Opportunity Knocks expanding into Sisters

Opportunity Knocks, Central Oregon's small business problem-solving organization, is starting two new teams in Sisters.

Each team will include 12 non-competing businesses that will start meeting this spring.

Opportunity Knocks (OK) has been in Bend for six years and currently is serving over 200 businesses on 20 different teams.

Each team brings together 12 businesses that meet monthly with two facilitators for the purpose of solving problems, averting crises, and/or discussing opportunities.

OK provides a meeting site for the group, prepares the monthly agendas and provides two trained facilitators to conduct the three-hour monthly meetings.

Monthly meetings give group members an opportunity to: Present business challenges or crises in need of immediate attention; present long-term strategic issues or problems for discussion and insight; report on the effect of action items suggested at a previous meeting.

"Rarely will you find a new and unique problem in small business," said Jim Schell, owner and founder of OK.

"While each business is certainly unique, its problems are generic -- which means if you put 12 or 13 business owners in the same room, someone is bound to have faced the problem before."

OK's facilitators are volunteers. First year dues are $99, with subsequent years showing a slight increase.

For more information about Opportunity Knocks, call 318-4650.