Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 31 July
Downtown Oregon City is hosting the First City Celebration in Downtown Oregon City this Saturday from 11 am to 8 pm. Main Street will be full of artists, food vendors and wineries.
Parking is free and open to the public at the municipal lot on 12th Street and at the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center on Washington Street with a free trolly ride to downtown.
See You Downtown.
Posted in Home
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 23 July
Saturday July 31st – join us downtown as we celebrate the unique heritage and identity of Oregon City with Arts, Wine and Entertainment all Day.
Festival Open to the Public from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Oregon City’s First City Celebration is produced by the non-profit Main Street Oregon City, the Three Rivers Arts Guild and the the Rotary Club of Oregon City. Funds raised through the event will support a public art project at the foot of historic Singer Falls. Oregon City’s First City Celebration is supported by an OCCIT Grant and print Media Sponsor the Oregonian.
What is the First City Celebration?
The non-profit Main Street Oregon City was created to build partnerships around downtown Oregon City to make our community a more vibrant and healthy place to live, work and visit. We are pleased to partner with the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the Rotary Club of Oregon City to produce a signature event for our community.
Over the past 12 months we explored a range of festival ideas that we could call a “signature event” for our community. We realized one of our community’s greatest claims to fame is the fact that Oregon City is a City of Firsts. Here are some examples.
First book of fiction written in Oregon, 1842. First provisional legislature met in Oregon City, 1843. Oregon City declared capitol, 1844. First almanac published on Pacific Coast by the Oregon Printing Assn, 1847. First Territorial Legislature of Oregon Territory, 1849. First US troops in Oregon, a mounted rifle regiment in Oregon City, 1848. First official plat for San Francisco filed in Oregon City, 1850.
For more than 160 years Oregon City’s downtown has been at the center of these firsts. As Oregon’s “First Downtown in Oregon’s First City” we are proud to introduce another first to Oregon – The First City Celebration.
This Year’s First City Celebration Activities Include:
Posted in Home
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 15 July
DOWNTOWN OREGON CITY, OR — JULY 1, 2010 funnelbox motion picture studios has been ranked the 8th fastest-growing company in the state of Oregon.
The list was announced on June 24th at the Portland Business Journal’s “Kings of the River” Fastest Growing Companies awards dinner. The banquet honored 100 private companies headquartered in Oregon or Clark County, Wash., exhibiting significant revenue growth over the past three years.
“We’re delighted to have experienced such significant growth, especially during this massive recession. It’s a true testament to the resolve and determination of our employees, clients and partners.” Said Robb Crocker, CEO of funnelbox motion picture studios.
Much of funnelbox’s success has come from strategic diversification. Crocker adds, “I understood early on, that we can’t be all-things to all-people. Rather than trying to “do it all” we took a much more tactical approach to growth by building different teams of specialists to target opportunities related to, but still outside of our core-competencies in video production.”
The result of this strategy was accelerated growth, due largely to a mini-conglomerate of new media companies spun off from funnelbox including Cinematics (cinematics.com), a video game animation outsourcing entity run by Paul Culp; Uberstock (uberstock.com), a stock footage acquisition and development entity headed by Colleen Rowley; and Clink Creative Motion (clink.com), a high-end design, motion graphics, effects compositing, and animation entity lead by McKay Marshall.
“Our four different production entities are creating content for some of the world’s most respected brands,” says Cinematics Studio Head, Paul Culp.
Nike, HP, adidas, Columbia Sportswear, Sony Pictures Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Wacom, and Les Schwab, are just a few of the brands that have utilized the services of funnelbox, Cinematics and Clink. And footage from Uberstock has been used all over the world by organizations including ABC, NBC, Chase, Kodak, MTV, and T-Mobile.
Vice President of Operations, James Horn adds, “Our value proposition has always been great creative production at a very valuable price. People are demanding more creative bang for their buck…and that’s exactly what our teams were created to provide.”
The additional benefits of the economic slow-down have come in the form of acquiring great talent. McKay Marshall of Clink agrees, “We have not only been able to gain market-share in multiple media disciplines, but we’ve also been able to hire some extremely talented individuals in what is now a very deep and eager talent pool.”
Robb Crocker adds, “It doesn’t matter what part of the media industry you are in, people want great work at a fair price. The strategic entities we’ve built these past three years have all grown from a foundation of great work and a customer-centric philosophy started at funnelbox. We’re really enjoying this ride.”
Located in historic Downtown Oregon City, funnelbox offers complete pre-production, production, and post-production video services for commercials, and marketing, web, event and training videos . Founded in 1999, funnelbox has produced videos that have communicated mission critical messages for some of the world’s most respected brands including Nike, HP, Columbia Sportswear, Wacom, and Les Schwab Tires.
###
funnelbox motion picture studio 8th fastest growing company in Oregon.
For More Information Contact:
robb crocker | ceo & creative director
www.funnelbox.com | 503.595.5901 ext.111
712 main street | oregon city, oregon 97045
www.linkedin.com/in/robbcrocker
Posted in News & Press
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 14 July
Oregon City Service Club Partners in Public Art Project and Summer Event Downtown.
Not many people know that Oregon City has two significant waterfalls. Everyone knows about Willamette Falls but there is also a smaller historically significant water fall right downtown.
The Rotary Club of Oregon City is taking on the challenge of enhancing Singer Falls, first with a $40,000 public art project to help the club celebrate its 75th anniversary next year and eventually with other improvements as a way to give back to the community.
The Rotary Club of Oregon City will begin its fundraising effort (with an initial goal of $40,000) for a public art project at the base of Singer Falls with a wine tasting event during Oregon City’s First City Celebration on July 31. On Saturday the 31st, the wine tasting venue will be set up at the base of Singer Falls on Eighth Street between Main Street and Railroad Avenue.
Marcia Wimmer, 2009-2010 Rotary Club of Oregon City President, said the club began thinking about a special project to celebrate their 75th anniversary a year ago. “There is so much going on downtown right now we decided we wanted some kind of project there that we could share with the community,” she said.
In addition to a public art project, Rotary hopes to eventually raise funds to plant native vegetation in the area around the Singer Falls, a project Wimmer hopes will get the public and other service clubs involved.
“Downtown Oregon City has ‘great bones’ and unique features like Singer Falls,” said Lloyd Purdy, Downtown Manager. “Partnering with organizations like the Rotary Club of Oregon City is a powerful way to celebrate our strengths and make positive change.”
The little urban waterfall downtown sends Singer Creek underground and into the Willamette River. Singer Falls was built as a Works Progress Administration project in 1936. Before the falls, the creek flowed freely down the hillside. It is named for William Singer, an early settler who used the falls to power his cotton mill in the 1880s and 1890s.
The Works Progress Administration was organized by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a way to create jobs following the depression. Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge also was a WPA project. In addition to Singer Creek Falls project in Oregon City, the WPA also replaced old wooden steps that led up to the little park with concrete ones, locally known as the grand stairway.
Photo by Linda McCarthy and Mike Wonser
“With a motto of Service Above Self , the Rotary Club of Oregon City is committed to continue serving our community for years to come,” says Wimmer. “We want to do more than just install a ‘pretty piece of artwork’ at the base of Singer Falls. Building on our past 75 years of service, we want residents to take notice and get involved in shaping the identity of Oregon City.”
Posted in Home, News & Press
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 2 July
The countdown to Oregon City’s newest signature event — the First City Celebration on July 31st in downtown Oregon City has begun.
Time and again, we’ve heard Oregon City residents and the downtown community ask for more special events and programs that celebrate our unique identity. Downtown Oregon City is becoming a destination downtown. The First Friday Art Walk series is a good start. The Wednesday afternoon Farmers Market Downtown took another step forward. This summer we will host a “signature event” for Oregon City – the First City Celebration.
Oregon City has a long list of “firsts” that make it a unique place to live, work and visit. We’re pleased to partner with the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the Rotary Club of Oregon City to add another first to that list — the First City Celebration on July 31st. On Saturday July 31st Main Street, 8th Street, and Liberty Plaza will come alive for a summer celebration downtown with more than 60 artists, local entertainers, activities for kids, and area wineries offering wine tastings.
See You Downtown – on July 31st
Lloyd Purdy, Executive Director Non-Profit Main Street Oregon City
Posted in Home
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 1 July
Arts, Wine and Entertainment all Day, Saturday, July 31st 2010.
A range of artists will gather along Oregon City’s Main Street during the July 31st First City Celebration. The day-long event, Saturday, July 31, puts the spotlight on the historic “City of Firsts” at the End of the Oregon Trail. (See page two for a list of first related to Oregon City.)
The non-profit Main Street Oregon City is working with the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the Rotary Club of Oregon City to organize this signature celebration for Oregon City. The July 31st, day long event, includes a wine-tasting component to raise money for public artwork at Singer Creek Falls and more than 68 local artists on the street beginning at 11 a.m.
The July 31st First City Celebration also includes local food vendors, local musicians, and activities for kids. (Including a kid friendly scavenger hunt hosted by Wynona Fabric Studio.) Local businesses and restaurants downtown will also be open.
Main Street in Downtown Oregon City will be blocked off so that art vendors can set up their displays and visitors can mingle all day long. More than 68 artists are expected to be on hand representing all kinds of skills from photographers and painters to acrylics and encaustic creations as well as watercolors all on display.
The Three Rivers Artist Guild, a group that was organized in 2006 in support of local artists is one of the major partners in the First City Celebration. The Three Rivers Artist Guild began as a group of 40 has now grown to more than 120 members. The guild runs a gallery in space it shares with the Friends of the Oregon City Library at the corner of Center and Seventh streets, offering members a space where they show and sell creations.
Late last year, TRAG turned its attention to downtown and began working with the non-profit Main Street Oregon City on a number of projects like the popular First Friday Art Walk and Art in Windows, where art is displayed in vacant downtown buildings. Lynda Orzen one of the original organizers of both the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the non-profit Main Street Oregon City is working with TRAG member Janice Gunderson to manage the art fair component of the July 31st First City Celebration.
“The arts have breathed new life into downtown,” said Lynda Orzen one of the First City Celebration event coordinators. “The arts are a vital part of Oregon City. I talk to people everyday who are thrilled with what’s happening.”
For more than 160 years Oregon City’s downtown has been at the center of Oregon’s firsts. As Oregon’s “First Downtown in Oregon’s First City” the non-profit MSOC, TRAG and Rotary Club of Oregon City are proud to introduce another first to Oregon – The First City Celebration.
The First City Celebration, scheduled for Saturday July 31st from 11 am to 8 p.m. is a foundational event – one that the Oregon City community can build year after year to celebrate the unique identity of Oregon City.
This year, the event focuses on the creative energy of our community, the youth in our community, and our connection to regional viniculture.
This Year’s First City Celebration Activities Include:
Oregon City, a “City of Firsts” celebrates its history of firsts during the July 31st First City Celebration.
The First City Celebration is produced by the non-profit Main Street Oregon City, the Three Rivers Artists Guild and the Rotary Club of Oregon City. The Oregonian is the print media sponsor for the event. Partial funding was received from an OCCIT Grant.
Posted in Home
Posted by Lloyd Purdy on 1 July
Good things continue to spin off from downtown Oregon City’s economic development initiative “Blue Collar Creative”. Our nationally recognized project gained some local attention this week.
From Tuesday’s Portland Business Journal:
Funnelbox Motion Picture Studios received a 2010 Silver Telly Award for the company’s creation and production of “Blue Collar Creative: This is Downtown,” a video promoting the economic redevelopment of downtown Oregon City. The award-winning video can be viewed at www.bluecollarcreative.org.
The Rest of the Story:
Blue Collar Creative brings the 160 year commercial history of our community to entrepreneurs and creative professionals and celebrates our community’s roll up your sleeves work ethic. Call it what you want — throughput, results, tenacity, persistence and an unwillingness to surrender no matter how great the pressure — our community’s businesses, creative professionals and entrepreneurs exemplify that spirit.
The name, Blue Collar Creative, fits this initiative. This economic development campaign speaks to creative professionals and entrepreneurs who pursue their labor with passion, perseverance and unflinching dedication to their craft. It introduces business owners, artists and entrepreneurs to the authentic historic urban location of Downtown Oregon City and shows the excitement and energy developing in our community.
Special thanks to local creative entrepreneurs Robb Crocker, owner of funnelbox, as well as Trey Carskadon and Alex Brauer, from BDC Advertising, for the work they’ve done to get this economic development campaign started.
If you have yet to take a look at www.bluecollarcreative.org take a minute and a half to watch the video and see what the excitement is all about.
Posted in Home, News & Press
