Ground Floor

In World Reborn, players follow a fantasy story and take on real-world quests, such as writing encouraging notes to children in hospitals. The game comes from Wicked Saints Studios, co-founded by Southern Oregon entrepreneur Jessica Murrey.

“We use the same game mechanics that build power and mastery within game worlds to empower and activate Gen Z for good in this world,” Murrey said.

Murrey is the studio’s CEO. Before starting the company, she trained young activists and movement leaders through the peacebuilding organization Search for Common Ground.

She and her team drew on that experience and behavioral research to design a game that asks players to practice skills beyond the screen. One quest, for example, focuses on empathy in online conversations.

“Mastery is how kids start to believe in themselves,” Murrey said. “Not when we tell them they're great or we give them a trophy, but when they actually become a master at that thing.”

Murrey hopes those small actions will help players take on larger challenges in their lives and communities. Whether playing the game leads to lasting changes in behavior remains an open question.

“Our goal is just to expand this to as many young people as possible,” Murrey said.

• Jessica Murrey, owner, Wicked Saints Studios

As bicycle components become increasingly electronic, an Ashland company is building bike parts around a different idea: Make them repairable.

Engineer and longtime cyclist Aaron Bland founded Madrone Cycles after seeing what he considered a gap in the repairability of modern bicycle components. The company's first product was a do-it-yourself kit for repairing electronic derailleurs, the part of a bicycle that moves the chain between gears.

That eventually led Madrone to develop its own mechanical derailleur, called the Jab, designed so individual components can be replaced if they wear out or break.

“The business model itself is designed to take those products back in at the end of their life, refurbish them and send them out for future use,” Bland said.

Madrone sells replacement parts for riders who want to make repairs themselves and also offers a mail-in rebuilding service. Bland said many of the company's customers are mountain and gravel cyclists who already enjoy working on their own bikes.

“They love fixing them, they love modifying them and riding them,” Bland said. “I think most of our customers are the DIY types.”

Bland said that approach sets Madrone apart from much larger bicycle component manufacturers such as Shimano and SRAM. The company's products are sold primarily directly to consumers, although Bland said Madrone also has a growing network of about 100 dealers worldwide and ships to about 40 countries.

Madrone's six-person team assembles its derailleurs at a workshop in Ashland. Bland said roughly half of the production takes place in China, where factories manufacture the approximately 60 individual pieces that make up each derailleur. The components are then shipped to Ashland for assembly.

Bland said the company takes inspiration from Patagonia and its emphasis on repairing and extending the life of its products.

“The way that people see a company like Patagonia, we want people to see Madrone Cycles in that same way within our own little zone that we operate in,” Bland said.

As Madrone grows, Bland said the company plans to develop additional bicycle drivetrain components while maintaining its emphasis on repairability.

“If we're going to create something and put resources and materials out into the world, let's do that where it's actually delivering some value to humans or the planet or whatever,” Bland said.

The company's Southern Oregon roots also influence its branding. Madrone takes its name from the trees found throughout the region, while the Jab derailleur is named after Ashland's Jabberwocky mountain biking trail.

Matt Hoffman,

Ashland has long been known for theater. Matt Hoffman thinks it needs something more if it wants to attract young families and keep growing.

The Ashland native recently launched Storytown, a nonprofit that promotes arts, entertainment and community events across the Rogue Valley. Hoffman said the idea grew from watching local schools close and wondering how to make the region more attractive to younger residents.

Hoffman, a commercial director whose clients have included Nike and ESPN, said the effort is about giving Ashland and the Rogue Valley an identity that stands alongside better-known Oregon cities.

"By branding, we kind of give ourselves the cache of a bigger town than Ashland is on paper," Hoffman said. "We punch way above our weight culturally."

He said that kind of recognition helps "plant the flag" for the Rogue Valley as a cultural center along the Interstate 5 corridor.

Storytown draws on an arts scene that includes the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Rogue Theatre Company, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Ashland Children's Theatre and nearby Camelot Theatre.

The nonprofit organizes events throughout the year, including the Epic Ashland concert series in the summer and the Sarcasm Festival in December. It also operates a mobile app that lists events across the Rogue Valley, giving residents and visitors a single place to find activities.

Hoffman said bringing together those events under one banner can help people discover more of what the region has to offer while encouraging tourism and supporting local businesses.

Matt Hoffman, founder, Storytown

Steve Rice, founder and CEO of Built2Buy, describes his career as the story of a 25-year-old startup.

Rice, an art major, said he discovered an interest in technology in 1999 while working at Ashland Outdoor Store. He built a custom content management system that eventually led to the spinoff of Dotcomjungle in 2003.

Starting in 1999 as an art major who discovered a knack for technology while working at the Ashland Outdoor Store, Rice built a custom content management system that eventually led to the spinoff of "dotcomjungle" in 2003.

Over the years, Rice said he developed his own philosophy about building systems.

"Bad systems make everybody look bad," he said. "Good systems make the good people look good and give you an opportunity to identify the people who could level up if you trained them."

That thinking led to a major shift in 2010. Rice moved from managing hundreds of client relationships to focusing on a smaller number of long-term partnerships. He said the company now has an average client retention rate of 14 years.

Today, his latest venture, Built2Buy, focuses on simplifying wholesale ordering for small manufacturers and distributors.

"We are the only truly stakeholder-based wholesale ordering platform in existence," Rice said.

Rice said the company designed the platform around the needs of sales representatives and dealers. He said it operates 75% faster than traditional enterprise resource planning, or ERP, systems.

Rice said advances in artificial intelligence have accelerated development, reducing the time needed to build new features from six months to between seven and 10 days.

While some worry AI could replace jobs, Rice sees it as a tool that can support smaller teams.

"The promise of AI is that we can remove the drudgery, so that we're giving people better tools that allow them to be better and work better and feel better about themselves," Rice said.

Rice said maintaining a "human in the loop" remains important to ensuring workplaces remain places people want to work and customers want to support.

Based in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley, Rice said he plans to grow Built2Buy to 50 customers within the next 18 months.

• Steve Rice, founder and CEO, Built2buy

Jerryck Murrey, founder of Annum Housing in Medford, offers an end-to-end program that matches employees with housing. The service is structured as an employer benefit aimed at attracting and retaining workers, including in high-cost markets.

The company uses partnerships, data and automated workflows to reduce the administrative burden of matching people with housing that fits their needs. Its business model has evolved since launch and is now entering a scaling phase.

• Jerryck Murrey, founder, Annum Housing

Joey Repice, founder of Joey’s Hot Sauce, built his business out of a personal need and years of experience in the restaurant industry.

Repice launched the company in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, after his wife struggled to find a hot sauce without additives, preservatives or fillers.

Today, Joey’s Hot Sauce has grown into an award-winning brand known for its organic ingredients and emphasis on transparency, including Repice’s face on each label.

Repice said his process sets the product apart. Instead of boiling peppers, he uses fire-roasting to develop flavor.

“Did you ever try a boiled chicken compared to a roasted chicken? There’s a big difference," he said.

He combines roasted peppers with seasonal sweet and hot varieties to create what he describes as a versatile pepper puree.

Repice draws on more than two decades in the restaurant industry, where he said he learned how memorable flavors connect with people.

"You taste something," he said "(It) creates like a haunting memory," Repice said.

That approach has helped shape a growing product line, including Hot Honey and the Flamethrower, a sauce that combines some of the hottest peppers in the world.

Despite national recognition, including awards from the Fiery Food Challenge and the European Hot Sauce Awards, Repice continues to produce his sauces in Southern Oregon. He works with local growers and produces at Fry Family Farms in Medford.

Repice said he plans to grow the business gradually, focusing on local distributors and maintaining a hands-on connection with customers.

“They get to see the face and talk to me about the process,” he said. "It pulls them into the product."

This philosophy has led to a range of successful products, including the award-winning Hot Honey and the Flamethrower.

• Joey Repice, owner, Joey's Hot Sauce

Based in Grants Pass, Oregon, Margaret Sundin-McCann and Stetson Weichers told host Cynthia Scherr how they transformed a local home-organizing service into a global social media business. Their company, Everything Envy, specializes in showcasing home products through affiliate marketing, primarily via Amazon.

Sundin-McCann launched the business in 2016, focusing on helping seniors downsize and relocate. The company’s direction shifted after Weichers joined in 2019. A 2021 video featuring organizing products drew more than 1 million views and prompted the pair to reconsider their strategy.

Sundin-McCann said the pivot felt organic. “We decided … if we go all-in on this Amazon affiliate thing it might turn into something,” she said. By 2022, they had phased out organizing services and focused fully on digital content creation.

Defining the "bougie mom"
Today, Everything Envy has about 1.3 million Instagram followers and targets what the creators call the “bougie mom” audience. Weichers said the brand centers on the woman who "wants to have all the gadgets... that will just be the envy of her friends."

Their recommendations range from hand warmers to bamboo stove organizers. The pair said they look for items with a “wow factor” that solve common household frustrations and translate well to video demonstrations.

Despite their gloabal reach, the duo remains rooted in Southern Oregon. They said operating from Grants Pass allows them to stay close to family while growing an online business.

"It’s nice to be in our home community that we love and to be able to build a business in the same community that we appreciate so much," Sundin-McCann t said.

• Margaret Sundin-McCann
• Stetson Weichers

Interview was recorded prior to Valentine's Day, which is mentioned in the conversation.

The Ground Floor host Cynthia Scherr visits with Cassandra Davis.

Cassandra and her team at Functional Botanicals just won a $100,000 investment from Oregon Angel food investors. Ashland-based Functional Botanicals makes a wide variety of luxurious wipes using a combination of essential oils and pressed biodegradable bamboo.

The innovative product is compressed into a small, lightweight, easy-to-store, dry pellet that is rehydrated with just a few drops of water. Wipes can be used to refresh on a hot day, remove makeup, clean up while hiking or backpacking or just about any time you wished you had a sink and a bar of soap.

Cynthia Scherr, host of The Ground Floor, visits with Jerryck Murrey, founder of Annum Housing. Murrey's company offers a systems-based solution to systemic workforce problem. Annum Housing provides an end-to-end program to match employees with housing, making it an employer benefit that helps attract and retain talent, even in high cost markets. The company leverages partnerships, data and automated workflows to minimize the overhead costs associated with pairing people with the right housing situation to match their needs. The company business model has evolved since it started and is now in the process of scaling.

You've heard of businesses that started in the garage and then mushroomed? In 1995, Dr. Mike Amaranthus and his wife, Eileen, started Mycorrhizal Applications in their garage in Grants Pass, and grew it to become the largest manufacturer of commercially-available mycorrhizal products in the world.

Dr. Mike Amaranthus visits with Cynthia Scherr, host of Ground Floor, and shares the story of how he and his wife grew their enterprise and then exited after 20 years.

The company, now owned by Sumitomo, produces a diverse array of mycorrhizal products for use in agriculture, turf management, landscaping, and professional horticulture. Dr. Mike continues to pursue his passion for all things fungi since he exited the company. He recently published a guidebook to 50 common mushrooms in the Western U.S. titled: "Fry, Thrive or Die."