Built Oregon
How do you support local makers to get their products to market during a global pandemic?
/Build a Community Marketplace Online
I served as Board Vice-Chair for Built Oregon, a 501(c)(3) non-profit community organization focused on supporting the growth of Oregon’s consumer product goods businesses through a network of mentors led by co-founders Mitch Daugherty and Rick Turoczy, who believe
“Consumer Product Goods are to Oregon what Tech is to California.”
So, when the pandemic struck in 2020, we found many of Oregon’s small businesses struggled to get their products to market.
With a small budget and a vast network of supportive Oregon business and community leaders, we launched the Built Oregon Marketplace in six months in time to enable small businesses throughout the state to reach new customers for the 2020 Holiday Season.
Business and community leaders and local media supported the launch of the Built Oregon Marketplace. Even local photographers from each of the state’s seven regions donated iconic landscape images in support of their local makers.
Over the summer of 2020, I built an ETSY-like multi-vendor online marketplace on Shopify.
I beta-tested in September with the support of Portland’s ‘My People’s Market’, a collaborative event developed in partnership with Travel Portland and Prosper Portland.
Together, we re-imagined a virtual gathering place for consumers to connect, shop, and support Portland’s diverse and vibrant maker community. The site enabled Built Oregon Marketplace sellers to offer consumer pickup at the My People’s Market in-person event.
