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 There is nothing so satisfying as a fine expresso drink among friends in a comfortable setting.

Kathy Chellis & Pam Brooks-Haines have taken a house on North Interstate (7540 N. Interstate Ave, Portland, OR 97217) and converted it into one of the finest coffee houses in the Rose City.

The exterior is a gem to the eyes with its lush plantings, outdoor seating and North Portland charm.  The interior, too, reflects an eclectic taste with nooks and tables reflecting both new and old themes. 

In the summer and spring the outdoor seating reigns supreme, but the air-conditioned interior provides relief for those of us with Irish skin.  Winters and fall will find patrons cozied by the crackling fire with their favorite tea or coffee drink.  They serve Stumptown coffee & expresso - probably the finest homegrown coffee purveyor in the city.  And if you know anything about Stumptown, then you know of their ongoing training and teaching of quality service and expresso drinks.

As a mentor of several small busnesses in Portland, I send my clients to NorthStar to learn important lessons, like customer service and consistency in presentation.  Kathy & Pam have built a loyal following because of their attention to these 2 issues.  You may find this hard to believe, but many businesses fail as a direct result of not having one or the other of these qualities.  I once counselled a small business that served expresso drinks.  I visited their shop over a period of nine weeks and sent friends of mine there, also.  In that nine week period neither I nor my friends heard nor saw the shop owners welcome or thank a single customer - including us.  Not one single drink we ordered was drinkable.  “Bitter”, “flat”, “tasteless”, “watery”, “lukewarm” describe what we received for our $3.00 orders. 

At The NorthStar Coffeehouse you will experience customer service and consistency in product, plus a comfortable setting with free wifi.  Their hours are Monday thru Saturday, 7:00am to 5:00pm; Sunday, 8:00am to 2:00pm.  Phone number: 503.285.5800; Fax: 503.285.5082

 Send a note to Pam & Kathy:  nstarcoffee@stephouse.net

Here’s your opportunity to announce your favorite coffee house.  Use the “comment” field to leave your message.

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This forum is all about lifting up small businesses–profit or non-profit. So you can somewhat understand the excitement generated when we were fortunate enough to have Renee Mitchell as our keynote speaker.From her bio we learn:“S. Renee Mitchell is an award winning columnist for The Oregonian, a performance poet, playwright, MBA-trained entrepreneur, graphic designer, artist, jewelry maker, school volunteer and an inspirational public speaker. In May, she was flown to New York City to receive an Ida B. Wells Bravery in Journalism Award for her community work advocating for domestic violence survivors. To read more about the 21 Leaders of the 21st Century, check out www.womensenews.org . Recently, Renee helped create an innovative project to educate and empower African and African American women and their children. She will talk to us about The Healing Roots Village and engage us with a brief performance of her poetry, put to music.” .” thehealingrootsvillage@blackmail.com.” Renee’s presentation was on helping small businesses get media attention. She focused on 6 criteria a story needs in order to be newsworthy: “Timeliness”; “Novelty”; “Consequence”; “Human Interest”;“Prominence”; “Proximity”. Please watch the video and download the PDF files.   See the Video             View the PDF

.”Contact:www.nappyrootspress.com                        nappyrootspress@blackmail.com

Our next speaker, Naim Hasan, is a photographer I met at United Way’s “Art of Change Gallery” first Thursday event last July. You can see his work displayed in an interview I did for that event:   http://nlemedia.com/SunshineDixonWeb.wmv     He had a wonderful story to tell about how he came to be doing photography for a living. Please view the attached video: Naim Hasan VideoContact: Naim@n2htec.comwww.n2htec.comI have been planning for some time now to bring together authors for the purpose of sharing insights, stories and the kinds of issues surrounding writing and publishing. In fact one of the forums coming up will be devoted to this subject. We were very fortunate to have James Gordon show up and speak to us about his passion. Although he and I share the same last name, and have Irish and Scottish roots, we are not relatives. His roots also go back to Egypt. I believe mine go back to Guiness (I‘ll have that in a frothy pint, thank you.). Nevertheless, we both share a passion for publication, production, promoting and composing. See his video: James GordonSee the PDFContact:Gorentine@yahoo.comwww.gordonenterprises.netPamela Weatherspoon spoke to us about her organization: Big Brothers Big Sisters. NLE Media Productions supports through our Small Business Forum groups like this because they deal with the fabric of our community. We have been graced by organizations like the Big Brothers Big Sisters, Sisters of the Community and United way of the Columbia-Willamette. Building up the community takes many hands and voices. Pamela spoke eloquently about this organization and her own background. She is a vibrant and courageous spokesperson: see the video see the PDF Contact: pamela.weatherspoon@bbbs.org                  www.bigbrothersbigsisters.orgThere is this magnificent building on MLK Jr. Blvd. that my wife, Carol and I have admired for some time now. The name on the building at 6360 NE MLK Jr. Blvd is “henry V”. Many who were at this forum had also seen and admired the building, but none of us knew what it was all about. Thank goodness Bridget Sullivan spoke at our forum. She is a producer for henry V and they are all about media and production. But Bridget is also part of the BigBrothersBigSisters organization. You can see her video presentation here: Bridget SullivanContact:  Bridget.Sullivan@henryVevents.com          www.henryVevents.com  Big Brothers & Big Sisters is in need of voluteers for “Earth Day”  see:        http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/vol/214104990.html Lastly, what would one of these Small Business Forums be without live commercials for our sponsor, Hannah Bea’s Pound cake & More, LLC? With a 255 pound “certified” ham as emcee, what would you expect? See the “live” commercial: HAMThat’s it for August. Wait till you see what we have planned for our September 27^th Small Business Forum. We’re not telling–you’ll have to be there.