When it comes to business, Ron Adams, Dean of the College of Engineering at Oregon State University is definitely right-brained. He plans meticulously, sets well-defined goals and is efficient in putting them together.

“It takes as much effort to go after big ideas as it does to go after small ones,” said the soft-spoken head of the program that has gained national recognition as a top-notch engineering college.

There is another side to Adams, however – a side most of his students and leadership team have yet to see.

“They don’t know that I’m occasionally a poet and an artist,” he said.

Adams served as president of research and development and senior fellow for the color printing and imaging division at Tektronix until he was brought on the OSU staff in 1998. His first assignment: set goals that would make OSU a major competitor with other engineering education programs in the United States.

He gave himself six weeks to create the strategic plan necessary to spell out what the university would need to do to accomplish that feat. He met that goal and has spent the past decade finding partners to raise money, doubling the number of students who graduate from the program with doctoral degrees (from 160 to 330), and nearly tripling the amount of research and development funding spent by the department (from $12 million to $35 million in 2010).

In addition – with the help of an ever-growing leadership team and faculty – the College of Engineering has established a top-tier program that regularly recruits professors from such engineering powerhouse universities as MIT and Texas A&M.

Adams is quick to credit his success in part to guidance and advice he received earlier in his career from mentors such as Roy Barker and Bob Wilson.

Barker, a former boss at Tektronics, encouraged Adams to find ways to be entrepreneurial in a big company by talking about his goals, challenges he faced and how he would meet them each month. Adams brought that process with him to OSU.

As for Wilson, Adams credits the professor in mechanical industrial and manufacturing engineering at OSU with convincing him to work toward a doctorate at MIT. Wilson encouraged him to always think big, something that Adams said has served him well.

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When Renee Nutter talks about children, her eyes sparkle and she smiles wide. Making sure as many children as possible have positive influences in their lives and lots of fun is one of her favorite subjects.

So when the Vancouver’s Park Foundation needed someone to take over the coordination of Dozer Days, an event that places children in the seats of construction equipment, Nutter, was ready to step into the driver’s seat.

As the event coordinator for the Nutter Family Foundation, she had already worked on the event as a representative of Nutter Corp, a dedicated supporter of Dozer Days.

Since she took over the program, however, she’s helped create a new image for the program. She expanded the event from one day to two days.  All of the program’s volunteers, including the professional drivers who show the kids how the construction equipment operates, are given strict background checks.

Under Nutter’s guidance, even the volunteers have thrived, with most returning year after year because they say the event is as fun for them as it is for the kids who attend.

Nutter’s original involvement in Dozer Days can be traced back to her kids. She feels children should learn early to volunteer their time to others.

“Dozer Days started at a Parks Foundation fundraiser,” she said. “It’s a great event, focused on kids. And who knows (better about) what’s important to kids than kids?”

Not only does the event allow kids to scamper around big machinery, the Nutter Foundation – created by Renee and husband Jerry – returns a park to the community by asking kids what they want, such as a place to run in the grass and climbing structures.

“Then they have an area where they can escape,” she said “We work with school district superintendents to make sure children who want to come, can, for free …

“Kids should dream and should know … they can make things happen,” Nutter said.

The event, which first attracted 16,000 kids, last year welcomed 20,000 through its gates. And Nutter expects it to continue to grow.

Nutter – who says she is a people-pleaser with a strong work ethic  – credits her uncle Carlos with her positive outlook.

“He always kept it fun, but in perspective,” she said. “He would ask, ‘Is this going to matter in 10 years?’ I tend to be hard on myself, but you have to keep a balance.”

Her daughter Sammi helps her keep that balance.

“We have so much fun together; we are just goofballs,” Nutter said. “She keeps me young.”

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Ask Neil Tunmore what he likes best about being the vice president of the technology and manufacturing group at Intel and his answer will be a simple one – the breadth of his responsibility.

One day, he might be coming up with a plan to make soap dispensers in the rest rooms of Intel’s Beaverton campus work more efficiently. The next, he might be making complicated decisions about the company’s new fab facility that will span a length equal to almost three football fields and require almost 150,000 square feet of concrete.

No matter which challenge he faces, though, Tunmore says he loves what he does.

In addition to his vice-president role at Intel, he’s also the director of corporate services responsible for overseeing at an international level all of Intel’s facilities, including those that are under construction

Tunmore, born in England, has worked for Intel since 1981. Since that time his work there has taken him through Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2000, he settled in to the United States, moving from business planning and finance to human resources and director of the employee services group for the company.

“I’ve never worked anywhere else,” he said.

His most recent project, the D1X building in Hillsboro, which will house Intel’s newest fabrication facility, had been slated for a different name. Each building on part of campus where it will be built are designated D1A – D1D. However, decision makers for the company cringed at the idea of having D1E on the side of a building.

The new design – which will be copied and utilized for similar facilities all over the world – will be provide enough space for research and development of new technology for at least the next five generations – about a decade in the world of technology, he said.

“The magic happens in technology with a highly talented team of PhDs,” he said of the work that will be done in the new facility. “Our job is to enable that magic to happen.”

Tunmore credits one of his managers from early on in the company for telling him to,  “always do what you say you are going to do. If you make a commitment, stick with it.”

“It brings huge credibility,” Tunmore added.

He credits his dad for offering sage advice when Tunmore needs it, especially when his children were small.

“He taught me to do things right, have integrity,” Tunmore said. “He was practical and always there to advise.  I think you learn a lot from that.”

And Tunmore can cook. “My wife can’t understand why I am happy spending a day in the kitchen preparing a mean for friends, but I find it a complete release.”

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The one piece of advice Margie Harris, executive director at Energy Trust of Oregon would like to share with others is “save energy.”

The idea of being a steward for the environment began in for Harris in 1973, after her mother encouraged her to “do what you love, what makes you happy and the rest will fall in place.”

In 1999 the Oregon State Legislature created Energy Trust as a dedicated source of funding for energy conservation and efficient and renewable energy development.

Harris joined the nonprofit in 2001. She had no staff, no office, and the clock was ticking to start divvying up the public purpose charge, the mandatory fees gathered from residents and business owners each month on their utility bills. The funds were then used to save energy, reduce utility bills and use renewable energy.

The trust is accountable to all residents of Oregon and is overseen by a non-stakeholder board of directors, and over the last decade has saved utility customers nearly $600 million on their energy bills.

“It’s served 300,000 households, 7,200 commercials sites and 1,100 industrial sites,” Harris said, adding that “so far we have saved and generated enough energy to power 250,000 homes and saved enough natural gas energy to heat 26,000 Oregon homes.”

Energy Trust encourages people to generate power using solar, geothermal, biomass, wind and hydropower in two ways. Harris and her group provide information on opportunities to save energy and generate renewable power, and provide financial incentives to help pay for it, she said.

“Everybody benefits,” Harris said. “We have saved all utility rate payers $1.1 billion in the past nine years by avoiding having to pay for fuel generation storage and delivery of energy. It’s good for customers and the environment and the economy and jobs.”

While other programs suffered during the recent economic downturn, Energy Trust thrived by encouraging reduction of energy use in homes and businesses. Among its most successful strategies: installing automated controls for lights and heating and cooling equipment that turns lights on and off when rooms or buildings aren’t occupied.

Energy conservation isn’t Harris’s only passion, however. She sings in a band called “Still Kickin” and finds music to be a great outlet.

“I don’t think about work when I am doing it,” she said. “We have a great time.”

Harris learned the important of challenging herself and having the confidence to take risks from Fred Miller, her boss at the state Department of Energy when she worked there in 1976.

“It’s been a wild ride,” she said.

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Mark Lopez’s independent Portland restaurant, Baja Grill, had been in business for at least two years when he received a cease-and-desist order from a national chain restaurant.

The chain, Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, claimed the name of Lopez’s eatery, along with the red-white-green color scheme he was using for its advertising, violated the larger restaurant’s trademark branding.

Such trademark infringement issues may sound like a rare occurrence for small businesses. But in the realm of unusual problems that mom-and-pop-shop-sized businesses run into, they’re actually quite commonplace, according to Portland-area attorneys Rich Meneghello, a managing partner at Fisher & Phillips, and Scott Phillips, a co-owner of Bridge City Law in Beaverton.

The two attorneys dug deep into their files to find some common and not-so-common issues that business clients have run into in the past.

“It’s amazing to me each day the calls I get from employers and the amazing things people do at work,” Phillips said.

Don’t let the bedbugs bite

Many professionals rack up their fair share of frequent flier miles for overnight business trips. But what if a stay in a hotel for an overnight business included bringing home more than a bottle of shampoo? Stories circulate almost every day about travelers unpacking an invasion of bedbugs along with clothes. If such an invasion can be traced to a hotel, is legal recourse possible?

Yes, both Meneghello and Phillips say. The issue would probably fall under negligence on the part of the hotel. At the very least, a traveler could expect to be reimbursed for the cost of the room, and possibly for the cleaning services used to clear a home of the pests.

“Hospitality clients are (often) concerned with their reputations,” Meneghello said. “Especially in the world information sharing, (those who provide) hospitality services are savvy. They know that if they get in a fight with people on this kind of thing, it could harm them. It’s a balancing act.”

If there is negligence on the part of the hotel, most often the manager will work with the client to come to a mutually beneficial conclusion.

“My best advice is to make contact with them,” Menegehllo said. “Talk to the manager. Work something out with them.”

Raise a glass

A business owner invites a client out for a dinner meeting. The wine flows freely, and by the end of the dinner, the client can barely walk. What is the owner’s legal obligation to make sure the client arrives home safely?

This theme is one Meneghello and Phillips said business clients often ask about, especially during the holidays.

The answer, Phillips said, depends on the situation.

For example, any time a third party is involved, such as a restaurant with professional bartenders serving alcohol, neither the employer nor the client is obligated to regulate drinking or provide a way home.

However, a gray area begins to creep in when there is no professional bartender involved at an event hosted by the employer somewhere like an office or home. In this type of situation, Meneghello suggests hiring a professional, licensed bartender and instructing that person on drink limits and how to cut people off if they are intoxicated.

“(Then) you are off the hook,” Meneghello said.

What’s in a name?

An architect laid off from a big firm decides to start her own firm. But a couple of months after opening for business, she receives a cease-and-desist letter from a company that claims the catchy name of her firm is too much like theirs. Does the architect have need to worry?

Simply put, yes.

“This touches on business interference,” Meneghello said. He often learns of situations that involve former employees who have gone into business for themselves trying to tap into a former employer’s clients or trying to hire away competent employees. And sometimes the new company interferes with the company the owners left by inappropriately using intellectual property such as client lists, and pricing information – even items downloaded to a flash drive.

Using a name that is similar to a competitor’s, and thereby capitalizing on its reputation, is also illegal, Meneghello said.

That’s the situation Lopez found himself in when he received the cease-and-desist letter from Baja Fresh Mexican Grill. By taking action, however, he was able to write a happy ending for his story. A solution was found that satisfied both parties, and these days Lopez keeps himself busy running a new Portland venture called Crave Catering.

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