Portland's neighbor to the north is home to many types of successful and exciting business ventures. This week on Biz503, we'll be talking with two officers from Vancouver-based companies about the work that they do, and how the city of Vancouver is their ideal home base.

Colton Telford is the chief operating officer of Panco Foods, whose signature product is Pan's Mushroom Jerky, and

Charles Swatzell is the Chief Strategy Officer at Formos, a Vancouver software company with global reach. He's also the director at The Bridge Incubator in Vancouver.

This week's episode is hosted by Dave Barcos, founder of The Bridge Incubator.

Depending on how they're counted, Portland is home to about a dozen indie and art-house movie theaters. They all occupy a special niche in their communities, and this week, we're talking about three of them and their histories, their transformations, and what they offer in addition to being great places to see great films.

Our guests this week are:

Lani Jo Leigh, owner of The Clinton Street Theater

Doug Whyte, executive director of The Hollywood Theatre

Dannon Dripps and Julie Stewart, general manager and co-owner, respectively, at The Academy Theater.

Our hosts this week are Dave Barcos, founder of The Bridge Incubator in Vancouver, Washington; and Dotty Scott, owner of Premium Websites, LLC and host of Ask Dotty on PRP.

Half of any successful creative venture is the business of selling it: it's one thing to create art or music, and it's another to get your work into the hands of the people who want to pay for it.

This week on Biz503, we're talking to three marketing experts who can help artists and musicians get from "create" to "sell."

Joshua Klein is the director of development and marketing at M2P Marketing, LLC.

Dan Bozyk is president and owner of Bozyk Digital Media, LLC.

And Gigi Rosenberg is an artist coach, presentation coach and editor of Professional Artist magazine.

Our hosts this week are Andy Giegerich, digital managing editor at Portland Business Journal, and

Dave Barcos, founder of The Bridge Incubator in Vancouver, Wash.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 here.

Please check out our growing hive of podcasts here.

The conventional wisdom usually goes something like this: Don't date your co-workers, because relationship drama will follow — and make your life an awkward mess.

That same conventional wisdom also tell us that it's not a great idea to raise the stakes and get into a business venture with our spouse. But is that good advice?

This week on Biz503, we're talking to business partners who are married — to each other.

Liz Forkin Bohannon joins us from Sseko Designs, a fashion brand based in Portland.

Shelley and Noho Marchesi are with us from Noho's Hawaiian Café.

And Biz503 producer Coby Hutzler rings Jan Taborsky and Lacy Gillham of Happy Campers Gluten Free, a Portland-based bread company.

Our hosts this week are PRP station manager and co-founder Rebecca Webb, and Dave Barcos, founder of The Bridge Incubator in Vancouver, Washington.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 here. Please check out our growing hive of podcasts at prp.fm.

It goes without saying that climate change is part of the fabric of our lives these days, as rising sea levels, storms, and the other consequences of high-carbon economies start to take their toll on the environment. But Portland faces a unique set of climate challenges and has a unique opportunity to respond. We’ll be talking through those challenges and responses this week with our panel:

Heidi Sickert joins us from Portland Community College, where she teaches a course about eco-innovation and social entrepreneurship. She’s also the chair of the college’s Sustainability Practices for Academics and Resources Council, and an independent consultant.

Sam Pardue is the CEO and founder of Indow, a local window insert manufacturer that is also a member of the Oregon Business Alliance for Climate, a climate policy advocacy group.

And at the top of the show, Biz503 producer Coby Hutzler visits Jana Gastellum at the Oregon Environmental Council, an environmental advocacy membership organization. She’s the council’s program director for climate, and she spoke to Coby about the threats Portland faces from climate change, and how businesses—large and small—can do their part to fight it.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 here.

Please check out our growing hive of podcasts at prp.fm.

Portland has long been considered a mecca for alternative transportation, with a sprawling public transit system and years of notoriety as a top bicycle commuting city. However, worsening traffic and an increase in road fatalities are coming head-to-head with Portland’s transportation ideals.

In December of 2016, the city launched an initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities in Portland. that plan, called “Vision Zero,” focuses on street design, education and enforcement to make it safer to get around in Portland.  This Friday on Biz503, we’re looking at the intersection where transportation goals, partnerships and small businesses come together.

Our panel this week:

John Brady, Communications Director at the Portland Bureau of Transportation

Elliot Njus, growth reporter at The Oregonian

Romain Bonilla, Communications Director at The Street Trust

This week's Biz503 hosts are:

Mike Rogoway, business writer at The Oregonian, and

Linda Weston, principal at the strategic consulting firm Rapporto.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 at prp.fm.

At PRP, Portland's growing, evolving music scene is one of our favorite things about the city. While many local bands have reached national stardom, our city continues to produce a wider array of genres and artists. Recording all of this musical output at a high standard often requires dedicated professionals and sophisticated equipment. In other words, this work needs recording studios!

We're taking a look inside Portland's recording studios and the work that they do with our guests this week:

Matt Greco is a mixing engineer, producer and owner of The Rye Room recording studio here in Portland

Adam Sweeney is the frontman for local band The Breaking and a recording engineer who is currently helping Vortex Music Magazine produce an issue all about recording studios in Portland (look for that on April 21st, 2018).

This week's Biz503 hosts are:

Andy Giegerich, Digital Managing Editor at Portland Business Journal, and

Kevin Hahn, musician and owner of Opal Studio in Portland.

Tune in Friday Feb. 23 at 1:00 PM: 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland - and streaming worldwide at PRP.fm. And, a few days after broadcast, you'll find the podcast available on demand at the Biz503 show page and on iTunes.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 at PRP.fm.

This year has been a difficult one for immigrant and refugee communities in Oregon. Enforcement sweeps for undocumented immigrants and travel bans for refugees have left families and communities in a legal limbo.

For their part, immigration arrests have skyrocketed. According to reporting by the New York Times, the number of arrests made by July 2017 was up 40 percent compared to the same period in 2016.

And since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has rolled out three different travel bans targeted at Muslim-majority nations, with each meeting various levels of judicial and popular resistance.

We're joined on Biz503 this week by business owners and labor specialists who how these policies are impacting businesses at the ground level.

Leigh Geschwill is co-owner and sales manager at F&B Farms and Nursery, and chairs the Oregon Association of Nurseries' Government Relations Committee.

Sam Pardue and Carrie Sturrock are, respectively, the CEO and Company Storyteller at Indow, a window business that helped to launch the "We Hire Refugees" campaign in Portland.

And Djimet Dogo is the director of Africa House at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, and he leads the organization's Refugee Employment Services.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 at PRP.fm.

Did you know that women start businesses at twice the rate of men, yet receive less than three percent of venture capital?

That fact, and other disparities, led a team of savvy entrepreneurs to launch Xxcelerate Fund, the Portland-based organization that mentors, educates and funds Oregon-based women entrepreneurs.

Say the founders: "Data shows that women-led companies are more successful when they receive funding and support from other women. Forging partnerships with experienced professionals in lending and venture capital, government, and philanthropic institutions, XXcelerate represents a new way to fund growing businesses based on sustainable growth, education, personal accountability, and women's empowerment."

Two champions for women in business are joining us on Biz503 this week.

Renee Shade is the Deputy Director of theXxcelerate Fund. Maryam Behrouzi is the founder and CEO of Portland-based Spela Cosmetics, and a member of the Xxcelerate Fund's first cohort.

This week's Biz503 hosts are:

Rebecca Webb, co-founder of PRP, and Wendy Kotila, a Portland-based business coach, startup mentor and teacher.

Tune in Fridays to 99.1 FM in the heart of Portland - and streaming worldwide at PRP.fm. Biz503 show page and on iTunes.

Please check out our growing hive of podcasts here.

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

Perhaps you've noticed it's wintertime out there! But while there might have been some awfully cold days in the valley recently, that doesn't necessarily translate to good skiing up on Mount Hood.

In fact, the weather has been pretty dreadful so far for the higher-elevation slopes: rainy, icy -- not exactly drifts of fresh powder up there. So we wanted to get a sense of how the winter recreation industry is faring.

This week's Biz503 host is Mike Rogoway, business reporter for The Oregonian.

This week's guests:

Guy Trombley, General Manager of Mountain Shop

Ryan Slagle, Winter Sports Manager of Next Adventure

Thanks to Premium Websites for supporting Biz503!

From "How Musicians Can Make it in the Music Industry" to "Craft Beverages," you will find past Seasons/Episodes of Biz503 here.

Please check out our growing hive of podcasts PRP.fm.