The Gorge Business News

Skyline Foundation recently received three grants totaling $315,000 to its Expanding on Excellence capital campaign, which supports Skyline Hospital’s Emergency Department renovation and expansion. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust awarded the campaign $250,000, the Schreiber Family Charitable Foundation awarded $50,000 and the BNSF Foundation awarded $15,000. These grants along withContinue Reading

Happy New Year!! 2020 is sure to be full of adventures for us. We’ve decided to hike at least 52 hikes this year, one for each week. We’ll let you know if we succeed. We started off the new year by hiking around the Fort Cascades National Historic Site nearContinue Reading

The 2020 spending bill passed by Congress will include $2 million in new funding for rural business development grants, with priority given to National Scenic Areas that have been devastated by wildfires, such as the Columbia River Gorge. This funding is intended to be used by entities such as theContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Amy Mechasic’s passion for working with glass is infectious. We recently visited with her in her studio in Troutdale Oregon and I noticed that her eyes lit up as she explained different ways to create art with glass while demonstrating some of the specialized tools she usesContinue Reading

By Lori Roach The Columbia River In-Lieu and Treaty Fishing Access Sites Improvement Act has been signed into law and will enable the Bureau of Indian Affairs to make important safety and sanitation improvements at the tribal treaty fishing access sites along the Columbia River. These lands are held byContinue Reading

The Port of Cascade Locks will be implementing the “Breezeby” Electronic Tolling beginning January 6, 2020. The Port of Cascade Locks Board of Commissioners has approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Port of Hood River to incorporate that Port’s electronic tolling system for the Bridge of the Gods, making oneContinue Reading

By Larry Kurtz I still remember the day I was finished. It was a lot more exciting than all those days, no, wait, years being built. That six years was miserable, except, as you’ll see, when I met Washington. I was beat on, poked, prodded, driven on, and just totallyContinue Reading

Caroline Bailey is the author of the blog, www.barrentoblessed.com. She can be found on Instagram and Facebook under the name: Barren to Blessed. Caroline survived a lethal infection at the age of eleven which led to a full hysterectomy. She is the youngest girl known to undergo a hysterectomy. Caroline’sContinue Reading

One love can change your life. One life can change the world. From the creators of I Can Only Imagine comes an inspiring love story for the ages: I STILL BELIEVE, based on the real-life story of chart-topping singer Jeremy Camp. The new movie from directors Jon and Andrew ErwinContinue Reading

The Renewal Workshop, the leading provider of circular solutions for apparel and textile brands, is announcing a $5.5M Series A financing round and expansion into Europe. The round is led by European venture capital and impact investors Social Impact Ventures, SHIFT Invest, and Quadia with participation from existing US investorsContinue Reading

Bridgeside’s location and professional staff can serve a lovely Gorge event with scenic Columbia River views. There are two options for private events. Bridgeside Terrace offers indoor and outdoor space on the lower level of Bridgeside, overlooking the Columbia River next to the historic Bridge of the Gods in CascadeContinue Reading

Columbia River Gorge residents are gearing up for the 28th annual silent auction and dinner at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum in Stevenson, Saturday, March 14th, 2020. This year the theme is The 80’s. “The response from area business has been fantastic so far”. Many members of the boardContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Whether it is a large corporation or a small mom and pop, cash flow management is critical to ensure long term success for your business. Even with operational revenue if cash is mismanaged your organization will not succeed. Businesses experience lags between the time you pay suppliersContinue Reading

By Preston Roach What’s your plan for the day? Don’t know? Well, you’re not alone. Most of us simply float through life without any real plan of action from day to day. Sure, we have our routines. Wake up, drink coffee, drop the kids off, go to work, eat someContinue Reading

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On Friday, December 6, 2019, at 10:00am, Troutdale will welcome a new art gallery at 373 East Historic Columbia River Highway.  At 5:00pm, champagne will pop in celebration, and hors d’oeuvres will be served. The Red Trillium Gallery is a cooperative of 31 local professional artists sellingContinue Reading

Welcome to Fall everyone! I hope you are all ready to jump into the holiday season. Be sure to check out our Shop Local – Shop The Gorge pages of this issue. With nine kids between us and 17 grandkids spread out from Oregon to Oklahoma Rick and I areContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Lisa Farquharson, The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce director, was recently named the 2019 Oregon State Chamber William R. Haas Chamber Executive of the Year at the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce convention in Lebanon. According to the OSCC to be considered for the award, candidates mustContinue Reading

Chuck Hinman, General Manager of the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn, was awarded Lodging Operator of the Year by the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA) at its annual Hospitality Conference in Seaside. Hinman has worked in the hospitality industry all his life, beginning as a dishwasher at ageContinue Reading

By Karen Johnson With nothing more than an old used van, a dream and a desire to do great work, a young and eager Scott Bird and his bride Jody began a journey that would turn into a legacy. If someone were to ask Scott if he was raised onContinue Reading

The State of Washington recently showed its support of Skyline Hospital’s Emergency Department renovation and expansion through a capital budget award of $500,000 to the Expanding on Excellence campaign. “We are deeply grateful for this extraordinary gift and the inspiration it provides for others to support this project and SkylineContinue Reading

Standing as a silent sentry above the Columbia River, Maryhill’s Stonehenge serves as a memorial for the 14 brave young men from Klickitat County, who served and died during World War I. More than just names and basic information, this book details their service and sacrifice. Included is a shortContinue Reading

SBTech powers the first on-line sports betting platform operated by a US Lottery SBTech, a global leader in sports betting technology and solutions, today launched the first online sports betting offering in the State of Oregon, in partnership with the Oregon State Lottery. Oregonians can now place bets on aContinue Reading

OnPoint Community Credit Union announced it made a $40,200 contribution to Oregon Food Bank following the credit union’s successful Refer a Friend campaign throughout the summer of 2019. The donation will help to provide more than 120,000 meals for individuals and families throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. Sarah Berwick, OnPoint’sContinue Reading

Studies show cherries are great source of melatonin, perfect for Daylight Savings With Daylight Savings coming to an end, sweet cherries are the perfect superfood to help your body adjust to the time change and ensure a great night’s rest. Amongst other studies, the comprehensive “A Review of the HealthContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Fun Country Powersports has been a part of The Dalles landscape for more than 50 years and is the 4th oldest Honda dealership in the northwest, so 15 years ago when Mike and Lisa Erland purchased the business from George Hazel, who had owned it for 40Continue Reading

By Vincent Schilling Indian Country Today The Google partnership grant gives all 16 homes in the village, the Celilo Education Center and the longhouse, access to high-speed internet History has been tough on the residents of Celilo Village. Once a community of Native residents thriving to overcome the disruption ofContinue Reading

U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt recently announced $170,623,713 in grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to all 50 States, five U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia for state-identified outdoor recreation and conservation projects. LWCF funds are non-taxpayer dollars derived from Outer Continental Shelf leaseContinue Reading

NW Natural has selected five local organizations to receive multi-year grants totaling half a million dollars in support for children and families at risk. These five groups are chosen as NW Natural’s Programs of Focus and will receive the company’s highest level of philanthropic support. Recipients will receive $35,000 perContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Communication in its most simplified form is the sending and receiving of information. We have all heard of the childhood game telephone. Where a group forms a line and the first player whispers a secret message to the person next to them and the message gets passedContinue Reading

By Renee Tkach Exploring the Columbia Gorge without a personal vehicle is getting easier this fall with the expansion of the Columbia Gorge Express connecting from Portland to The Dalles, seven days a week, starting in early November. Consider skipping the parking hassle and lessening your carbon footprint by havingContinue Reading

By Preston Roach Are you sitting there staring at your phone right now? You know you’re supposed to be doing something productive, but you can’t find the motivation so you’re googling it to see if other people have the same problem and what they have done to fix it. IContinue Reading

By Lori Roach According to the Oregon Food Bank’s Snapshot of Hunger, 526,640 Oregonians are food insecure, which means they lack access to good, healthy food, and/or don’t have enough food for an active healthy lifestyle. The number jumps to 582,620 when you include Clark County, Washington, which is alsoContinue Reading

The City of Washougal is now seeking applications for positions on the Washougal Arts Commission. The commission was established at the May 29, 2018 city council meeting to identify and actively encourage the development and sustainability of arts in the city. The application period will run through October 21, 2019Continue Reading

Skamania County, Washington has a rich logging history and the status of being a Sasquatch refuge. In celebration of these things the Wind River Business Association has joined with several local businesses to create Logtoberfest, an event that has become a fall tradition. Logtoberfest takes place Saturday, October 5, 2019Continue Reading

Thank you for continuing to read and support The Gorge Business News. Lori and I truly love meeting the wonderful people in the Gorge and hearing your stories, some about business, some about activities and events, and some are just about everyday life. We are all connected in one wayContinue Reading

American Red Cross and NW Natural invite you to free emergency preparedness events For the eighth year in a row, NW Natural and the American Red Cross will host “Get Ready” events around the state to help you prepare for natural disasters. Get Ready is free and open to everyone.Continue Reading

More than 40 Pacific Northwest breweries will gather in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge for the annual event, which offers one of the largest fresh-hop beer selections in the country. On Saturday, September 21, downtown Hood River, Oregon, will again be “hopping” with the return of one ofContinue Reading

Seventh annual Rip City Rally route includes stops in Baker City, La Grande, Hermiston, The Dalles and Sandy The Portland Trail Blazers and Moda are proud to announce the Seventh Annual Rip City Rally. Beginning Monday, September 9, a team of Trail Blazers and Moda ambassadors and staff will embarkContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Lucky the Alpaca will be turning one and there is going to be a party to celebrate the little guys miraculous recovery after being attacked by a cougar when he was just one week old. Luckily for Lucky his momma, Amorette, is one tough girl and wasContinue Reading

By Preston Roach Be honest. Is this the 10th time you’ve read an article about personal development? Maybe you’ve read some of the classics like “Think and Grow Rich” or “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” You have these aspirations to move on to the next step of yourContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn A Break-Even Analysis is a useful tool in understanding the level of production or sales volume required to recover your initial investment. Defining sales levels required to cover operational costs allows you to set safety allowances and determine how to set daily, monthly, and annual goals forContinue Reading

By Rick Roach The Wyeth to Lindsey Creek segment of the Historic Columbia River Highway and State Trail has been completed and was officially opened after a ribbon cutting ceremony on August 3, 2019. This three-mile segment, located between Cascade Locks and Hood River Oregon, is an important addition toContinue Reading

The Troutdale Fall Festival of the Arts will be held on September 21st and 22nd. Saturday’s event will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday’s event will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The festival will be held in Troutdale, Oregon at Glenn Otto ParkContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Wind Mountain Ranch is home to Gorge-ous Weddings, a private estate venue that must be experienced to fully appreciate the location and the beauty that surrounds it. Although its physical location is in Washington, craggy Oregon hills of the Columbia Gorge are close enough you feel likeContinue Reading

By Lori Roach October is breast cancer awareness month and Skyline Hospital is determined to offer women the support, resources and technology to fight this all too common disease. One in eight women living in the U.S. will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and three out ofContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Thunder Island Brewing Co. owners Dave and Caroline Lipps celebrated at a ground-breaking ceremony on August 20, 2019 at 601 Wa Na Pa street, Cascade Locks, Oregon. Thunder Island Brewing Co. has been successfully brewing and serving craft beer at their current location at 515 Portage RoadContinue Reading

Packing boxes for migrant farmworker food drive (right to left): Carol Hayes, Carmen Barrera, Joel Pelayo, Liliana Lachino, Mariana Sendejas Donations from One Community Health staff and friends make for the most abundant year of giving on record. Giving has been good this year with One Community Health’s annual CherryContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Lean is a major buzz topic in the manufacturing industry. The topics discussed can and should be translated into any business model. Lean is simply the philosophy of minimizing waste without sacrificing and improving quality. There are eight types of waste; 1. Defects/Corrections – Any defect, correction,Continue Reading

By Rick Roach Northern Pikeminnow are voracious predators and consume millions of salmon smolts each year (smolts are juvenile salmon returning to the ocean). Salmon are an important economic driver in the Pacific Northwest due to their intrinsic value as a food source as well as a sport fish. SalmonContinue Reading

By Lori Roach In a joint project between Skamania County and WSDOT it was decided a roundabout would be placed at the intersection of SR 14 and Wind River Highway. On May 28, 2019 the project was awarded to Crestline Construction Company, LLC. The construction project will start at theContinue Reading

West Coast Woodcut, which will run through November 15, explores the natural beauty, cityscapes and social worlds of the West Coast through 60 woodcut prints, linocuts and wood engravings by artists from Washington, Oregon and California. Among the featured artists are some of the most well-known printmakers on the WestContinue Reading

Put it back. That’s the advice you’re likely to hear if you bring a young wild animal home to “take care of it”—and you might get a warning or citation from Oregon State Police, too. Oregon’s deer and elk give birth from May through July and many other wildlife speciesContinue Reading

The Dalles Chamber of Commerce has announced August 17 as the date of the Farm 2 Fork Bounty From the County featuring Chef Patti Curfman of Patti Cakes, Inc. The Farm 2 Fork event will take place at Polhen Farms at 4405 Millcreek Rd. The Dalles. The event will startContinue Reading

By Preston Roach Writing is great for self improvement and personal development. I wrote about the benefits of writing in my post (the 8 reasons you should write every day). Have you ever got the itch to start writing, but when you sit down to do it, you can’t thinkContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Newly appointed General Manager of the Port of Cascade Locks, Olga Kaganova, was excited to share her vision and ideas about the future of the Port during our recent interview. Coming from a business and finance background Olga had already been putting her skills to work asContinue Reading

By Rick Roach Our latest excursion through the Gorge was something special as we tried a new service called Turo. Turo is a car rental company, but not in the ordinary sense. Turo allows car owners to rent their daily driver when not in use or a second car outContinue Reading

By Lori Roach In May the North Bonneville City Council decided in favor of allocating $250,000 to the Bonneville Trails Foundation (BTF) for the development of the Bonneville Trails Adventure Park, which will include five treehouse climbers, a water feature, mountain climbers and a zipline. The project includes the renovationContinue Reading

By Lori Roach Eleven Oregon republican senators fled the state and went into hiding to avoid being rounded up by the Oregon State Police per Governor Kate Brown’s orders. Senate President Peter Courtney called it the “saddest day in my legislative life,” to ask Governor Brown to use state troopersContinue Reading

By Jordan Horn Strategic planning is only a single aspect to the three-part process to answer Why, What, and How an organization will be successful through Vision, Strategy, and Tactics. The organization’s Vision statement answers the overall basic question why you are in business. It is a document that communicatesContinue Reading

By Lori Kimbel

By Preston Roach

By Lori Roach

Energy Trust shares tips to help keep your home cool and energy bills low

It’s been a wild and crazy 2019 already. Rick and I are finally settled and love living in North Bonneville where we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, and wonderful places to hike. We are set on walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain in a year or two, so weContinue Reading

By Rick Roach We recently moved to the charming little town of North Bonneville, Washington and are starting to become acquainted with our neighbors. Since part of the mission of the paper is to promote Gorge communities and businesses we are starting with the community in which we live. NorthContinue Reading

Governor Kate Brown has appointed two new members to the Oregon Tourism Commission (dba Travel Oregon), Mia Sheppard with Little Creek Outfitters and Greg Willitts with FivePine Lodge. Made up of nine members, the Commission provides expertise and sets policy direction for Travel Oregon staff. Mia is an accomplished fly-fishingContinue Reading

Family Friendly Pub Featuring Artisan Pizza Vancouver, WA. January 30, 2019 — Today, Doomsday Brewing Company, a local microbrewery specializing in small batch craft beer and artisan pizza, announced that they have expanded with a third location at Hazel Dell Towne Center in Vancouver, WA after negotiating a lease sinceContinue Reading

Connecting Communities Throughout the Columbia River Gorge February 1, 2019 Blue Lion Unlimited, LLC announced today they will begin publishing The Gorge Business News (TGBN) newspaper. It will be distributed throughout the Columbia River Gorge on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river. “It is our hope thatContinue Reading

  The premier micro-cap conference in the Pacific Northwest, the Robins Equity Research Round-Up, is just a few days away. The fourth annual conference will be held at the Portland Shilo Inn Airport Hotel on September 25th and 26th. Captain Greg Woodridge, US Navy Retired – three time commander ofContinue Reading

Energy Trust of Oregon is now seeking proposals from qualified organizations interested in and capable of providing residential program management services and/or program delivery for specific residential market-focused program offerings. It is Energy Trust board policy and national best practice to periodically put contracts out to bid with the objectiveContinue Reading

    Country music superstar Gary Allan will kick off the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon week when he takes the stage in the Happy Canyon Arena on Sept. 9. Tickets go on sale Monday, May 1.   Allan is known for hit No. 1 singles “Man to Man,” “NothingContinue Reading

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon. Today marks 30 years of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act protecting the scenic, natural, cultural, and recreational resources of the Columbia River Gorge. The Act created a unique governance framework when it was signed into law on November 17, 1986. The Forest ServiceContinue Reading