Livelihood NW Small Business Celebration
Livelihood NW’s 2026 Small Business Celebration returns for an evening of connection, inspiration, and celebration with entrepreneurs, community leaders, partners, funders, and supporters from across the region. Together, we’ll recognize the creativity, resilience, and achievements of the small businesses that strengthen our communities.
Enjoy light snacks and beverages, celebrate this year’s client award recipients, and connect with the people and organizations helping shape a stronger small business community. Whether you’re a longtime supporter or joining us for the first time, you’ll leave inspired, connected, and ready to celebrate another year of small business success.
Tickets are free and required for entry: https://livelihoodnw.org/smallbusinesscelebration/2026
Built Fest
Come join us at The Redd on Salmon St for a day filled with creativity, innovation, and fun on September 25th, 2026 at 10:00 AM (Pacific Time).
Fireside conversations, panel discussions, industry leaders tackling the topics that matter most to our founder community, product showcase of Built companies featuring their newest products and most of all - community building.
Prosper Portland is a sponsor of Built Festival.
Tickets and more info: https://events.humanitix.com/built-festival
Portland Craft Chocolate Festival
The Portland Craft Chocolate Festival (PDXCCF) is an annual event celebrating small-batch chocolate makers, sustainable sourcing, and the vibrant community of craft chocolate lovers. Set in Portland, Oregon, this immersive weekend brings together makers, educators, and enthusiasts for a delicious, ethical, and memorable experience.
Tickets & more info: https://www.pdxccf.com/
Prosper Portland is a sponsor of Portland Craft Chocolate Festival.
Roux Portland
Since 2019, Roux has been creating unforgettable events across chef collabs, culinary games to panels, workshops and pop-ups that fill the city with flavor. Each year there is something new, inclusive and always made with our favorite ingredient — women.
Our love letter to the city, Roux is for the food-obsessed, community advocate, design lover and the culinary curious.
October 9 - 11, 2026 | Portland, Oregon
Prosper Portland is a sponsor of Roux Portland.
FSPCA Preventive Controls for Human Food Participant Course (PCQI)
The Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis, and Risk-based Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation (referred to as the Preventive Controls for Human Food regulation) is intended to ensure safe manufacturing/ processing, packing and holding of food products for human consumption in the United States. The regulation requires that certain activities must be completed by a “preventive controls qualified individual.” This course, developed by FSPCA, is the “standardized curriculum” recognized by FDA; successfully completing this course is one way to meet the requirements for a “preventive controls qualified individual.”
This updated version addresses important updates in FDA guidance documents; important knowledge that PCQIs will need to keep their Food Safety Plans up-to-date.
Additional details found here: https://events.humanitix.com/copy-of-fspca-preventive-controls-for-human-food-participant-course-pcqi-version-2-0-2026
Better Process Control School (BPCS)
The Better Process Control School (BPCS) is a specialized training program established in the 1970s by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for processors of acidified foods and low-acid canned foods. BPCS offers training in the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and regulations required by FDA and USDA-FSIS to certify supervisors of acidification, thermal processing, and container closure evaluation operations during the canning of low-acid or acidified foods.
The Oregon State University (OSU) BPCS is offered in conjunction with the Consumer Brands Association (CBA), the largest trade association serving the food and beverage processing industry worldwide. This year, the full course that covers all the 3 BPCS tracks is being offered: acidified foods, aseptic processing, and low-acid foods (retorts).
Who Should Attend:
Food processing professionals working with acidified foods, low-acid canned foods, retorts, and aseptic processing and packaging systems.
Regulatory personnel and quality control specialists from thermal food processing sector.
Managers and supervisors in the sector who are responsible for training and overseeing quality control teams.
New entrants in the acidified, aseptic, and low-acid food processing industry.
Registration:
The fee is $875 per person for the three-day full course (covering acidified foods, low-acid canned foods, and aseptic processing) and $675 per person for the two-day acidified foods portion only. The fee covers instruction, a required textbook (Canned Foods: Principles of Thermal Process Control, Acidification and Container Closure Evaluation, 9th Edition), certificate, and lunch & break refreshments on each attended course day. Registration closes on October 22, 5 pm PT. Space is limited - early registration is encouraged.
Scholarships may be available for Portland-based companies. Email Yvonne before registering to see if you qualify.
2026 Oregon Entrepreneurship Awards
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network and Presenting Sponsor Columbia Bank invite you to celebrate a milestone year at the 2026 Oregon Entrepreneurship Awards, marking the 35th Anniversary with the theme Deep Roots. Bold Growth. on Thursday, November 12th at the Sentinel Hotel in Portland.
Join us for an evening that honors the ecosystem that makes it all possible and the founders who are growing within it. Together, we will celebrate the people, companies, and community that continue to strengthen this region and push it forward.
Come celebrate what happens when innovation is planted in the right place and given the space to grow.
Portland Cheese & Meat Festival
Walk the Festival at your own pace, creating pairings with all inclusive tickets while learning directly from the artisans behind each product. With over 150 curated pairings, it’s a chance to taste, learn, and connect with the best in artisan food and drink all under one roof. This Festival showcases a full spread of artisan food and beverage. Not just cheese and meat but everything you would find on a grazing platter and the drinks that pair with it.
Prosper Portland is a sponsor of the Portland Cheese & Meat Festival.
August PDX CPG Networking
PDX CPG August Happy Hour & SOLVE Neighborhood Clean Up | 3:45 - 5:00 PM | 5:00 - 7:30 PM | Grand Fir Brewing | 1403 SE Stark St | FREE
In partnership with Market of Choice and SOLVE, the PDX CPG Group will do a neighborhood Cleanup from 4-5PM, and will meet at Market of Choice around 3:45PM (1090 SE Belmont St).
Happy Hour from 5ish - 7:30PM at Grand Fir Brewing in the upstairs area where they have gathered at previous events (1403 SE Stark St).
Sign up for SOLVE Neighborhood Clean Up separately.
The BFCM Countdown Starts Now
The holiday shopping season is closer than it feels. Join Ecomm NW for an evening focused on getting your team, systems, and strategy ready.
Whether you're refining your promo calendar, stress-testing your tech stack, or just looking to compare notes with other ecommerce leaders before the rush hits, this is the place to do it.
OEN August PubTalk: The Science of Startup Success
What makes a startup break through while others stall and how do investors spot opportunity before the rest of the market catches on?
On Wednesday, August 12th Cara Turano, President and Executive Director of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN), will be sitting down for an engaging fireside chat with Thomas Thurston, a researcher, investor, and strategist known for uncovering the hidden forces that shape markets and innovation.
SFA Networking Night Founder's Dinner & Factory Tour with Olympia Provisions
Specialty Foods Association (SFA) is hosting a networking night, founders dinner and factory tour with Olympia Provisions. While the event is sold out, we are happy to highlight this event and opportunity for the SFA community to get to know Portland founders Michelle & Elias Cairo and the business they have built.
Slow Food Portland Summer Wine Fundraiser
Slow Food Portland’s summer fundraiser returns to the beautiful l’Orto Nostrano, the kitchen garden of celebrated Portland restaurant Nostrana. Nestled just off the street but a world away, this hidden urban oasis sets the stage for a relaxed and lively evening of wine tasting, seasonal bites, and shared values.
Fuji to Hood
Japanese-American craft beer, cider, sake, food, music, art, performance, and culture festival rotating biennially between Tokyo, Japan and Portland, Oregon
Bringing Naturally to Portland & PDX CPG Joint Happy Hour
Come connect with the natural products community in the region, network, and enjoy a summer evening together.
OEN July Pub Talk
Come for the conversation, stay for the community:
Meet fellow founders, innovators, and supporters
Hear 5-Minute Pitches from local entrepreneurs
Jump into a lively networking game to break the ice
Enjoy great food, drinks, and plenty of laughs
Whether you’re growing your business, sparking new ideas, or just here for the good vibes — this is the place to be.
Connecting To Your Numbers
Connection To Your Numbers: A Hands-On COGS Workshop for CPG Entrepreneurs
If you're a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) entrepreneur making cost decisions by gut feel - or avoiding your numbers altogether - this workshop is for you. You'll get hands-on guidance to calculate your true Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), including labor, so you can price your products confidently.
PNW Industrial Symbiosis Conference
This two-day conference brings together the Pacific Northwest's leading industrial symbiosis (IS) practitioners, business innovators, economic development professionals, and industry leaders from both the public and private sectors.
PDX CPG Happy Hour
No agenda, no speeches, just folks who work in CPG coming together to network and build community. No hosted bar.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Jupiter Marketplace
Get ready to snack, sip, and discover your next favorite obsession at the Jupiter Marketplace on Thursday, June 18th being hosted in the Dream Tent at Jupiter Hotel in Portland from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
Oregon Entrepreneurs Network Angel Oregon CPG Investment Announcement Mixer
Join us for the Angel Oregon CPG (AOCPG) Investment Announcement Mixer, to be held in person on Monday, June 1, 2026, at McMenamins Mission Theater in Portland. A special evening celebrating innovations across the full consumer product spectrum.
PDX CPG May Networking Event
No agenda, no speeches, just folks who work in CPG coming together to network and build community. No hosted bar.
Afternoon Tea Celebrating U.K.–Oregon Trade Relations
Join us for an Afternoon Tea Celebrating U.K.–Oregon Trade Relations
May Convivium: Coffee, Connection & the Slow Food Coffee Coalition
Join Slow Food Portland for their May Convivium featuring Gabriela Pinedo Zagaceta of SUNAO Coffee and her work with the Slow Food Coffee Coalition.