McMINNVILLE, Ore. — Washington Monthly named Linfield College one of the top 100 liberal arts schools that make a vital contribution to society.

The small college has been nationally recognized in recent years for support of low-income and first-generation students. The school also promotes humanitarian engagement with the regional and global community, with a high proportion of Linfield students and faculty pursuing service that incorporates learning opportunities. Their efforts focus primarily on sustainability, outreach to those who are homeless or hungry, and mentorship of disadvantaged youth.

The New York Times called the Washington Monthly rankings “more interesting than virtually any other ranking out there.” The magazine rates schools based on their contribution to the public good, including recruiting and graduating low-income students, producing cutting-edge scholarship and doctoral degrees, and encouraging students to give something back to their country.

Linfield College moved up 11 spots from last year, to 84. Other Oregon schools named to the top 100 list are Reed College, Lewis & Clark and Willamette University.

Earlier this year, Forbes named Linfield to their 2011 list of the nation’s “Top Colleges.” Four Oregon schools, including Linfield, were included in the top 200 undergraduate institutions, a list that included both public and private schools.

A talk on tuition pricing by Jeff Summers, professor of economics, will kick off the Linfield College faculty lecture series Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in 201 Riley Hall at Linfield.

Summers will present “Institutional Financial Aid, Net Tuition Revenue, and the Tuition Pricing Strategies of Private Baccalaureate Arts and Sciences Colleges.” He will compare data from 269 schools, including Linfield, classified as Private Baccalaureate Arts and Sciences Colleges by the Carnegie Foundation.

During the presentation, Summers will discuss the relationship between institutional financial aid, net tuition and fee revenue, and the tuition pricing strategies of the colleges over the last decade. He demonstrates that financial aid, net tuition revenue and tuition prices all rose during the period, but aid rose the fastest of all.  Possible implications of this trend for the schools’ future tuition pricing strategies will be highlighted.

Summers, a member of the Linfield faculty since 1992, holds a bachelor’s degree from Wabash College, a master’s from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. from Purdue University.

The lecture is free and open to the public. The Linfield College faculty lecture series offers one presentation each month by a member of the Linfield faculty. For more information, call 503-883-2409.

Individuals who have always dreamed of starting their own business (but didn’t know how to get started) can find help at the 18th annual Oregon Small Business Fair on Saturday, Sept. 24, in Portland. The fair, a free event for small-business owners and those thinking about becoming small-business owners, is at a new location this year. The fair will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Ambridge Event Center, 1333 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Sponsored by local, state, and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations, the fair provides information that will help businesses comply with laws and regulations as well as initiative marketing and sales efforts. Attendees will be able to get free consultations and attend seminars on critical topics that are taught by agency and business experts, attorneys, and CPAs.

Some of the most popular classes offered include:

• Understanding business licenses
• Essential recordkeeping
• Smart marketing
• Social media networking

Attendees can also learn about small-business loans, and local businesses, government representatives, and exhibitors will be staffing various information booths.

Another free fair, Rogue Valley Business Resource Fair, will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rogue Community College, 101 Bartlett St., in Medford.

For more information about the Oregon Small Business Fair, call 503-329-4260 or visit

www.oregonbizfair.org.

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The Department of Consumer and Business Services is Oregon’s largest business regulatory and consumer protection agency. For more information, visit www.dcbs.oregon.gov.

The McMinnville Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) welcomes Amy Jauron as the new marketing project coordinator VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America).  Jauron will be working to develop a new “McMinnville Advantage” program during her yearlong service in McMinnville. The “McMinnville Advantage” program will complement McMinnville’s wide spread community support of LEAN high performance systems in local businesses.

“We are delighted to have Amy join MEDP. She brings great energy and youthful perspective to this exciting new marketing project,” stated MEDP Board member and McMinnville Chamber of Commerce CEO Phil Hutchinson.

Jauron comes to the MEDP as a recent Oregon State University graduate, majoring in Fisheries and Wildlife with a focus in free-choice learning and environmental education.  She has extensive experience with program development as well as social media outreach. She has worked at the Hatfield Marine Science as an Academic Programs associate as well as a research assistant in the Pinniped Ecology Laboratory.

A lifelong dedication to community service as well as to the state of Oregon has brought Jauron to her current position as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in the MEDP.

“I am so excited to become acquainted with the town and community of McMinnville. I hope to develop marketing strategies that position McMinnville as a premier place to grow a successful business,” says Jauron.

About MEDP

To learn more about the McMinnville Economic Development Partnership, contact Jody Christensen at 503.474.0544 or info@McMinnvilleEDP.com.

The partnership includes the City of McMinnville, McMinnville Water & Light, McMinnville Industrial Promotions, McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce, Yamhill County and area businesses.  To learn more about MEDP, visit www.McMinnvilleEDP.com.

Newberg – Aug 11, 2011 – Visiting Angels Newberg today announced its recognition as 2011 “Best of Home Care” by Home Care Pulse, a leading third-party purveyor of client satisfaction surveys. Awarded to the top 25% of agencies in client and employee satisfaction scores, Visiting Angels of Newberg now ranks among the select few of the best agencies in the country.

Home Care Pulse, a company which measures client and employee satisfaction, created the “Best of Home Care” award to identify those agencies in the private duty home care industry that demonstrate a passion for client and employee satisfaction. Home Care Pulse believes that honoring such companies can both educate and help families to make better care decisions for their aging loved ones.

“We know that it is sometimes difficult to make care decisions when you don’t have specific experience with an agency. It was our goal to provide families with the ability to make an informed decision, have tangible ways to measure quality, and help them find a comfort level when choosing an agency to work with,” commented Aaron Marcum, founder of Home Care Pulse.

The selection process for Best of Home Care includes the evaluation of client and employee satisfaction in areas such as agency training, communication, overall quality of care, caregiver performance, caregiver morale, response to problems, and recommendation of services, to name only a few of their criteria.

“We value the feedback Home Care Pulse collects from our clients and employees,” says Jeff Chambers, who, together with his wife, Kelly Chambers and Kelly’s mother, Alice Smith, own three Visiting Angels businesses, serving communities throughout Yamhill, Clackamas, Marion and Washington Counties, as well as the Pierce and Thurston County regions of Washington State. “Not only are we alerted when there is something that needs our attention, it also reinforces what we’re doing right. Our clients and employees have a strong sense of satisfaction, and it shows,” added Chambers.

“We want to congratulate Visiting Angels of Newberg for winning the “Best of Home Care” award and commend their commitment to placing high priority on client and employee satisfaction,” concluded Marcum.

To learn more about Visiting Angels in your area, you may contact them by phone at 503.538.9505 or visit www.newbergangels.com. For more information about the Home Care Pulse “Best of Home Care” award, please visit www.homecarepulse.com.

About Visiting Angels of Newberg:

Visiting Angels of Newberg is a locally owned private duty home care agency, providing non-medical in-home care to seniors and others in need of assistance.

Not only for seniors, Visiting Angels offers services to adults of all ages whenever help is needed, such as when recuperating from an illness or surgical procedure.

Services can range from short-term care to long-term care, and include services such as, bathing, dressing, errands and shopping, meal preparation, medication reminders, light housekeeping, and more.