Sisters Coffee Expands into Portland
While many businesses around the country downsize or even close, Sisters Coffee Company has bucked the trend and expanded from Central Oregon into Portland. Sisters Coffee Company is based in Sisters, Ore. and is run by the Durham family including Concordia Alums Justin and Leigh Anne Durham.
Using their Concordia University locations as an introduction of the brand into the Portland market, the company has expanded and plans to open its third retail shop in Portland’s Pearl District in May.
Justin Durham ’03, director of Sales and Marketing for Sisters Coffee Company is thrilled to be opening the retail store in Portland.
“It hasn’t happened overnight,” Durham said. “We’ve been chipping away at it, working on it for two years and finally by the grace of God we’ve got it.”
Durham, along with his wife Leigh Anne ’03, MAT ’04 have used the values they learned at Concordia to work closely with the entire team at Sisters Coffee Co. to create a growing brand.
“We learned a work ethic and a value at Concordia,” Justin said. “The professors and staff shared their wisdom and commitment with us on a daily basis and it had a profound impact on how we deal with our co-workers and the rest of our team.”
Leigh Anne, just a few months removed from giving birth to the couples’ second child, runs the Hood Street Sisters Coffee Co. location but was also heavily involved in the set-up and launch of the Portland location. She set up the menus, point of sale systems, and decorations at the new store in Portland. The couple came over to Portland from Sisters twice a month to oversee the operations. With the store set to open this month, they can now watch as their hard work and dedication comes to fruition.
“It has been a whirlwind, that’s for sure,” Justin said. “I learned so much at Concordia, not necessarily what I studied but the people and professors who invested their time in me, taught me to work hard and were committed and dedicated to me. They really affected Leigh Anne and me positively and helped us shape our work with our co-workers and customers. We’re very excited for the future.”Fore the Students Golf Tournament Turns 10
2011 marks the 10th Anniversary of Concordia’s Fore the Students Golf Tournament. The 2011 tournament, sponsored by Group Mackenzie, will again be at Camas Meadows Golf Club in Camas, Wash. on Monday, June 13th.
The tournament raises money for the athletics department for special projects such as the 2009 website overhaul that streamlined Concordia’s web presence and the women’s soccer team trip last season to Kentucky to face nationally ranked competition.
“The tournament is profoundly important for the department and University,” said Concordia Athletic Director Matt English. “The money we raise is used to directly benefit student-athletes and the entire University. Golf tournament funds helped purchase the camera used to film Danielle Clauson’s game-winning shot that was the #1 play on ESPN SportsCenter and received more than 5 million internet hits.”
The tournament is a best ball format with a shotgun start beginning at 1:15 p.m.
Golfers who register and pay by May 15th are entered to win a Nike Driver. Golfers who become a tournament sponsor are entered into a drawing for a round of golf for three with cart and lunch at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Bring the Teams Home
Follow as Concordia University continues its plan to “Bring the Teams Home” at www.bringtheteamshome.com. There you can get information on the campaign and process from various University officials including Athletic Director Matt English, Chief Development Officer Kevin Matheny, head baseball coach Rob Vance, and more.
Concordia Looks to Expand CTAS Facilities
The Concordia University College of Theology, Arts, & Sciences teaching and research community is looking to expand laboratories for teaching and additional space for research. The renovations will enhance the ability of Concordia University students and faculty to do cutting-edge research on campus.
Concordia will continue its good relationship with Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU), where Concordia’s Dr. Mihail Iordanov runs a National Institutes for Health (NIH) grant investing in our students as researchers. Regular lectures can be held in the new space and modularization will be a critical component, with portable tables in the center of the room and research space on the edges. Plans include utilities in raceways along the ceiling or walls, not fixed, central lines.
2010 graduate Shalina Morris, who now works as an Andrology Tech at Oregon Reproductive Medicine says the labs at Concordia have helped her get a leg up on her peers.
“Working in the lab at Concordia provided me with experiences that more than prepared me for lab work that I now do every day,” Morris said. “It allowed me to be ahead of many of my peers who didn't have as many lab-based classes and gave me a better understanding of the science. Working in the lab at Concordia University not only prepared me to do my thesis involving cancer research but also work in a clinical lab providing results that doctors use every day to make decisions on their care.”
Here are the labs scheduled for upgrades:
Luther 211: Analytical chemistry laboratory. In keeping with our goal of becoming American Chemical Society (ACS) accredited chemistry major in five years, Concordia University requires an analytical chemistry lab, a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance instrument, and four professors in various chemistry disciplines.
Luther 209: Biology laboratory and research space. Set along one side of the room, research space will be shielded by a locked moveable curtain, thus preserving true research space. The rest of the room will be available for classroom space, for sciences, or for any class subject.
Luther 207: A dedicated cell culture laboratory, allowing us to offer tissue culture research, a capacity we currently lack. This laboratory will be equipped with an inverted stage fluorescent microscope to give students the opportunity to study the behavior of cells and tissue in culture.
The project will ultimately accomplish five key objectives:
- Enhance opportunities for research (both student and faculty)
- Alleviate overcrowding
- Provide learning opportunities for greater numbers of students as sciences are the fastest growing academic concentration at Concordia University.
- Advance process toward ACS accreditation of our chemistry major
- Produce a greater number of well-prepared alumni with practical experience who will fill the needs for medical professionals in the regional workplace.
Rev. Dr. Paul Mueller Hired to Run the Art and Carol Wahlers Center for Applied Lutheran Leadership
Rev. Dr. Paul W. Mueller has answered the call to serve as the first executive director of the Art & Carol Wahlers Center for Applied Lutheran Leadership (CALL) at Concordia University in Portland, Ore. The announcement follows a $300K gift in September 2010 by M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to fund CALL, part of which will support the executive director position.
"We're excited to have Paul's experience and passion at the helm to ensure that CALL delivers on its promise of helping religion and spirituality come alive for our young people and emerging leaders," said Concordia University Provost Mark Wahlers. Wahlers added, "Dr. Mueller will help lead the discussion of what it means to be Lutheran in the 21st Century."
The Murdock Trust grant was the third largest grant awarded by the Trust in 2010 and helped CALL hire its first full-time director who will develop programming to inspire and advance existing and future Lutheran leaders.
For more information about Rev. Dr. Paul Mueller, click here.Concordia Students Assist Community
Fourteen Concordia University accounting students donated 606 hours of time over 9 Saturdays to assist community members with their 2011 tax returns. Led by accounting professor Dr. David Tucker, the students filed 113 federal returns and 112 state returns and garnered $243,951 in refunds.
Click here to read the entire story.
A dozen Concordia students served as “reading coaches” for 13 local elementary school children who were identified and selected by their teachers based on reading needs. The students were 3rd graders at nearby Faubian Elementary school. They met 1-on-1 with their reading coaches at the George R. White Library & Learning Center and were treated to an end of the semester field trip to the Concordia University bookstore to pick out their very own books.
Click here to read more about Concordia’s reading coaches.Follow CU Online
There a host of options for following Concordia news and events online. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or LinkedIn; Concordia has them all covered.
Facebook fans can follow Concordia at Facebook.com/cu.portland or they can follow Concordia Athletics at Facebook.com/ConcordiaCavaliers. If you’re interested in alumni news via Facebook, ‘Like’ our page at Facebook.com/cu.portlandalumni.
Those with Twitter accounts can also follow Concordia news. Those interested in general news can follow Twitter.com/cu_portland while athletics fans can follow the athletics department at Twitter.com/gocugo.
For videos on YouTube, subscribe to the University’s account at www.youtube.com/user/ConcordiaPortland and the athletics account at www.youtube.com/user/ConcordiaCavaliers.Upcoming Events
- Fore the Students Golf Tournament at Camas Meadows – June 13, 2011
- Peace Week – June 27-July 1, 2011 at Concordia University
Hosted by Concordia University and the Wholistic Peace Institute - Reunion 2011 – October 2011
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