Tag: Mayor Adams
Hi-Tec Sports opens new US headquarters in Portland, donates $10,000 to Friends of Trees
By Emily Petterson and Anneli Ballard
Hi-Tec Sports, a leading global outdoor footwear and apparel brand, celebrated the grand opening of its new North American Headquarters in Portland, Oregon on June 16 with an event drawing Mayor Sam Adams, officials from Senator Wyden’s office, prominent business people, and the media. Held in its new downtown Portland location, the event was hosted by Bill Berta, CEO of Hi-Tec Sports USA, and Ed van Wezel, Global CEO of Hi-Tec Sports and son of company founder Frank van Wezel.
The evening event showcased the beautiful Hi-Tec space and provided a glimpse at exciting new product to be launched for Spring 2012. It kicked off with a welcome from Berta and was followed by comments from Patrick Quinton, the Executive Director of the Portland Development Commission, and Mayor Adams. In his remarks, Mayor Adams welcomed Hi-Tec Sports to Portland. He noted that this city is known as a “living laboratory” for outdoor gear and apparel–the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia Gorge, the Cascade mountain range and the high desert are all in close proximity to Portland.
“Portland is the right city for Hi-Tec and Hi-Tec is clearly the right company for Portland,” Mayor Adams said. “When you look at just a sampling of the companies located in the region, it’s a who’s who in the athletic and outdoor world: Nike, Adidas, Columbia, Icebreaker, Pendleton, Danner/LaCrosse–and I am thrilled to add Hi-Tec to that list.”
“We’re truly privileged to have been welcomed as we have into this community,” said Berta. “Portland is such a vibrant city in a wonderful state filled with unmatched outdoor enthusiasts. The location is a natural fit for us and we are looking forward to celebrating our future successes and contributing to those of Portland’s.”
“This year has marked significant change for our company,” noted van Wezel. “Hi-Tec has invested heavily in an exciting new product line for Spring 2012 coupled with four new offices around the globe to set the foundations for future growth. The new global head office opened in Amsterdam last month and the move to Portland from California comes at a time when the South African subsidiary moves from Johannesburg to Cape Town and the Eastern Europe office is due to open in Prague. It was critical for us to identify the right creative environments that will deliver us continued growth, would inspire our team, and that are located in important gateways to the rest of the world. I couldn’t be more pleased with our choices.”
Additionally, a gift of $10,000 was presented by Hi-Tec to Portland’s esteemed nonprofit organization, Friends of Trees (FOT) at the event. Through its Plant It Portland campaign, FOT is spearheading the city’s tree planting effort and has plans to plant a total of 16,000 street trees throughout East Portland neighborhoods over the next three years. This season alone, FOT planted 4,545 trees, 24 percent more than last year.
“This donation is symbolic to us,” continued Berta. “We want to show Portland that we are a business that gives back to the community, and planting trees seemed most appropriate, as we too begin to establish our roots here.”
About Hi-Tec Sports
Founded in 1974 by company Chairman Frank van Wezel, and with annual sales exceeding $250 million, Hi-Tec created the lightweight hiking category with the introduction of the Sierra Sneaker and Sierra Lite hiking boot. Today, Hi-Tec remains true to its heritage, offering technical footwear and apparel for outdoor adventure. With over three decades of product and performance technology innovation, Hi-Tec is committed to making rugged, durable products for work, trails and life, authentically inspired by the real outdoor experience.
Hi-Tec Sports USA is a subsidiary of Hi-Tec Sports, PLC, Amsterdam. Hi-Tec products are sold in over 70 countries worldwide. For more information, visit the Hi-Tec web site and follow us on Facebook and Twitter at twitter/hitecusa.
–Petterson and Ballard work at Lee Weinstein & Associates.
Bike planting a success!
By Chelsea Schuyler
Well, I had a blast. A beautiful rain-free day, a gaggle of tree-hauling bike trailers, and a planting with the mayor.
This was the first time I’d even hooked a trailer up to my bike, let alone hauled a Flame Maple sapling around in it. Thanks to everyone who came. With so many cyclists, the load felt like a breeze!
I think the best part of planting by bike, besides the immediate pride and gratification of being in the fresh air the whole time, was interacting with the neighbors. As our caravan cycled by, anyone on their porch or yard waved and said, “Hey, a bike planting!” And we all rang our bells and shouted hello. It wasn’t just about the trees. It was about the people.
And it doesn’t get much more community based than planting a tree with the mayor. Click here if you haven’t seen KGW’s and Galaxy Sailor’s videos of Mayor Adams from Growth Rings yet. You can also check out these great photos taken by Mary Kay Nitchie:
If you missed this bike planting, you have three more chances. Specifically:
January 22 – Laurelhurst-Kerns-Sunnyside-North Tabor
February 5 – Piedmont-Woodlawn
March 5 – Montavilla-Mount Tabor
Mark your calendars and Sign up here!
–Chelsea Schuyler is a contributing blogger for Friends of Trees.
A note from Friends of Trees’ tree-tallying team: During the 2010-11 planting season, hundreds of volunteers have planted 4,158 trees and shrubs, making a total number of 395,922 trees and shrubs during our 21 years!
Mayor Adams helps kick off Plant It Portland!
On December 4, Mayor Sam Adams joined Friends of Trees to officially launch our Plant It Portland! campaign to plant 16,000 trees in Portland planting strips during the next three years. Watch the video above by Galaxy Sailor and KGW’s news story below.
“We don’t have the kind of tree canopy that we could have,” Mayor Adams said. “With 70 percent of our energy coming from fossil fuels, trees are a huge benefit to reducing carbon emissions.”
Trees also reduce stormwater runoff and pollution in our rivers, which is why Plant It Portland! is part of Portland Bureau of Environmental Service’s Grey to Green Initiative.
It’s also fun! Find out for yourself: Follow the colorful instructions to order a tree for your planting strip or yard.
All in all, volunteers planted 135 street and yard trees in the Buckman, Richmond and Hosford-Abernethy neighborhoods.
–TR
Garry goes to city hall
Friends of Trees’ Garry Oak visited Portland City Hall yesterday. Watch this slideshow of Garry meeting Portland Mayor Sam Adams, City Commissioner Dan Saltzman, City Commissioner Nick Fish, and others at City Hall.
Garry also greeted new friends on the street and stopped by The Standard, which has sponsored Friends of Trees plantings.
Read about Friends of Trees’ newest board member, Sky O’Callahan, who works at The Standard.
Did you see Garry’s video version of the Old Spice commercial that went viral last week?
–Teri Ruch
Appreciating Oregon’s Trees
Scott Fogarty’s OregonLive guest column, Appreciating Oregon’s Trees, outlines a visionary way of valuing trees.
An excerpt from the piece:
By recognizing trees as capital assets, the I-205 project secured funding through a Nature in Neighborhoods capital grant from Metro’s 2006 voter-approved natural areas bond measure. The result: Thousands of native trees and shrubs will serve the neighborhoods and cities along the path—and the entire region–for years to come. And if ODOT Region 1 succeeds in inspiring other ODOT regions to fund greening of transportation corridors, Oregon may become a model for other states.
Greening our cities and transportation corridors encourages active, healthy lifestyles, protects our drinking water and cleans our air — reducing pollutants that exacerbate asthma and other respiratory diseases.
It also secures jobs in Oregon’s number two agricultural industry, the nursery industry. That’s one reason Boring-based tree grower J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. has joined a budding list of local businesses supporting the I-205 greening project. Planting more trees in the “nursery state” provides jobs for arborists, city workers and others who maintain the trees’ health.
The piece concludes:
Considering trees as assets is a capital idea. It’s good for Oregon and our citizens. It’s time our state, known for its forestry industry as well as its green innovations, shows that its trees are appreciated.
Read the complete story here.
–Teri Ruch