The Home Show will be held June 11 and 12, 2010 at the Holiday Inn, 2725 NE Hogan Drive in Gresham. The event runs Friday, June 11 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Saturday, June 11 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Admission is $3.00 per adult or $2.00 with a donation to My Father’s House Community Shelter , and $2.00 per child age 6-12 or $1.00 with a donation to My Father’s House. Children 6 and under are free.

For more information, please contact i4 Marketing at 971.235.3120.

The “Try Local First” theme of the 10th annual East County Economic Summit manifested itself in more ways than one.

In addition to holding the event — sponsored this year by the Boeing Company — at East Hill Church in the heart of downtown Gresham, a voucher system allowed participants to get a taste, literally, of what the area is all about.

For lunch, the approximately 150 participants of this year’s event were given $10 vouchers they could redeem at their choice of several downtown restaurants. This marked a shift away from the banquet-lunch format of previous years, when the event was held at Persimmon Country Club.

Carol Nielsen-Hood, executive director of the Gresham Area Chamber of Commerce, says she’s pleased with the changes that refocused the summit on the local business community.

“Our emphasis was try local first,” she says, “and we did that by having local people as speakers and emphasizing the importance of using (locally based) merchants and businesses.

“The other part was having lunch vouchers for downtown restaurants, and about 80 percent of the people who attended took advantage of that.”

Based on a preliminary review of participant surveys, she says, those who attended liked the altered format that highlighted individual workshop sessions in addition to key presentations by Mike Hallgrimson and Don Hendrickson of the Boeing Company.

Most presentations were from local merchants and officials, including Gresham Mayor Shane T. Bemis and Janet Young, the city’s economic development services director, who presented an overview of the city’s strategic vision for job growth. Other speakers included Bess Wills of Gresham Ford and Jim Riegelmann of the long-running downtown business Riegelmann’s Appliances. Heidi Olson of Olson & Associates and Leah McMahon, founder of Silk Espresso, discussed developments in social networking opportunities — including online sites such as Facebook and MySpace — that can assist business communications and community building.

Sandi Stretch of Univision, a Spanish-speaking media company, delivered a presentation on “Multicultural Marketing,” Jon Nicolazzo of American Funds spoke on “The Economic Crisis and the Recovery Ahead,” and Robert Brown of WorkSource Oregon and Antonio Paez of the Small Business Development Center discussed ways to apply community resources to enhance local businesses.

Nielsen-Hood says she was particularly impressed with the “breakout session” format that inspired lively and informative post-presentation question-and-answer sessions.

“People had options,” she says. “It was a very diverse community. Participants could go to any session that suited where they are today in business. I think we had well-rounded breakout sessions.”

Travis Stovall, whose The Stovall Group has sponsored the summit before, says he liked the changes in this year’s event.

“I thought the switch to East Hill was an excellent switch,” he says. “It got into the heart of downtown and showed people some nice things about downtown Gresham.”

Despite the successes, Nielsen-Hood says it’s too early to say whether the downtown location and lunch voucher concepts will be repeated for the 11th summit in 2010. The idea, she stresses, is to remain open and reflect what’s going on in the larger as well as smaller economic and business worlds.

“I would hope” we’d keep it downtown, she says. “Every year we try to go in a different direction. We try to address the economy and be with the times.”

Try Local First's Bess Wills with Family package winner Kelli Kang

Her winning package includes:

• A 6 month membership for a family of four at Olympic Gym
• A Beat the Heat VIP Treatment which includes a 12 second drag car session, tower tour, & dinner at Portland International Raceway -
• A pool party for 40 people, 1 family summer month at the club, & 5 tanning sessions at Cascade Water Park
• 1 hour massage & chiropractic adjustment at Rinnovare
• 1 free Avis 7 passenger car rental
• A special photo package from Lents Photography
• 1 seasonal pairings basket from Spice Sisters
• Books donated by the Reynolds School District
• 1 free pet wash at Pup Scrub
• An Office Depot gift card courtesy of Mums Florist
• and a Rodda Paint gift certificate

We wish to thank all of our generous sponsors, and all our fellow East County Residents who entered our Discover East County Contest. Thank you, and remember always to Try Local First!

Couples/Romance Package Winner Danielle Lavasseur with Try Local First's Bess Willis

Her winning package includes:

• A 3 month membership and 3 months of jacuzzi steam room at Olympic Gym
• A 1 hour flight simulator at Troutdale Airport courtesy of Gorge Winds
• 1 night stay & dining at the “Resort at the Mountain” donated by CP Trips
• 30 tanning sessions & 1 haircut at Nails On First & Hair 2
• Homemade dessert or soup delivered by Gresham Area AAUW
• 1 hour Thai massage at Rinnovare
• 1 free Avis weekend car rental
• A special photo package from Lents Photography
• 2 Tickets to the Mt Hood Repertory Theatre
• A gift certificate to Gresham Acupuncture
• A gift certificate to Elegantly Funky

We wish to thank all of our generous sponsors, and all our fellow East County Residents who entered our Discover East County Contest. Thank you, and remember always to Try Local First!

All About Me Package Winner Shirley Olson

Her winning package includes:

• A 3 month membership and 3 months unlimited tanning sessions at Olympic Gym
• A personalized interior consultation with Decora Interiors
• A spa treatment for her car courtesy of Gresham Ford
• Caviar facial & SkinTyte laser treatment at Rinnovare
• 1 Free Avis Weekend Car Rental
• A special photo package from Lents Photography
• A personal massage w/ Tami Serhan donated by Alter Ego
• and a special package courtesy of Dr. Ramsey Chiropractic

We wish to thank all of our generous sponsors, and all our fellow East County Residents who entered our Discover East County Contest. Thank you, and remember always to Try Local First!

TryLocalFirst.org is at it again!

This is your chance to win one of three Discover East County packages.

Our Family Package includes an Olympic Gym membership for a family of four, a Portland International Raceway Beat the Heat VIP treatment and night at the drag races, a Cascade Water Park Pool Party, and much more.

Our All About Me Package includes an Olympic Gym membership and tanning sessions, a Decora personalized interior consultation, a Rinnovare facial and laser treatment, and much more.

Our Couples Package includes a Gorge Winds flight simulator experience, Nails on First & Hair 2 tanning sessions, AAUW homemade dessert / soup, and much more.

Sign Up Today!

Winning a Discover East County package is easy. Simply visit us at TryLocalFirst.org, or look for one of our displays at your favorite local business!

Our contest ends June 28, 2009, so sign up today!