The City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability on March 8 is sponsoring a training seminar on salvaging commercial construction debris.

The seminar will allow commercial contractors to speak with salvage service providers around Oregon, such as and , about both the economical and environmental benefits of salvaging materials on commercial jobsites.

By attending the seminar, commercial contractors can earn four Green Building Certification continuing education hours, which allow contractors to maintain their Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design credentials.

BPS requires a debris recycling minimum of 75 percent for any job with a cost of more than $50,000. If that percentage isn’t met, a penalty of up to $500 can be imposed.

The cost of the seminar is $35, and registration is available .

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Take a walk through the past, present and future of workplace design on April 7 with a “Night for Learning” offered by Pacific Office Furnishings.

The evening features three one-hour courses that will each be offered three times during the evening.

“A Night With Nelson” will feature Bob Cox discussing the design heritage of George Nelson. Cox is a workplace strategist with Herman Miller.

The second course, “Your Carbon Footprint,” will focus on ways to calculate and reduce a business’ carbon footprint. Scott Charon, an environmental project manager with Herman Miller, will present the class.

John Newland, who serves as a Herman Miller vice president, will offer a look at future design trends expected to develop in workplaces when he presents “Trendwatch,” the third course in the series.

The event will take place at Pacific Office Furnishings, 421 S.W. Second Ave. in Portland. The evening will begin with a networking session at 5 p.m. Each of the courses will be offered at 5:30, 6:30 and 7:30.

To reserve a seat, contact Kimberly Yannariello at 503-242-4200 or at kyannariello@pacoff.com.

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When Mitch Page was a sophomore at Portland State University, he applied for an internship with Capacity Commercial Group. Of course, he was more concerned with keeping his tan from a year of studying in Hawaii than with the prospect of transforming a possible internship into a career.

Slightly more than three years later, Page is in his second week as an associate broker with the company. And he already has a 10-year goal to become one of Portland’s top producing industrial brokers.

“I heard about this internship through an e-mail blast, and, honestly, I didn’t know a single thing about the company,” Page said. “But I was interested in real estate because it’s a tangible object – it’s real.”

Internships in the industry are rare, said Don Ossey, a Capacity principal. But he and other industry professionals believe enthusiastic interns can become dedicated, well-rounded employees. The U.S. Department of Labor, in the recession, is stepping up its enforcement of labor laws surrounding internships; however, these professionals still believe the value outweighs the risk. | Related: Do I have to pay my interns?

Page acknowledged that at the time he applied for his internship with Capacity, he was more interested in becoming a stockbroker. But Page demonstrated a solid work ethic and a willingness to learn quickly, and attracted the attention of Ossey, who now has 29 years of industry experience.

“In my time in this business, I’ve only seen a few people make it all the way from an intern to a broker,” Ossey said. “But with Mitch, from the first time I pulled him into my office to interview him, he had such a tremendous enthusiasm about learning and a passion for real estate that I just knew he could make it.”

Ossey himself has hired two other interns as associate brokers. Both Nick Kucha and Cara Nolan cracked the industry with internships through his former company, Ossey Patterson Co., and stayed with Ossey when he started Capacity Commercial.

“Like any real estate firm there is a specific culture and style we try to create here,” Ossey said. “And when you train someone from the ground up, they get to learn the skills, techniques and lingo from our perspective.”

Tom Usher, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield, agrees. He said there is great value in growing and developing young talent. Since transitioning from a manager’s role back to the brokerage team in 2000, Usher has brought three interns up through the ranks. And all three – Senior Director Mark Carnese, Associate Broker Doug Deurwaarder and Research Associate Matt Johnson – continue to work on his team.

Brian Owendoff, managing director of CB Richard Ellis, also believes an internship is a great, low-cost strategy for employers in the recession.

“I would rather have a B grade college student with a strong work ethic and success through an internship, than a valedictorian with an A average who has no real-life business experience,” Owendoff said. “An intern can be a piece of clay that you can mold to best fit the current needs of your company.”

But not all firms look at internships that way. The Portland offices of Grubb & Ellis have moved away from internships in the past few years because of the increased effort by the government to regulate how internships are conducted, said Patricia Raicht, senior research manager for Grubb & Ellis.

The U.S. Department of Labor in May sent out a fact sheet explaining to employers how to determine whether an intern needs to be paid. The department, throughout the recession, is planning to step up its efforts to enforce internship rules.

“The other reason is that interns usually start in the research department and are only here for six months at the most,” Raicht said. “We are dedicated to professional research, and having that high rate of turnover would have us on a constant learning curve.”

Meanwhile, Page is joining a team that includes Ossey and Capacity employee Robbie McEachern. Starting this week Page’s name is attached to about 25 listings. He is focusing specifically on representing landlords.

“It’s a little scary. I’m going from a salary position as an assistant one week, to straight commission the next,” Page said. “If I don’t make the calls or put the time in, I’m not going to make the money.

“But I’ve been fortunate to carefully observe both successful and unsuccessful brokers during my time here. So as long as I work hard and keep learning, I think I will be fine.”

Ossey is much less worried about Page’s future.

“I’m not bringing him on just because he was an intern,” Ossey said. “As an intern and an assistant he took every opportunity to learn and has a very well-rounded understanding of the industry.

“He will help our team out immediately.”

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Marylhurst University’s green Master of Business Administration online program has been so popular, it will have a physical home beginning this fall.

The university announced today it will offer the green MBA curriculum at its Lake Oswego campus. It has offered the program online since summer last year. More than 100 students have signed up for the online version of the program this year, according to the university.

“The program has been so successful we wanted to bring it on campus for students who would rather study in person,” said Clarin Cromwell, spokeswoman for the university.

Students can choose a concentration in renewable energy or green development for the 18-month program. Courses are offered one at a time, one night per week for five weeks to allow working students to pursue the degree. About 99 percent of Marylhurst’s students are working adults, Cromwell said.

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Oregon Tradeswomen Inc. is offering a free class to prepare women for construction careers. The seven-week Trades and Apprenticeship Career Class meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between March 16 and April 30.

Female instructors will teach participants about safety, construction culture and apprenticeships. Other topics include strength training, green building and practical math.

Classes are open to all ages, from girls just completing a high-school equivalent degree to women leaving a career in architecture because they want to do more hands-on construction work, said Mary Ann Naylor with Oregon Tradeswomen.

Participants must sign up to attend an information session at 2 p.m. March 11. Other information sessions for later classes will be held March 24 and April 8.

More information is available at .

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