Biz Beat 3-7-2013

Eugene Coffee Company has been in business for five years and is having an all-day celebration Saturday, March 9, at the store at 18th and Chambers, across from BiMart. Owner Sue Harnly was picked by EW readers as Best Barista in 2011. Harnly started the business with Alicia Hays and Adelka Shawn in 2008. Since then the store has sold 22,000 pounds of Café Mam coffee, 246,000 drinks and 56,000 donuts, bagels and pastries.

A new online food ordering company, hungryducks.com, is working with more than 55 local restaurants around Eugene and Springfield, says Darren Rabie, who modeled his business after hungrybuffs.com, which a friend of his started in Boulder, Colo., seven years ago. Rabie describes the business as “an online food court, a one-stop shop for all the delivery and takeout restaurants in the area.” The business does not handle the deliveries but rather works with Pony Express and the restaurants’ own delivery services.

KLCC public radio has a new general manager. John Stark took over the position Jan. 31 with the departure of Steve Barton, who was GM since 1987. Stark comes to KLCC from KNAU-FM in Flagstaff, Ariz. He has also worked at NPR in Washington, D.C., as associate producer of NPR’s Morning Edition, and served two terms on the NPR Board of Directors.

Ninkasi is the first brewery to make the “100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon” list by Oregon Business Magazine. Ninkasi was ranked 22. The company was founded in 2006 by Jamie Floyd and Nikos Ridge and now has 80 employees and plans to add 40 more full-time positions over the next five years.

Several farmers markets around the county are keeping winter hours and providing a wide variety of produce and other food products. The Lane County Farmers Market has a winter market from 10 am to 2 pm Saturdays at 8th and Oak in Eugene during March. Hideaway Bakery Market operates from 9 am to 2 pm year-round at 3377 E. Amazon, behind Mazzi’s. Springfield's farmers market is now called Marketplace@Sprout! and runs from 3 to 7 pm Fridays at the Sprout Regional Food Hub, 418 A St. The Corvallis Indoor Winter Market is open from 9 am to 1 pm Saturdays at the Benton County Fairgrounds. Cottage Grove Growers Market runs from 10 am to 6 pm at 12th and Main Street. Find a list of markets and their phone numbers and hours at lanefood.org

Oregon’s ski and snowboard industry had a $482 million impact on the state’s economy in the 2010-11 season, according to a recent study by the UO-based Community Service Center. The report cites 6,772 jobs and $194 million in personal income related to the snow sports. The 874 skiers and snowboarders who were surveyed spent an average of $89 per visit, both on and off the mountains, with retail purchases, restaurant meals, lodging and lift tickets. The analysis was the first for the industry in 23 years, showing a significant growth, particularly related to snowboarding.