Ground Floor

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.

Host Cynthia Scherr speaks with Travis Rigby owner of The Flower Box, a company based in Southern Oregon. They discuss how The Flower Box has finally achieved its goal of producing a 100% recyclable paper vase that's manufactured entirely in the United States.

They also discuss policies that led to the cut-flower industry's move overseas in the 1980s, notably to Ecuador and Columbia, and the growing farmer florist movement in the United States. Rigby also notes an almost dependency on the overseas trade, including on China for accessories, and the impact tariffs will have on the flower industry across the board.

Cynthia Scherr, host of The Ground Floor, speaks with Jason Walker of Starwalker Farms in California's Scott Valley.

When Jason and his wife Kristina returned to run his parents farm in the Scott Valley, they were fully committed to the family tradition of organic farming. The young couple have since taken their 1000-acre family farm to the next level. In the past 12 years, it has grown to become a 7000-acre, 100% vertically integrated, regenerative organic certified (ROC) operation.

The Ground Floor host Cynthia Scherr speaks with Michael Sorensen, a partner with Lime Rock LLC, an engineering firm in Medford, Oregon, which serves a range of industries from the movies to the military in the field of motion robotics.

Sorensen discusses his career and Lime Rock’s transition from Hollywood to Oregon. He traces the firm’s evolution from designing motion robotics for the movie industry to expanding its services across sectors. Highlighting key milestones, including two Academy Awards and military collaborations, Sorensen then turns to Lime Rock’s latest venture: developing its own off-the-shelf products.

The Ground Floor host Cynthia Scherr speaks with Michael Sorensen, a partner with Lime Rock LLC, an engineering firm in Medford, Oregon, which serves a range of industries from the movies to the military in the field of motion robotics.

Sorensen discusses his career and Lime Rock’s transition from Hollywood to Oregon. He traces the firm’s evolution from designing motion robotics for the movie industry to expanding its services across sectors. Highlighting key milestones, including two Academy Awards and military collaborations, Sorensen then turns to Lime Rock’s latest venture: developing its own off-the-shelf products.

Entrepreneur Tim Kiesling visits with host Cynthia Scherr in The Ground Floor to discuss the challenges and opportunities he's facing in the opening of "Acid Castles," a new vintage clothing store in Ashland, Oregon.

How do you get rid of old electronics? When you or your business updates or replaces old electronic devices, like TVs, computers, tablets or phones, what do you do with all the leftover tiny bits and pieces? Some are hazardous and some pose security risks for your data.

AfterBits Electronic Recycling has solutions. Host Cynthia Scherr speaks with Robert Hibbs, founder of the Medford-based company that helps reduce electronic waste by offering secure and safe options for disposal.

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 and 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.

As exciting as it can be to see a new building take shape, it can be truly tedious to make the walls. Even when the arrangement of framing lumber goes smoothly, the weather can make the work challenging or miserable.

Enter Pacific Wall Systems, which constructs prefabricated wall panels at a covered plant in Phoenix, saving builders time and effort. PWS is the focus of the latest edition of The Ground Floor, our business/entrepreneur segment.

Management consultant and host Cynthia Scherr looks inside the walls of the business, with Vice President Alex Knecht.

Even the most talented and gifted people who start up new businesses can use a little help along the way. If nothing else, to ask the question "when this happened, what did you do?"

The question can be answered by the members of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network, an alliance of entrepreneurs from across the state willing to help other entrepreneurs get their stuff together.

Our business and entrepreneur podcast, The Ground Floor, visits with OEN's Cara Turano about the general thrust of the help, and about gatherings where OEN members meet in person.

Host and management consultant Cynthia Scherr guides the conversation.