Provender Alliance

04/23/2026

Technology is moving fast, but human connection still drives great workplaces.

When trust is low, communication breaks down, motivation drops, and burnout rises. The future of leadership isn’t just strategic, it’s relational.

Join us for The Future is Relational: Connection, Belonging & Trust with Laura King, a practical 2-part webinar series designed for managers, leaders, business owners, HR professionals, and employees who want stronger, healthier, higher-performing teams.

You’ll learn how to:
✨ Build trust quickly and authentically
✨ Create cultures of belonging
✨ Strengthen connection during change
✨ Increase engagement, motivation & retention
✨ Lead with confidence in uncertain times

📅 June 17th & June 24th
🕐 1:00–2:30 PM PST
💻 Online

💚 Provender Members: $179
💚 Non-Members: $199

Technology is advancing fast. Human skills matter more than ever.

Register today via the link in bio or QR code!

04/16/2026

✨ SAVE THE DATE! ✨

Join us as we celebrate a major milestone…the Provender Alliance 50th Anniversary Conference + Gala! 🌱

Celebrating Our Legacy – 50 Years Strong!

For five decades, we’ve been nourishing, educating, and inspiring our community, and now it’s time to honor the past while, together, we build what lies ahead for the next 50!

📅 October 21–23, 2026
📍 McMenamins Edgefield, Troutdale, Oregon

Mark your calendars for an unforgettable gathering filled with connection, celebration, and inspiration. Sponsorship opportunities are available now and registration will be open very soon. We can’t wait to celebrate with you!

03/24/2026

It’s Spring y’all! And the cherry blossoms are out in full force in the Rose City. Spring is also the season for gathering and growth & we’d love to see you in Portland for our April Meet ‘n Greet! 🌸🌸🌸

Join us for an informal and fun evening of connection and shared ideas. Come hear what’s ahead for Provender, reconnect with familiar faces, and meet others working to strengthen our regional independent natural products ecosystem.

We’ll be hanging in the Mt.Hood room at Jawfish Restaurant inside the Mindaro Event Center on Tuesday, April 28th starting at 5:30pm. Jawfish is new to PDX & chef will be whipping up some tasty, seasonal nibbles from their fresh menu that you won’t want to miss!

Grab a friend & RSVP @ provender.org 🌱

02/17/2026

We’ve set an ambitious goal for this milestone year:
5️⃣0️⃣ new members before we gather for our 5️⃣0️⃣th Conference this fall.

On paper, that may sound like a stretch. In practice, it’s simple. If each of us extends just one invitation to a business, brand, or partner aligned with our mission we can absolutely reach this milestone 🌡️

Every new member expands our collective knowledge, experience, and perspective. It strengthens the network of people we learn from, collaborate with, and lean on throughout the year. A larger, more connected Alliance means more resources, more opportunity, and more value for everyone.

And as a thank you, members who refer new organizations receive sweet discounts on their own membership renewal.

Scan the QR code or visit Provender.org/membership to learn more.

Who is the first organization you’re thinking of inviting?

02/06/2026

🌱 Please join us in welcoming two incredible new board members to Provender Alliance! 🌱

We’re thrilled to introduce Rebecca Robinson and Jake Williams, two leaders whose values, curiosity, and lived experience deeply align with our mission.

Rebecca Robinson oversees the development and management of product sustainability standards at , focusing on setting impactful, achievable, and science-backed standards. She also guides PCC’s advocacy work related to organic regulations and toxic chemicals in consumer products. Rebecca earned her master’s degree from Humboldt State University’s Environment and Community program; her master’s thesis focused on the commodification of disease and cause-marketing. Rebecca’s focus on interdisciplinary sustainability and human-nature coupled systems has led to her gaining a diverse background in environmental toxicology, climate sciences, political economy, regenerative and organic agriculture, and green building.

When not at work, Rebecca can be found working in the garden, doing home renovation projects, watching horror movies, or in the kitchen enjoying a glass of wine and cooking. 🌎

Jake has been in the coffee industry since 2013, learning behind the bar at Starbucks in San Francisco he wanted to delve deeper into what’s behind the cup of coffee. From the Coffee Master course at Starbucks, eventually onto bigger & better beans with his curiosity is always peaked. Currently, his role is Community Engagement & Co-Owner at Equal Exchange. 

Jake has a Geography degree (Focus: Sustainable Food & Agriculture) from San Francisco State University where his passion for Food Systems began. He has a love for sharing stories from the coffee farms in Colombia, and connecting with people over a pourover of Love Buzz. 

When not in the office, you may find him running Ultramarathons on Mt. Hood, sifting through his extensive vinyl & cassette collection or singing a Provender Parody on stage with Karaoke from Hell. ☕️🎶

We’re so grateful to have Rebecca and Jake stepping into board leadership! 💚

01/14/2026

Gavin gave so much of himself to this community. Please join us as we come together to celebrate a life well lived, share stories, and honor the legacy he leaves behind.

All are welcome 🤍

01/05/2026

It may be January, it may be cold, but we’re meeting at the beach anyway… Beach Cat Brewery that is! 😸 Join us in beautiful Bellingham, WA for our first board Meet ‘n Greet of 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣! It’s a chance to learn more about Provender’s work, share what members are up to and how we can best collaborate & support each other more deeply in the year ahead. Food, bevies & friends guaranteed ☑️ Grab a friend & plan to join us on the evening of Thursday, January 29th ➡️ RSVP at Provender.org

12/31/2025

Half a century of community is built from moments like these. 2025 set the stage for what’s next 🌱✨

12/02/2025

Today, while many celebrate Giving Tuesday, we’re taking a moment to honor someone whose generosity quietly sustained Provender for decades.

Gavin McComas, owner and general manager of Sundance Natural Foods was a remarkable steward of our work. His monthly support quite literally kept our doors open, and his belief in Provender’s mission helped carry this community forward. His passing last week leaves a deep ache for so many, but his impact is everlasting.

Because Provender is a 501(c)6, Giving Tuesday looks a little different for us. Instead of matching campaigns, we celebrate the extraordinary individuals who embody generosity in its truest form—people like Gavin.

If Provender has touched your business, your work, or your heart, we invite you to help carry on the stewardship Gavin modeled so beautifully. Contributing in his honor ensures the community he cared about continues to thrive.

Thank you for helping us hold his legacy 🤲

provender.org/business-stewards

11/29/2025

Gavin McComas, Sundance’s General Manager and Proprietor passed away around 7 PM on November 25, 2025, surrounded by close friends and family. His unique combination of compassion, intelligence and service was his great gift to our community. Gavin dedicated his life and fortune to providing our community with a food store that supported the health of its customers, the staff, the community and the world. Gavin made sure that this community resource would carry on beyond his passing by donating Sundance to a Perpetual Purpose Trust which will ensure Sundance’s continued presence in our community for the foreseeable future.

We miss him already, and will do our best to follow his example and principles, guiding Sundance with the values he both embodied and clearly stated: reciprocity, doing to all as we would be done by, Geborgenheit, striving to be a warm, comfortable place to shop and connect, camaraderie, treating each other with love and respect, and eudaemonia, feeling good by working for the greater good.

11/04/2025