The Rogue Community College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) supports the growth of small businesses in the Rogue Valley and contributes to the economic development of the region.

Joining the Exchange are two guests: Ruth Swain, Director of RCC's SBDC and Tim Busald, SBDC Business Advisor.

RUTH SWAIN BIO
Ruth is the Director of the Rogue Community College SBDC, joining the team in 2021. She previously served four years with the Mt. Hood SBDC, where she was Interim Innovation Director leading the statewide Cybersecurity and FranFit programs for the Oregon SBDC network.

Ruth has supported small businesses and regional economic development for thirty years. She has extensive training and success in regional economic growth in both major metro and rural communities. She is an award-winning marketing expert, with numerous national awards for excellence in communications.

As Director of RCC’s Small Business Development Center, Ruth’s focus is overseeing the ongoing programs and services of the center, and serving as a Rogue Community College SBDC ambassador to the local business community and our many economic development partners.

Ruth graduated from Eastern Washington University cum laude, focused on business, marketing, and communications. She also is an expert in fundraising and grants management.

Ruth enjoys reading a wide variety of literature and genres, from business strategy and leadership to philosophy, to gritty detective mysteries. She enjoys exploring with her family and her dog Charlotte Bedelia (Celtic Goddess of Fire).

TIM BUSALD BIO
As a business advisor for RCC's SBDC, Tim works with a variety of businesses in the areas of leadership, team building, product research and development, sales and marketing, financial analysis, capital formation and operations.

Tim co-founded Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurants, Inc. in 1996 and led the development of the company to become an industry leader in the specialty casual seafood dining segment. During his career, he was responsible for the daily operations through various phases of domestic and international growth.

As President / CEO, Tim led the company through the strategic acquisition of the organization, which has led to continued growth for the business. He has also spent significant time working with international companies in a variety of business areas such as franchise development, procurement and logistics.

Tim's experience in the restaurant industry spans over 30 years. Prior to co-founding Bubba Gump Restaurants, Inc., Tim spent several years at Rusty Pelican Restaurants, Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Mr. Busald received his BS degree in Consumer and Family Sciences from Purdue University. He has lived in the Rogue Valley with his family since 2005. He enjoys all things water-related from fly fishing to kayaking and paddle boarding the Rogue River.

The Rogue Community College Small Business Development Center (SBDC) supports the growth of small businesses in the Rogue Valley and contributes to the economic development of the region.

Joining the Exchange are two guests: Ruth Swain, Director of RCC's SBDC and Tim Busald, SBDC Business Advisor.

RUTH SWAIN BIO
Ruth is the Director of the Rogue Community College SBDC, joining the team in 2021. She previously served four years with the Mt. Hood SBDC, where she was Interim Innovation Director leading the statewide Cybersecurity and FranFit programs for the Oregon SBDC network.

Ruth has supported small businesses and regional economic development for thirty years. She has extensive training and success in regional economic growth in both major metro and rural communities. She is an award-winning marketing expert, with numerous national awards for excellence in communications.

As Director of RCC’s Small Business Development Center, Ruth’s focus is overseeing the ongoing programs and services of the center, and serving as a Rogue Community College SBDC ambassador to the local business community and our many economic development partners.

Ruth graduated from Eastern Washington University cum laude, focused on business, marketing, and communications. She also is an expert in fundraising and grants management.

Ruth enjoys reading a wide variety of literature and genres, from business strategy and leadership to philosophy, to gritty detective mysteries. She enjoys exploring with her family and her dog Charlotte Bedelia (Celtic Goddess of Fire).

TIM BUSALD BIO
As a business advisor for RCC's SBDC, Tim works with a variety of businesses in the areas of leadership, team building, product research and development, sales and marketing, financial analysis, capital formation and operations.

Tim co-founded Bubba Gump Shrimp Company Restaurants, Inc. in 1996 and led the development of the company to become an industry leader in the specialty casual seafood dining segment. During his career, he was responsible for the daily operations through various phases of domestic and international growth.

As President / CEO, Tim led the company through the strategic acquisition of the organization, which has led to continued growth for the business. He has also spent significant time working with international companies in a variety of business areas such as franchise development, procurement and logistics.

Tim's experience in the restaurant industry spans over 30 years. Prior to co-founding Bubba Gump Restaurants, Inc., Tim spent several years at Rusty Pelican Restaurants, Inc. and Hyatt Hotels Corporation. Mr. Busald received his BS degree in Consumer and Family Sciences from Purdue University. He has lived in the Rogue Valley with his family since 2005. He enjoys all things water-related from fly fishing to kayaking and paddle boarding the Rogue River.

Judith Surber and Justin Maxon collaborated on a multimedia New York Times story about the destructive impact of prescription drugs, heroin and fentanyl on her family's life on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. Judith wrote the story and Justin produced the photography and motion captures in the Times' titled, "Addiction Ravaged My Family and My Tribe. I'm Fighting to Get Them Back."

Judith Surber and Justin Maxon join the Exchange to discuss their collaborative OPED in the New York Times and the Guggenheim Fellowship Justice received.

Justin Maxon is a Guggenheim Fellowship recipient. His upcoming project, "Decolonizing Care" builds on the collaborative work he produced with Judith for the New York Times opinion editorial (OPED).

The conditions of freedom for Black people in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War is one of the least covered topics in American history. But volumes of documented evidence of a century of violent white terrorism targeting Black people and their White allies could fill an entire library dedicated solely to the topic. Vigilante and institutional violence was a hallmark of the era of the 1860s throughout the 1960s across the nation.

Millions of Black Americans were displaced by violence and violent threats and intimidation. They moved from concentrated regions of the south in great migration over decades into northern and western areas of the country. This is part of America's historical record. While it is generally known that indigenous peoples were removed from their lands across the entire continent, a much lesser-known part of American history is the dispossession of the lands that cost Black American families hundreds of billions in stolen generational wealth assets.

But one unique story of Black migration and land dispossession is now being told. That's the story of the Kingdom of the Happy Land, which author Dolen Perkens-Valdez introduces in her new novel.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez joins the Exchange to discuss the aforementioned societal issues and more contained in her new novel "Happy Land."

In a story of historical fiction, Perkins-Valdez immerses the reader into a small group of Black people newly freed from enslavement after the Civil War. They're seeking refuge and opportunity in a hostile White America. All they want is to be left alone on their own land. But when they are displaced from their community by the Klan in South Carolina, they collectively embark up a mountain to find their Happy Land.

Perkins-Valdez writes in cinematic prose, cutting between the family of modern-day descendants and those from four generations prior, who sought safety in their newfound freedom and pursued an equitable ownership stake in the American dream of prosperity: land and homeownership.

Through her creative lens that links the present with the past, and weaving of well-researched historical facts, Perkins-Valdez guides readers on a heartpounding, gutwrenching, suspense-filled, romance-laced journey of paradigm-shifting discovery through one family that found their roots in an African queen of the only African kingdom founded on American soil after the Civil War.

Lessons learned from the experiences of the women of the Lovejoy family offer deep insight into family relationships, marital relations, friendships that span generations, and the "notorious" and "hostile" legal loopholes and judicial gymnastics involved in the generational struggles for land ownership by Black Americans then ... and now.

Anna May Wong was one of the first Asian-Americans to grace the silver screen. Yet, early Hollywood shoved her into their narrow boxes of what an Asian woman could be. So she headed off to Europe, where she broke the mold and took on empowering roles rather than narrow ones. She continued to confront the racism of the film industry for the rest of her life after returning to the US.

Anna's incredible life is characterized in a new book, "Not Your China Doll." The author, Katie Gee Salisbury, joins Underground History host Chelsea Rose to discuss the "wild and shimmering" life of Anna May Wong.

Dr. Homer Venters is the former Chief Medical Officer of the New York City jail system. He currently works as a Federal Monitor of health services in several jail and prison settings and is an adjunct faculty member at New York University's College of Global Public Health. He’s also the author of ""Life and Death in Riker's Island.""

His latest book, published by Johns Hopkins University Press, is titled, “Outbreak Behind Bars: Spider Bites, Human Rights, and the Unseen Danger to Public Health.” Dr. Homer Venters joins the Exchange to discuss."

JPR's Roman Battaglia: Giving incarcerated youth in Oregon a fresh start — with lasers

KLCC's Zac Ziegler: Oregon solar industry braces for a quick end to federal rooftop tax credit

NWPB's Lauren Gallup: A night at the ballpark

Guest host Geoffrey Riley talks with Oregon State Senator Jeff Golden and Speaker of the House Julie Fahey. The legislators offer insight into the issues and policies addressed by the Oregon legislature this year.

Save California Salmon isn't just focused on advocating for salmon. They're also dedicated to reaching out and providing educational opportunities for Native American youth in Northern California. Earlier this summer, they held an Indigenous Science Camp rooted in river education, cultural connection, and the celebration of restoration.

Education department lead Phil Albers and youth coordinator Star Gibbens join to discuss that camp and other upcoming events later this summer.

Dr. Leona O'Keefe, Medical Director at Jackson Care Connect and Sabrina Ballew, Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program Manager at Mercy Flights both join guest host Geoffrey Riley.

Jackson Care Connect received the Excellence in EMS Integration Award from the Academy of International Mobile Healthcare (AIMHI) on June 21.

The award reflects the deep partnership between Jackson Care Connect and Mercy Flights’ Mobile Integrated Healthcare Program. The two organizations have designed and implemented several projects to meet Jackson Care Connect members and community members where they are, bringing health care directly to the homes and communities of high-risk and underserved populations.

The joint projects have included follow-ups after 911 calls, chronic disease monitoring and behavioral health support. All are designed to serve the organizations’ goals to improve patient care, expand access to care and reduce unnecessary emergency department visits.