“Being my own boss gives me the time to serve on neighborhood committees,” says Woodlawn’s Anjala Ehelebe, financial advisory with Primerica. Ehelebe has been active in the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association as secretary and most recently as the group’s historian. In 2008 she even published a book on Woodlawn’s journey from a streetcar depot to the friendly neighborhood we know today. 

A year ago, Mike Verbout, member of the North Portland Business Association, and Dr. Robin Anderson, dean of the Pamplin School of Business at the University of Portland, founded a roundtable discussion group aimed at helping North Portland’s small-business community.

Verbout, the now retired former principal of James John Elementary School has been a networker style of activist and school advocate for over a decade.   

The NorthStar Coffee House is more than your average coffee shop. Owners and business partners Pam Brooks-Haines and Kathy Chellis have created a neighborhood hub, with something for everyone.

Pam and Kathy are also active in the Interstate and Kenton business associations, and open the shop up for Kenton’s monthly Third Thursday art walk.

Jenna Forzley, co-owner of the Overlook neighborhood’s Atomic Pizza, only opened her restaurant on North Killingsworth Street last March, but her colleagues already say she is an anchor for the neighborhood. Recently she stepped up as vice president of the Overlook Village Business District Association. 

“Having a restaurant has given us more opportunity to reach out to the community,” she says.

AlexSandra, owner of AlexSandra’s Vintage Emporium, is the go-to activista on North Interstate Avenue. She is the vice president of Interstate Corridor Business Alliance, and she’s also vice president of the Arbor Lodge Neighborhood Association.

“It’s a lot easier to introduce myself at meetings these days with the same title in both,” she says.

Tracy Menasco has a long history of involvement in North Portland’s business scene, volunteering to find grants, clean up vacant store fronts, and develop neighborhood business events. 

As the owner of Trixie’s Beauty Bar and incoming president of the North Portland Business Association, Menasco will coordinate the direction of more than 70 members in the Fifth Quadrant.

Chief among her goals are accessing more city resources to assist the diverse business community, and using her marketing background to help brand the area and create more events that will bring in new customers. 

Over the last five years, Jessie Burke has been a driving force in revamping the stubbornly independent Kenton neighborhood.

“Kenton’s really unique – it’s not going to be another Mississippi [Avenue] or Alberta [Street],” she said. “We have a lot of longtime residents who want to feel welcome and at home in their own neighborhood.”

Realtor Paul Maresh was born and raised in North Portland and has lived in the University Park neighborhood for the past 14 years. The hobbyist beekeeper and 1969 Jefferson High School graduate champions many causes for his neighborhood and greater North Portland, but he believes the greatest need is to provide improved transportation infrastructure to the area. 

“The potential for employment [in North Portland] is not realized because of the lack of transportation,” he says. While he understands the importance of industry in the area — having worked over the years for various parts of it — Maresh notes that heavy and fast-moving trucks on the same roadways intimidate a growing number of cyclists.  He’s working on a solution.

In any even partially complete survey of last year’s activism, we’d be remiss not to include the oldest business group in North Portland. Especially this year.

Founded in 1926, the St. Johns Boosters recently voted in a whole new board. Fierce election campaigning in 2008 yielded few fresh faces, but the epic tally of Dec. 7, 2009, ended the reign of several executives who had served since the ’90s.

The organization’s membership has also skyrocketed in the past two years from about 12 to 83 members. After long sharing a space with the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival on North Alta Avenue, the Boosters are gearing up to announce a new, larger space.