Once Brian Price learned that one of his twins would be born with leukemia, he changed career directions and headed home.
But work didn’t stop there.
Chip Kohrman, CEO of Telesaur, tells Brian’s story.
By Peg Hopkins, Executive Director
Community Health Association of Spokane
Community Health Association of Spokane (CHAS) currently serves over 30,000 patients each year, providing a health care home for the Spokane-area population. For more than four decades, Federally Qualified Health Centers have been providing quality care accessible to the entire population, regardless of insurance or ability to pay. CHAS is one of several other federally qualified health care clinics and systems in the region who are about to experience significant growth in the coming years due to an increase in demand. With our rate of growth and health care reform, CHAS anticipates to double in size over the next five years in order to provide care to an increased number of patients. This will lead to more jobs for the Spokane community and bigger picture, an overall healthier community.
What you may not have considered is that health care reform could have an impact on employment options for the entire population. It goes beyond the hiring of more medical professionals; it affects everyone from your local barista to your children’s teacher. Individuals, who previously needed to select employment based on the benefits they receive, can now choose to work in the profession of their choosing without needing to consider the corresponding level of health care coverage. The newly changed employment landscape has the potential to create a healthier community on many levels – socially, emotionally, physically and more.
These conversations are happening more frequently in our region. I recently participated in a Health Care Reform 101 panel with other health care and community leaders. This non-partisan discussion brought several individuals to the table for an exchange on the implications of health care reform in eastern Washington. With eastern Washington’s vitality connected so closely to the health care sector, there is a unique opportunity for our health care providers and businesses to come together on this issue. Ultimately, these partnerships will pay off in creating an overall healthier community and creating significant positive economic impact.
About CHAS
The mission of CHAS is to improve the overall health of the communities we serve by expanding access to quality health and wellness services. Check out our web site (www.chas.org) to learn more about the services and facilities offered by CHAS.
By Shelly O’Quinn
Workforce Development Manager, Greater Spokane Inc.
What do CNC Machinists, Aerospace Engineers, Radiology Technologists, and Architects all have in common? They were all careers represented at Greater Spokane Incorporated’s Career Exploration Day on March 10, 2010.
After months of preparation and countless phone calls and emails to schools and businesses the big day arrived. No pressure…only 1400+ students from as far away as Newport, Rosalia and Clark Fork, Idaho, were signed up to arrive at the National Guard Readiness Center throughout the day. These 7th – 12th graders were coming to learn about the careers and education programs in the Spokane Region.
Fifty businesses (and their brave employees) representing Health Care, Manufacturing, Business & Professional Services, Aerospace and Tourism and Hospitality, were ready to provide hands-on, interactive displays to encourage students to think outside the box when it comes to choosing a career.
“I enjoyed connecting with students to get them excited about web design and game development,” commented Tyler Lafferty, Owner, Seven2. “Some students had very poignant questions about how to move forward in our field and I love to think I could give them just a little direction for their future.”
Our students are our future leaders, business owners and employees. Introducing them to careers and training programs in our region ensures that we will have a workforce prepared to meet the needs of current and future employers. A skilled workforce is essential for attracting and retaining businesses in our community and for overall economic growth in our region.
If you are interested in sharing jobs in your industry with students in our region, please contact me at soquinn@greaterspokane.org.
First I would like to commend GSI on how well the entire trip was planned and delivered. From the very beginning things ran on time; everything from buses to the legislative meetings. The Regional Legislative Fly-in included two days filled with the opportunity for business owners, local government, and higher education to be in front of our elected officials. As a small business member, the issues addressed at the state level directly affect my business. The trip provided an invaluable opportunity for me to share and speak about the issues that concern my business. This was also a great time to meet with other community members and make new contacts. I encourage all business owners to participate in some way - they will realize how government decisions can directly affect them. Main issues on the agenda for the trip included business climate, transportation, economic development, work force, education and cultural opportunities. I am looking forward to next years trip!
Rory L. Nay
President
Proto Technologies, Inc.
Who are these people, anyways? How did they get to the Spokane region?
Why do they stay?
By: Dawn Picken
Marketing Director, Greater Spokane Inc.
Brian Forth, President, SiteCrafting
I pulled Brian aside after a Greater Spokane Incorporated
breakfast at Northern Quest’s new hotel. In part, the Q&A was an excuse to enjoy that new-hotel smell and sit before the massive stone fireplace in the lobby. That’s where we talked fishing, beer making, and about Brian’s website development company. http://www.sitecrafting.com/ More about the fishing and beer later. First:
It Started in Grade School
Brian was an elementary school teacher in Tacoma in the mid-nineties when students’ parents started querying him about the Internet. Brian said, “Their trust allowed me to help… It’s like buying your first car. You don’t know the right questions to ask.” Brian left teaching and founded SiteCrafting in 2001. The company is based in Tacoma, where 24 techies design and support websites and applications. Last year, SiteCrafting expanded into Spokane, where three web developers (as they say on their own site), “convert caffeine to code…”
Why Spokane?
Brian graduated from Gonzaga University, where he played baseball, majored in Philosophy and Theology and minored in home brewing (the last part is a joke). He has family here and said he’d always wanted to return, or at least, return with his company (Brian lives in Olympia and travels frequently to Spokane). He said, “I saw a big opportunity in a niche where you don’t see a lot of competition…And personally, I think Spokane is a special place to be. There’s a high quality of life for my employees and their families.”
On Expanding During a Recession
“It’s been challenging,” Brian said. “We had to create our own reality where we weren’t going to sit back and wait. It’s like snow skiing. We couldn’t wait for the hill to come to us. The decision to expand to Spokane was huge. If we’d have waited until after the economy turned around, it would’ve be too late.” And Brian said the team is learning from mistakes, like not having enough access to cash, which slowed hiring. SiteCrafting found a new local banker willing to lend more money. “You can’t run a company like ours like a lemonade stand,” Brian said. “You may have a big contract with a national firm that pays out over a year. We needed financing to keep up with growth.” So far, SiteCrafting has developed websites locally for KSPS-TV, Pacinian, the City of Spokane and CleenNW. The company also awards “Gear Grants,” providing free web design for nonprofits. They’ve awarded the initial Spokane Gear Grant to Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.
Best Business Advice
Brian said he first was indoctrinated into the philosophy of “active service,” while working at the Walt Disney Company. “Active service means always answering with a yes,” said Brian. “The key is to empower employees. If I have a dissatisfied customer, I never want them to say, ‘I don’t know if I can help….I have to ask Brian.’ I’d rather they take care of Mr. Smith today and tell me later, ‘I gave him 3 months of free service.’ Then I’d ask if that were enough.”
Home Brewing & Fly Fishing
Spend a nanosecond reading Brian’s tweets on Twitter (his handle is brainfroth, a scrambling of his name) and you’ll see his universe includes much more than www’s and hyperlinks. He has a wife, three kids, a home brewing habit he picked up while at Gonzaga (“I was legal,” he said. “We were just thinking it would save money.”) And Brian makes an annual pilgrimage to Alaska to fly-fish (favorite movie: “A River Runs Through it.”). It’s the kind of work-life balance he encourages for employees, too, which may be why SiteCrafting won a “Top Place to Work” award in 2008.
Get Out There and Get Involved
Brian joined GSI after the organization helped him expand SiteCrafting to Spokane. He wants his staff to become more involved in GSI’s networking events, workshops and seminars: “You get out of it what you put into it,” he said. He also encourages mentorships: “Especially for an early business owner, you think you’re the only person who’s had issues like cash flow problems. It’s like a kid with a pimple thinking he’s the only one… It can be a lonely place running a business. You have to be the rock.”
Thankfully, the Inland Northwest is home to a diverse rock pile of people willing to share stories, ideas and the occasional home brew.
Whose story would you like share? E-mail me: dpicken@greaterspokane.org
