SOREDI Members Invited on a September Tour of Medford’s Modern Historic Businesses

Guests will enjoy lunch at Grape Street Grill. While touring these interesting locations, participants often learn about hidden employment opportunities and have the ability to network with other SOREDI members.

The tour begins at 8:00 am at People’s Bank, 1311 E. Barnett Road in Medford. Owned by California Oregon Broadcasting Inc. (COBi), KOBI and KOTI/Channel 5 are NBC affiliates with studios near downtown Medford. COBi is the oldest, continuously independently owned broadcast group on the West Coast and one of the three oldest in the nation. It was founded by William B. Smullin in 1953 and continues to be owned and operated by his daughter, Patricia C. Smullin. Another family owned business on the tour, Medford Fabrication boasts 75 years of manufacturing quality products. From their beginnings in the 1940s, Medford Fabrication now serves the world with more than 100,000 sq. feet of manufacturing capacity in Medford, under the direction of Bill Thorndike. Also near downtown Medford, Naumes Crush & Fermentation is Southern Oregon’s newest and most modern wine processing facility. Custom crush is a logical extension of the 113 year fruit-growing history of the Naumes family. Another modern and historic stop on this tour is CDS Publications, a full service print provider, established in 1906, now serving Fortune 1000 companies’ print needs. The bus will return you to your car at People’s Bank around 3:15 pm.

“This will be a particularly interesting tour, grounded in rich history,” says Kathy Trautman, Business Development Manager at SOREDI. Trautman continues, “This group of businesses have over 100 years of consistent history of providing services right here in Medford. When you think of the Smullin family, the Naumes family and the Thorndike family, we often think of the history of Medford, but on this tour we will get to see the ways that these businesses continue to offer absolutely cutting edge services locally, nationally and internationally. It’s exciting to think that some family-owned businesses just getting off the ground today may be operating on this level in the future, operated by their grandchildren. This tour may inspire us to envision Medford in the next 100 years.”

The tour will take place from 8:00 am to 3:15 pm, Thursday, September 20. Participants will meet at 8:00 am People’s Bank. The cost to SOREDI Members is $45. These tours are members-only events.  Our local educators participate at no charge thanks to our sponsors BlueCross BlueShield and US Bank. Lunch at Grape Street Grill is included.