Ruby Peak Naturals Shares the Wealth

*Bloggers note: Wouldn't life be a lot better if we all took this approach? Read on...

Jane Harshman, of Ruby Peak Naturals, offers a healthier lifestyle to the citizens of Wallowa County while she increases revenue for roughly fifteen other businesses from Oregon and Eastern Idaho.

Supporting local business has been a priority for Harshman, since opening Ruby Peak Naturals in 2005. “I want to work through our local vendors and provide products that promote green lifestyles”, says Jane Harshman. And she has done just that!

Since the inception of Ruby Peak Naturals, Harshman has worked with such companies as Bee Crow Bee, Backyard Gardens, Thiel Potatoes, Hozho Shopping Bags, Sei Mee Tea, LLC, Mary Jane’s Backpacking Food, Prairie Creek Farms, Aziza Essential Oils, Wildflouer Bakery, and Hidden Springs Eggs. She also sells whole bean coffee from Strictly Organic in Bend, Oregon, Fireworks Pottery, local grass fed beef and lamb, two types of gift cards made locally and honey made in Wallowa County.

She has no intention of stopping there.

“I’ve begun negotiations with a Rock Creek Nut Company and have also been talking with June Colony”, says Harshman. “June is a past county commissioner candidate who started the Generations Project. One aspect of the project is to refurbish used items and, with proposed grant funding, will provide low income women with sewing machines an avenue for income by producing a recycled fabric line of dish towels and aprons.”

To support progression of this business, Harshman has recently applied for an Individual Development Account (IDA) through the Northeast Oregon Economic Development District (NEOEDD) and Connecting Oregon Rural Entrepreneurs (CORE). “I have my application in and I’m just waiting to hear back”, says Harshman. Harshman heard about the IDA through Lisa Dawson at NEOEDD. “I call Lisa often to learn what new programs are available through NEOEDD and CORE”, says Harshman. “This looked liked something that could help my business”.

The IDA Program is designed for business owners with a proven record of success in saving money. Once qualified, business owners such as Harshman can open a separate savings account where the amount a business owner saves will be matched three dollars to every dollar saved.

Jane Harshman is looking to replace some of the bulk bins that cost $165 for each new one. Currently the store has 30 bins. She is also hoping to expand the store’s inventory of green living products with items such as water purifiers as well as build the base of local organic products.

“I would like to carry more products as they become available”, says Harshman of working with local growers and entrepreneurs. “It just makes sense”. Harshman says she will also continue to call CORE to learn about new business opportunities for rural entrepreneurs.

To learn more about Ruby Peak Naturals, email Jane at rubypeaknaturals@eoni.com or call 541.426.4042. To learn more about whether or not you may qualify for an IDA through CORE, contact Lisa Dawson at 800.645.9454.

Rethink the Gift Card

This came across my email today and I thought I'd share:

Holidays have rapidly devolved into what amounts to an exchange of cash. A gift card says nothing about the personality of the recipient -- but it says lots about the giver.

By

Liz Pulliam Weston

Gift cards are incredibly popular. They're also an oxymoron.
A gift, ideally, says, "I thought about you. I considered your likes and dislikes, your needs and wants, your dreams and desires, and found you this token of my esteem that I hope will delight you."

A gift card says, "There! Checked you off my list."

It's not just me that says so. Judith Martin, the doyenne of etiquette known to millions as

Miss Manners, dismisses gift certificates -- and, by extension, gift cards -- as "a pathetic compromise convenient to people who do not trust their judgment about selecting the right present for those whose tastes they ought to know."

Think about it. Would a lover, in the flush of romance, lean close to the object of his affection and present … a gift card? Would proud grandparents present the latest addition to the family with … a gift card? Would your best and closest friend, the one you've known for years, who's stuck with you through the roller-coaster ride of life, walk into your hospital room and give you … a gift card?

(If the answer to any of those questions is yes, by the way, you need to start hanging with a better class of people.)

Yet gift cards continue their relentless spread:
Last year, 74.3% of respondents surveyed told a National Retail Federation survey they planned to buy at least one gift card, up from 69.9% the year before.
Half of respondents (50.1%) said they would like to receive a gift card, up from 41.3% two years earlier.

The younger you are, the more likely you are to be delighted by a gift card: 82% of Americans under 44 said they appreciated receiving gift cards, according to a national survey by Coinstar, purveyor of coin-counting machines and gift cards.

The death of shame

Many young people are so enamored with gift cards, with being "empowered to make their own choices," as one retailer laughably put it, that they don't even realize what they're missing.
Older people might, but hey, they're busy, cards are convenient, so what's the harm?
The harm is that the art of gift-giving is quickly devolving into an entirely commercial exchange. How much longer until we simply start thrusting wads of dollar bills at each other?
Some people, apparently, would be delighted with that prospect. While researching party themes for my daughter's upcoming celebration, I stumbled across a posting by a woman who proudly included the horrifying words "monetary gifts would be much appreciated" on her 3 year-old child's invitations. She went on to explain that "I wanted money as gifts for my daughter's savings and for us to buy bigger toys, like a big kitchen and a Barbie Jeep that she wanted, instead of guests giving her small toys."

It's official. Shame is dead.

*A Note From the Blogger...

I think it depends on the gift card!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Get out your jingle bells and last years fruit cake because ready or not, the Christmas season fast approaches. Already (even before Halloween) holiday shopping ads were filling the air waves. Maybe you've started your shopping, maybe you need that extra push but what I want to know is, where do you shop? Many communities (including my own) have campaigns to shop locally with great statistics about how that helps local economy. Do you do it? How many of you have a Super Wal-Mart in your area? We do. And the day after Halloween it was full of Christmas trees and holiday fare everywhere. Do you take advantage of their discounted prices? Or how many of you (us) who work at our computers all day find the ease of internet shopping and having it shipped to our work to keep it from the kids extremely convenient? I live in a rural area with usually heavy snowfall and yet I know of many who travel to the nearest mall to do their shopping. And yet, I do believe that many of us complete this joyous task with somewhat of a hybrid of all the mentioned. But what do you do? What is the most likely means you will the Christmas or in Christmas' past get the job done? Take a moment to answer the poll you see to your left. Or drop me a comment!