Maybe it's true that there's nothing new under the sun. But still, people with big ideas can find ways to turn them into money-making ventures. Our business/entrepreneur podcast, The Ground Floor, actually goes a step before the ground floor (the basement?) in its latest episode.

In the episode, we hear about the annual Startup Competition at Southern Oregon University, which gives all students a chance to put an idea out there for possible prizes and a ticket to the Invent Oregon competition.

Management consultant and host Cynthia Scherr talks to SOU Professor Erik Palmer (from our Signals & Noise team) and two winners Brittany Mesica, whose entry is called Sploot, and Cameron Nye, who competed as Virtual Venue.

Use the terms "herb" and "tincture" close together, and people might assume you're talking about cannabis. But the Applegate Valley business known as Herb Pharm uses actual herbs to promote human health. 75 of them are grown on the property, with the rest found around the world.

Our latest edition of The Ground Floor podcast features management consultant host Cynthia Scherr chatting with Daniel Marple, Herb Pharm's CEO. We learn about the birth and growth of the business, and what people do with herbs like artemisia annua and ashwagandha.

One Rogue Valley manufacturer cranks out the railroad cars and locomotives in large numbers, but makes little noise and does not disturb the neighbors. The name of the company should be a clue: Micro-Trains builds equipment for model railroads, in three sizes (HO, N, and Z gauges).

The company and the hobby it serves are spotlighted in a new edition of our business/entrepreneur segment, The Ground Floor. Management consultant and host Cynthia Scherr goes down the track with Eric Smith, the company owner, about helping people run miniature railroads... and how to make money off such a hobby when so many pursuits are done through video screens.

It's a little bit funny that we speak of "farm to table," because pretty much anything we eat, off any table, comes from a farm (seafood excepted). But making the trip to the table shorter is a worthwhile goal for many reasons, and one of the goals of Global Grange, Inc., based in the Rogue Valley.

The company brings together people from different parts of the food business--farms, restaurants, and more--in search of connection opportunities, efficiences, and synergies. Host and management consultant, Cynthia Scherr explores the concept in the latest edition of The Ground Floor, our business/entrepreneur podcast.

Cynthia's guest is Drew Gibbs, an Ashland restauranteur and the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Global Grange.

Thomas Edison, among many others, proved that people can have more than one great idea. Sometimes they come in clusters, as we explore in a new edition of The Ground Floor, our business/entrepreneur podcast with Cynthia Scherr of Scherr Management Counsulting.

Cynthia's latest chat involves two businesses: a liquor store that wanted a local wine brand, and the facility that could make that happen. The Beverage Barn in Bandon reached out to Naumes Crush and Fermentation in Medford, and voila: a new wine label, On The Waterfront, was born. Cynthia visits with Lori Osborn at the Beverage Barn and Chris Graves at Naumes.

There's money to be made in providing services to people. There's potentially BIGGER money to be made in providing services to other businesses. Just think about all the regulations that they have to follow; Elizabeth Cope did.

She noticed through previous jobs how much work it took for businesses to keep up with the requirements of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission. She ended up forming her own company, Ashland-based SEC Compliance Solutions.

The story of the business and what it does for other businesses is the focus of the latest edition of The Ground Floor, with host, Management Consultant Cynthia Scherr. We get the story of what the SEC needs, and how SEC Compliance Solutions helps meet them.

There's been quite a flood of news out of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival this year, from the campaign to save the season to executive departures to the announcement of the 2024 season.

Cynthia Scherr, The Ground Floor podcast host, coaches and trains executives, and speaks their language. So the latest edition of TGF brings the conversation about the future of OSF to a next level when she speaks with Interim Executive Director Tyler Hokama about OSF present and future.

It's a relatively small symbol, but it turns out to be a powerful one. The little chocolate-covered coffee beans given out with beverages at The Human Bean give the chain a name and a hook. Now the franchise locations stretch from here to New Jersey, with more opening all the time.

We explore the human part of the operation and its growth with Dan Hawkins, the Human Bean President and CEO. He sits for a visit with Management Consultant Cynthia Scherr in the latest installment of The Ground Floor, our business and entrepreneur segment.

It's a relatively small symbol, but it turns out to be a powerful one. The little chocolate-covered coffee beans given out with beverages at The Human Bean give the chain a name and a hook. Now the franchise locations stretch from here to New Jersey, with more opening all the time.

We explore the human part of the operation and its growth with Dan Hawkins, the Human Bean President and CEO. He sits for a visit with Management Consultant Cynthia Scherr in the latest installment of The Ground Floor, our business and entrepreneur segment.

Nobody much likes the term "landlord," but we keep using it. Whether you like the label or not, it describes a role in a particularly personal, and legally complicated, business relationship. Now there is a new tool for people managing rental property to help keep the business part organized.

Rentec Direct in Grants Pass makes software used all over the country now. Founder/President Nathan Miller came up with the idea when he got overwhelmed managing his own rentals. He tells the story in the latest edition of The Ground Floor, our business segment, hosted by management consultant Cynthia Scherr. Listen for details of the origin story, and the growth of the business that continues today.