Biz Beat 3-12-2015

We hear changes are afoot at BRING Recycling as Executive Director Julie Daniel and Director of Communications and Development Sonja Snyder are both planning to retire in May. Ephraim Payne recently took over as director of outreach and communications when Shirley Perez West left. Daniel has been with BRING for 19 years and is credited with spearheading the $3.2 million capital campaign that created the new Planet Improvement Center in Glenwood. She also launched the RE:think Business program and the annual Home and Garden Tour. “After many years of ‘doing,’ I want to spend a lot more time ‘being,’” Daniel says in the latest UsedNews newsletter. “I can’t wait to see where BRING goes next.”

The 36th annual Lane County Home & Garden Show will begin Thursday, March 12, and continue through the weekend at the Lane County Fairgrounds, featuring some 300 local and regional vendor exhibits and information booths. Show manager Karen Ramus promises spectacular flower displays this year and nationally known speakers will include Melinda Meyers, John Fischer and The Dahlia Queen. Find the event online at eugenehomeshow.com or call at 484-9247.

The third Oregon Medical Marijuana Business Conference has been scheduled for March 15-16 at the Hilton downtown. The event is likely to be well attended since legalization of recreational marijuana for adults in Oregon has become a source of rumors, confusion and conflicting information. How will this new industry function? The details are being worked out by the Oregon Legislature this session, and also by the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, the agency that will be overseeing the recreational pot program and its three levels of licensing. The conference will provide opportunities for networking and also hearing from experts in the field, such as former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and OLCC’s Tom Burns, who is overseeing implementation of Measure 91. One big, unresolved issue is how legal and medical marijuana will coexist in Oregon. Find the conference and registration information at ommbc.com. Early-bird registration is over. 

KWAX, the listener-supported UO classical music radio station, is planning to begin broadcasting on a translator serving the Corvallis area this spring. The expansion will be paid for in part by a spring on-air fundraiser that will begin April 13 with a goal of raising $185,000. The station, which also reaches Cottage Grove, Salem, Newport, Florence and Roseburg, can be found locally on the FM dial at 91.1 or online at kwax.com. 

What has happened to the Volunteers In Medicine Clinic under Obamacare? The low-key nonprofit held an open house recently to show the public what they are up to. We missed the event but we hear from folks at the clinic that “not only are we still here but we are still relevant as well as needed.” The clinic at 2260 Marcola Road in Springfield provides free medical care to those in Lane County who have an income between 85 and 300 percent of the federal poverty limit and have limited access to health care services. For an appointment, call 685-1800.

The nonprofit Eugene Waldorf School is having its annual Spring Auction from 6 to 10 pm Saturday, March 14. Proceeds go to scholarships. The event has been held at the Vet’s Club in the past but this year will be at the Downtown Athletic Club, 999 Willamette St. Tickets at the door are $35. See eugenewaldorf.org or call 683-6951.