Jennifer Greenberg, MBA

Jennifer Greenberg, MBA, is a founding member of the Portland Business Support Project (PBSP). When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, she and her colleagues were concerned about the impact on Portland’s businesses. Describing how PBSP came together, Greenberg says: “A group of us, buddies from the same MBA cohort, asked the question ‘what if we offered free business consulting?’ We figured we could help, and 48 hours later PBSP was born.”

Greenberg onboards new clients, getting to know each new client, and enjoys the discovery process in learning about each new business’ goals and challenges.

Greenberg’s colleagues describe her superpower as “connecting the right people to the right resources to assist a business.” After a holistic analysis of a client’s industry, she uses her mental filing cabinet of resources and vast network of people, and makes the match to help clients move forward.

As a herder of people, Greenberg deeply identifies with a border collie. Ironically her real-life pets are two 5lb chihuahuas. She is not quite sure how that happened. If she were to close her eyes and be transported anywhere, she would be paddling a canoe in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota.

Rich Schwartz, MBA

Upon hearing that a group of PSU alums banded together to support Portland’s small businesses impacted by the pandemic, Rich knew he wanted to be a part of PBSP. Since earning his MBA from PSU in 2016, he’s been consulting with clients independently, honing his skills in financial analysis, project management, strategy and more. With PBSP, Rich hopes that these years of experience will benefit clients who are wrestling with the "new normal".

After a long career in computer programming, Rich was inspired to earn his MBA by his community of friends who are farmers, agricultural consultants, hunger relief professionals and food entrepreneurs. He explains, “I went back to school to pick up my MBA with the specific intention of using those skills to have a positive impact on our broken food system, and join the effort toward making food production and access more just, sustainable and equitable.”

On the weekends, you can find Rich safely (in light of social distancing) exploring the beautiful alpine meadows of the Pacific Northwest. He recently returned from a five day backpacking trip in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Highlights included fields of wildflowers, views of seven Cascade volcanoes, swims in frigid mountain lakes and dozens of shooting stars.

Russ Brewer, MBA

Russ joined the Portland Business Support Project to help local businesses with strategic decision making. His colleagues say among his many superpowers (aside from excel wizardry and customer engagement strategy), Russ is great at breaking down the different choices a company could make, and then creating ways to assign value to those choices with clear rankings. The unique frameworks that result help his clients decide how to best proceed.

Russ’ work style is heavily influenced by his favorite boss, who told him that a single person does not scale--which inspired him to build tools to automate processes, and that ultimately lead to faster decision making.

Russ has a one year-old golden retriever named Isla. Isla and Russ both love the water, driving with the windows rolled down, and listening to classic rock. Russ is also the founder of Craft Beer League, which he describes as “fantasy football but with craft beers”. Interest piqued? Sign up for the next 8 week season, starting in September.

Kit Walling, MSF

When the pandemic hit, Kit Walling saw his friends in the healthcare industry on the front lines, supporting patients. He was inspired to help, realized his skills could help local businesses stay alive and pivot during this turbulent time, and joined the Portland Business Support Project to do just that.

His PBSP colleagues say Kit has a specific talent for supporting business owners by creating unique and vital financial models that track sales and income, as well as inform future strategy. This allows his clients to focus on their business’ day-to-day work and creative mission.

Kit and his partner live with their fluffy rescue mutt, Buddy, and their ball of energy Pittie mix, Dude. On weekends, you can find Kit outdoors, either exploring the state’s hiking trails or in the backyard working in his garden.

Rebecca Goldcrump, MBA, Social Impact and Operations Consultant

Seeking a way to give back to the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Rebecca Goldcrump jumped at the opportunity to work with her fellow Portland State University MBA alumni. She loves that being part of the Portland Business Support Project gives her the opportunity to work directly with Portland business owners who she describes as “talented entrepreneurs with grand visions and lots of amazing ideas”.

Fellow volunteer colleagues explain Rebecca’s ‘superpower’ as a ‘Super Dot-Connector’. “She’s able to take in a lot of different information from various sources, fill in the gaps to connect it in a logical way, and design an actionable plan for our clients.”

Rebecca lives with her ‘espresso-obsessed’ husband, their 10-year old, one-eared Boxer Kahlua, and their rambunctious 5-year old Australian Shepherd Bailey.

Sarah Holdeman, MBA, Growth and Operations

Sarah was moved to join PBSP to contribute to assisting her local business community adapt and move through uncertainty. Upon seeing so many organizations gripped in fear due to the pandemic, she wanted to have a positive impact.

For Sarah, the most satisfying part of being a PBSP volunteer is working alongside business owners, majority women, who are “for the most part single-handedly trying to keep their businesses afloat. The relief that's expressed from these business owners at having someone to help them is incredibly rewarding. For a lot of these clients, they're so used to grinding it out alone, so to have a team come in and just say ‘how can I help?’ makes a huge impact.”

Holdeman’s biggest influence in her approach to work is PBSP colleague, Danya Rose-Merkle. “We were in the same cohort in the Portland State University MBA program, and have worked together in various ways. She's helped me realize and amend my tendency to jump straight to execution without really digging into the how's and why's first. Working with her has helped me listen more deeply to the needs of business owners, and recognize that sometimes the deliverable they are asking for isn't really what the business needs. As a consultant it's our job to translate their ask into what's best for the business.”

Sarah and her husband have 2 dogs: Indiana Bones, a Blue Heeler/Mini Pinscher mix and “the doofiest dog around, the love of our whole lives...we agree that we might love him more than we love each other.” And newcomer, Indiana Bones’ younger sister Clementine, a sweet little Chihuahua/Daschund mix. “I'm not just saying this because she's my dog but she's honestly a genius.”