An L&C Leader for Portland’s Small Business Community

Mitch Daugherty, the Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership’s entrepreneur in residence, has been a committed advocate for Portland’s vibrant community of small businesses for more than 15 years, working to secure Oregon’s national reputation as a hub of consumer product innovation. This fall, Daugherty will begin a new role as the first director of the Office of Small Business under Prosper Portland, the economic and urban development agency for the City of Portland, while maintaining his position with the Bates Center.

“I’m most excited about the opportunity to create a front door for the small business community that looks to support, connect, amplify, and be there for the small businesses in Portland,” says Daugherty. The Office of Small Business will officially launch in early 2025 and serve as a central point of access for businesses seeking information and assistance.

Mitch Daugherty, Lewis & Clark's entrepreneur in residence and director of the new Office of Small Business under Prosper PortlandDaugherty’s own experience as an entrepreneur informs his “empathetic approach” to working with founders and the broader business community, he said, something he hopes to bring to his new position in local government. After graduating from Arizona State University, he cofounded the adventure travel company Arizona Outback Adventures, acquired by longtime partner REI in 2019. His next business, the creative agency Morange Design, connected him with the world of start-ups in Portland, which inspired him to cofound Built Oregon, a nonprofit designed to support small businesses in the state.

Following several years as a mentor at Winterim, the Bates Center’s weeklong workshop to develop students’ entrepreneurial and leadership skills, Daugherty joined Lewis & Clark in an official capacity as the center’s entrepreneur in residence in 2022. At the Bates Center, Daugherty acts as a resource and sounding board for students interested in entrepreneurship, holding in-person office hours each week and connecting students with paid internship opportunities for the Bates Center’s internship class. Pulling from his local connections, Daugherty also helps coordinate the center’s Lunch With a Leader series and annual Winterim program.

“When we started looking for an entrepreneur in residence, we didn’t just want a captain of industry,” says Managing Director of the Bates Center Chrys Hutchings. “We wanted someone who would actively connect students to entrepreneurs and employers. Mitch and the Bates Center share an advocacy for students, as well as grace for when they make mistakes.”

The Bates Center is organized around four thematic pillars: mindset, skill sets, experiential learning, and networking. “Mitch’s sharing of his deep well of connections is a testament to his generous nature and dovetails especially well with our networking pillar,” says Hutchings.

Jayden Simpson BA ’24, who began his career in banking at J.P. Morgan Chase after graduating with a degree in economics, often turned to Daugherty for guidance during his time at Lewis & Clark. “Mitch’s superpower is that he is skilled at knowing exactly what you need to hear and already has in mind the person who you need to meet in order to progress,” says Simpson. “I can recall times I came to him in shambles, unsure of the next steps in my future. After a 30-minute conversation with Mitch, which always included some good laughs and father-like wisdom, I would walk out feeling invincible.”

For Daugherty, the genesis of Built Oregon––the belief that Oregon is to consumer goods what the Bay Area is to technology––remains true. To students who aspire to create their own successful businesses in the region, he encourages them to trust their ideas and the journey they are on, leveraging L&C’s resources to begin to build their professional network.

Bates Center for Entrepreneurship and Leadership