Biz Beat 10-22-2015

More than 400 technology companies are now up and running in the Eugene-Springfield metro area and the Technology Association of Oregon (TAO) now has a director, Matt Sayre, in the southern Willamette Valley. A board meeting and sold-out “Tacos, Tequila and Tech” event was co-hosted by Arcimoto in Eugene Oct. 9, according to a guest column by Skip Newberry, president of TAO, on the Portland Business Journal website. “The tech community in Eugene is remarkably collaborative, with the vast majority of companies serving markets outside of Oregon,” Newberry says. Arcimoto is a Eugene-based electric vehicle manufacturing company, specializing in low-cost, three-wheeled vehicles.

Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs, Gifts & Folklore is celebrating 21 years of “herbal healing and Scottish culture” in Eugene, says owner and herbalist Heather Níc an Fleisdeir. The original shop was housed in a Victorian building at 11th and Lawrence and has moved a few times. It is currently in the historic Lane Building at 347 W. 5th Ave. Fleisdeir opened a branch of her apothecary called The Green Kite in Scotland at the turn of the millennium but sold it a decade later. Speaking of her current location, she says, “This is where health and healing used to come from in the era of the 1920s house. It came from the home, from the gardens and from the kitchen.” Her phone number is 686-6136 and her hours can be found on Facebook.

Cascade Health Solutions has been granted a proposed certificate of need to develop a freestanding inpatient hospice facility in Eugene. The 14-bed building at 4010 Country Farm Road will be known as the Peter Moore Hospice House. The order by the Oregon Health Authority will become final if no affected party calls for a hearing by Oct. 26. 

Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) will be hosting its 30th annual Cornucopia Multicultural Celebration from 5 to 8 pm Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 13th and Chambers in Eugene. The family-friendly event features multicultural dance and music performances, a silent auction and free ice cream. Admission is by donation. Call 485-1755 or email calcoffice@gmail.com. 

National Food Day will be celebrated at the Corvallis Farmers’ Market from 9 am to 1 pm Saturday, Oct. 24, at the corner of Northwest 1st Street and Jackson. Highlights will be free Farmers’ Market tokens for children to spend at their favorite market booths and “apple crunch” for everyone who attends. This celebration is one among hundreds taking place in towns and cities across the U.S. on the fifth national Food Day. See foodday.org for more information.

The nonprofit Wellsprings Friends School in Eugene is holding an online auction as a fundraiser. Find the auction, which ends at 9 pm Sunday, Oct. 25, at wellspringsfriends.org or email rgd_co@msn.com for more information. No need to register a credit card to participate.