride in the SBDC’s one-on-one meetings with business owners, and in-person training such as the “Introduction to Entrepreneurship” and “Grow your Business/Grow your Online Presence” classes taught at the HEC. A Zoom webinar to help business owners “Develop Your Unique Post-COVID Strategy” will be held at noon on July 23.

But with the cancellation of all non-essential meetings, the SBDC had to adapt its offerings to remote delivery.

“We went to a virtual delivery method before our peers around the nation were able to,” Doak said. “The SOU IT Department was absolutely fantastic in getting us up and running, so we (didn’t) skip a beat.”

The Medford SBDC has also been able to leverage its connection to the Small Business Administration – the only cabinet-level federal agency fully dedicated to small businesses – to help its local clients. About 900 SBDCs operate across the country, usually located at colleges or universities and funded by a combination of state and SBA support.

“We have extensive resources for SBA lending programs, for updated information for the CARES Act, and the accumulated knowledge of over 120 highly-educated and experienced professional business advisers across the state at our fingertips to assist our client businesses,” Doak said.

The SBDC’s business expertise and familiarity with the CARES Act were critical resources for O’Brien and as her Talent Café struggled to survive the COVID-19 restrictions.

“I have greatly valued the advice of Marshall, my (SBDC) counselor,” O’Brien said. “He guided me through loan applications and let me rant.”

Doak and the Medford SBDC are committed to the one-on-one approach that sets the business assistance agency apart from other organizations of its type.

“In the immediate past and present, the most important work we do is to keep entrepreneurs and business owners solvent so that they are able to rebuild their businesses post-COVID,” Doak said. “Knowing how fast businesses can go from prosperity to poverty or bankruptcy has been a shocking revelation to us.”

Story by Blair Selph, SOU Marketing and Communications student writer

SOU's Schneider Museum offers virtual exhibition

The Schneider Museum of Art’s new virtual exhibit Celebrating Wild Beauty presented online

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The Schneider Museum of Art’s latest exhibition, “Celebrating Wild Beauty,” is being showcased online through the web-based virtual art gallery service Artsteps and the Museum’s website.

“‘Celebrating Wild Beauty’ would have opened our May 30 fundraising Gala,” said Scott Malbaurn, director of the Schneider Museum. “Due to COVID-19, we had to cancel the Gala. As it became clear that we would not be able to present the exhibition in-person, like many we pivoted and began working on a virtual gallery and online catalog.”

Malbaurn curated the exhibition, which recognizes the 20th anniversary of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The monument was created to maintain biodiversity and safeguard endangered species in 2000.

The exhibition highlights artists who have directly worked in the monument or drew inspiration from it and similar wild spaces in the Pacific Northwest – including Isabella Thorndike Church, Grayson Cox, Dot Fisher-Smith, Malia Jensen, Chris Russell, Rick Silva and Mark Tribe. The online gallery launched earlier this month.

“The artists … have a diverse practice and they each have a different sensibility and perspective that I thought would make a unique exhibition,” Malbaurn said.

The exhibition includes paintings, videos, drawings, photographs and an installation. With COVID-19 shutting down the museum, Malbaurn and art preparator Jason Hayes had to shift their plans for showcasing the exhibition. They settled on Artsteps, a web-based application that allows anyone to create a virtual, 3D art gallery. Artists, organizations and enthusiasts can model actual or virtual exhibitions by designing realistic three-dimensional spaces.

“The benefit is that anyone, anywhere, with an internet connection can have a view of the exhibition,” Malbaurn said. “Although it will never be as impressive or important as in-person viewing.”

One piece that is limited by the move to Artstep is Isabella Thorndike Church’s installation, “RECAPTURE.” Photos of the piece can be seen through the Artsteps gallery, but that doesn’t compare to seeing an installation in-person. To that end, Church installed “RECAPTURE” in a storefront at 25 E. Main St., in Ashland, to allow for safe viewing of her work.

Other pieces have thrived in the transition to an online exhibition. Pieces by Mark Tribe, Rick Silva and Malia Jensen are all on HD video. The personalized nature of digital galleries allows viewers to watch a piece start-to-finish, or jump around in the video’s timeline to see specific parts. Malbaurn sees the future of museums and exhibitions being at least somewhat digital.

“Museums definitely prefer to be open,” he said. “During COVID-19, digital exhibitions will allow spaces to stay active and somewhat connected. As COVID-19 passes, museums may continue to use some of these new tools such as Zoom talks or digital curator walk-throughs, which is great for those who cannot travel.”

Story by Blair Selph, SOU Marketing and Communications student writer

SOU board condemns racial injustice

SOU board condemns racial injustice, pledges action

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(Ashland, Ore.) — The Southern Oregon University Board of Trustees voted unanimously today – on Juneteenth, a significant date in the history of Black and African Americans – to condemn racial injustice and pledge to take action as the nation searches for solutions.

“We must seize these opportunities, and while acknowledging the challenges, we must assure our students and colleagues that we see them, hear them and stand with them against racial oppression and injustice,” the SOU board said in a statement.

“We cannot be silent. It is not enough to feel bad, or hope someone else will do something. We must be part of the solution. We must act.”

The board’s action came on the same day that the university hung Black Lives Matter posters in prominent campus locations and President Linda Schott announced the creation of an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Team to temporarily direct SOU’s social justice efforts. The team – made up of campus leaders Sabrina Prud’homme, Jonathan Chavez Baez and Kylan Mattias de Vries – will manage those duties until the university hires a successor to former senior executive for Suresh Appavoo, who resigned last month.

“We have agreed that it is most vital to concentrate on the work that must be done on our campus rather than conduct a national search for an equity, diversity and inclusion executive at this time,” President Schott said Friday in a message to campus.

The EDI Team will lead SOU’s efforts to meet state cultural competency requirements by December; provide professional development opportunities including culturally responsive teaching and implicit bias training; and create a campus Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity Plan to guide policy changes and strengthen institutional accountability.

“I have full faith in the ability of our campus to come together and create the constructive change we seek,” President Schott said. “SOU is a special place, and I am committed to ensuring that all in our community feel safe here. I welcome your good ideas and good hearts to our work.”

She praised the board for its message in support of students, faculty and staff of color, and its shared dedication to SOU’s welcoming atmosphere.

“The board has committed – as I have – to lead SOU through whatever process is necessary to ensure that our campus embraces people from all walks of life and from all nations of the world,” the president said.

The Board of Trustees’ statement:

“On this Juneteenth of 2020, we act in solidarity with Black Lives Matter, and with people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds who continue to face unprecedented challenges, injustices, and violence.

“The SOU Board joins President Linda Schott in her clear statement that Southern Oregon University condemns and denounces hate and abhorrent language and behaviors intended to harm any member of our learning community on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, expression, age, national origin (ancestry), immigration status, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or military status. We are firmly committed to peace, justice, civil discourse, social-emotional support and respect for all.

“We must seize these opportunities, and while acknowledging the challenges, we must assure our students and colleagues that we see them, hear them and stand with them against racial oppression and injustice. We cannot be silent. It is not enough to feel bad, or hope someone else will do something. We must be part of the solution. We must act.

“Identifying actions that we can take will be part of our challenge and our opportunity. We recognize that thinking of actions is easier than taking them, but taking action is a moral imperative. As a board, we commit to not only condemning injustice but also taking action and rising to the challenge of being part of a solution.”

Wetlands are being restored at The Farm at SOU

SOU shows commitment to sustainability, restoring wetlands at The Farm

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Southern Oregon University is demonstrating its commitment to sustainability and helping to preserve a portion of Oregon’s remaining wetlands with its ongoing effort to restore a “wet meadow” at The Farm at SOU.

“We have already noticed impacts from our work,” said associate professor Vincent Smith, director of The Farm. “The area is alive with the sounds of frogs and I personally watched a blue heron land in the site yesterday for a bit of rest.”

The wet meadow was previously overgrown with blackberries and other invasive species, but Smith and his team of 13 student workers have triggered a turnaround at the site. Much of the unwanted brush has been cleared and replaced with wetland plants that are native to the area, and a new boardwalk now extends into the meadow from the adjacent Thalden Pavilion.

“Much of the wetland walkway is now completed,” Smith said. “Students have planted over 100 new wetland plants and work weekly to reduce pressure from invasive species.

“One of the biggest challenges we have faced is the removal of invasive species, namely blackberry, without the use of chemicals.”

Funding for the restoration project has been provided by local philanthropists Barry and Kathryn Thalden of Ashland, whose earlier donation paid for construction of the pavilion that bears their name.

The wet meadow – part of a 5 ½-acre parcel that encompasses The Farm and the SOU Center for Sustainability – will become a hub for research and education when its restoration is complete. Students and community members will have opportunities to observe and research the beneficial ecosystem of a functioning wetland.

Wetlands – areas of land covered by fresh or salt water – used to cover 2.3 million acres of Oregon, and are home to numerous species of mammals, birds, fish and invertebrates. More than a million acres of the state’s wetlands have been lost to agricultural and urban development, leading to issues of water filtration, storm protection and flood control.

About 40 percent of Oregon’s wetlands have been drained, and 22 states have lost at least half of their wetlands.

The Farm’s restoration project has a long way to go – physical removal of invasive species will continue for several years.

“We will not see the full environmental impacts until later this year and next year,” Smith said. “Our construction will limit wildlife returning for now. I expect by late summer, we will begin to see extensive growth of native plants and hopefully begin to see additional wildlife on the site.”

Managing and maintaining the project has been a collective effort. The Farm has hosted seven work days, during which volunteers from SOU have contributed hundreds of hours to site preparation, planting and weeding. Two student interns in particular – Erin Wheeler, an Environmental Science and Policy major at SOU, and Katy Tarr, an intern from Chico State University – have made an impact as leaders of the restoration effort.

“Perhaps one of my favorite experiences during the restoration project so far was watching the two interns leading the project take pictures after planting was completed,” Smith said. “Watching students figure something out in the classroom is a beautiful thing … but watching students accomplish something outside of the classroom is why I come to work every day.”

The Farm, on Walker Street in Ashland, serves as a venue for organic agriculture and a source of healthy, sustainable food for the SOU community.

Story by Kennedy Cartwright, SOU Marketing and Communications assistant and student writer

Commencement week, virtually, at SOU

SOU offers various Commencement recognitions in lieu of ceremony

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Raider Stadium will be strangely empty Saturday, when Southern Oregon University’s traditional Commencement Ceremony was planned until the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily ended all mass gatherings in Oregon. But SOU remains in celebration mode this week with a variety of displays and program-level virtual, video and drive-through acknowledgements.

And all 1,000-plus Class of 2020 graduates will be recognized with small, individualized signs placed in the campus lawn – after President Linda Schott and the Rocky Raider mascot congratulate each graduate by posing for a photo with their sign. The lawn sign photos will be posted on the university’s website Saturday as a slideshow tribute to the graduating class.

“College graduation is a remarkable milestone for any student,” President Schott said. “I commend this year’s graduates for their hard work and determination, and for the grace with which they have negotiated the challenges of these past few months. They have prepared themselves well for future success.”

Visible displays to honor this year’s graduates will begin showing up on campus later this week, including a large Class of 2020 banner, signs at various campus locations and a commemorative display on the Churchill arch – traditionally a favorite spot along Siskiyou Boulevard for graduation photos.

At least 31 SOU programs are offering graduation observances specific to their graduates. Most of the program-specific events – which began last week and continue through this weekend – are virtual graduation celebrations. At least two programs are holding in-person but socially distant ceremonies, three created drive-through graduation events, four prepared video celebrations for their graduates and one – the Digital Cinema Program – streamed a live “Student Film Festival and Senior Celebration.”

SOU’s 2020 graduates have been told they should also expect to be invited back to campus for a full Commencement Ceremony at Raider Stadium as soon as an event of that size is allowed and the safety of participants and spectators can be assured.

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