Biz Beat 6-4-2015

Just heard this week that Cynthia Pappas is retiring as president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon, and the Board of Directors has hired Lisa Gardner, former intergovernmental relations manager for the City Manager’s Office in Eugene. Gardner was previously city planning director. Pappas has been head of PPSO for the past nine years.

Karen Rainsong, managing director of the Arts and Business Alliance of Eugene, has left to form a new nonprofit, and the ABAE Board of Directors has hired Barrett Anderson as interim director. Rainsong is now head of Singing Creek Educational Center on 100 acres south of Junction City, which she describes as “the new version of Alvord Farm, the hands-on natural history museum for kids which I did for the past eight years as a hobby.” The property, owned by Tom and Sue Hunton, includes a historic one-room schoolhouse build in 1888 that will be used for summer camps. Rainsong can be reached at krainsong@gmail.com or visit singingcreekcenter.org.

Gateway Taphouse in Springfield has seen some delays in opening but we see a ribbon-cutting event is being planned for 10 am Thursday, June 4, at 3198 Gateway St. The sports bar and grill is north of Gateway Mall, owned by the Traxler family and will have 42 beers on tap. The building along the busy street was previously a Chinese buffet restaurant.

Queen Bee Tattoo and Gallery is now open at 230 Main St. in Springfield. Call 746-1651. The business website is under construction, but a Facebook page is up and shows the work of Terrah Wilmot. Other names associated with the business are Cathy Taylor, Erin Rust Smith, Ollie Amber Nash and Kinsey Tennison.

The newest addition to the collection of mountain biking trails in the Oakridge area will open Saturday, June 6. The old Flat Creek Trail has been revitalized as the Dead Mountain Trail and will connect the Salmon Creek network of trails with an upper set to the top of Dead Mountain. See oakridgegoats.org for more information.

Festival of Eugene is planning to return for its second year with dates set for Aug. 21-23 at Skinner Butte Park. A tentative schedule and vendor applications can be found at festivalofeugene.com. One idea being touted by the festival organizers is a return of “Cruising the Gut” on Willamette Street, a bumper-to-bumper weekend night phenomenon dating to the 1950s that was banned in the early 1990s.

Techies take note: Alaska Airlines plans to begin daily nonstop flights from Eugene to San Jose starting Nov. 5. Flights using Horizon Air 76-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop planes will depart Eugene at 4:20 pm (easy to remember) and return flights will depart San Jose at 5:50 pm. See flyeugene.com or alaskaair.com. Tickets and reservations will be available beginning June 9.

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