Media Mechanic Web Design & Development Blog

Media Mechanic is proud to welcome 5 brand new members to our team: Judith Espino (Web Designer), Jordan LeDoux (PHP Programmer), Aaron Rabideau (PHP Programmer), Terry Gariety (Sales), Brian Dearing (sales).

Judith brings an education in graphic design and years of experience designing websites and branding campaigns to the table. Jordan has over 6 years of full time PHP programming and Network Administration experience to contribute to our knowledge base. Aaron has over 10 years of experience in website design & development under his belt with a vast knowledge of a variety of web tools such as PHP, JQuiry, AJAX, JavaScript, XML and more (not to mention Mr Smarty-pants has a degree in chemical engineering to boot).

Our new sales team brings over 40 years of collective sales and marketing experience to the table. Terry has spent years working in the record industry before moving into the web field. Brian has represented technology firms and managed their client relations for over a decade.

Welcome to the team everyone! With this new additional firepower, Media Mechanic plans to significantly reduce project turn around times while dramatically improving the quality of our service - all while maintaining our unbeatably low rates.

We look forward to showing off our latest team members to you!

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Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward was featured in this week’s BusinessWeek Magazine

BusinessWeek wanted Paul’s small business owner perspective on the new Healthcare reform bill passed by President Obama.

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Media Mechanic owner Paul Ward was just interviewed by Business Week Magazine (a Bloomberg News mag) for his perspective as a small business owner. We will post a link as soon as we have it.

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Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward was invited to participate this morning in a small business round table to discuss healthcare reform measures currently being considered in Congress. The round table consisted of 20 Portland area businesses and congressional staffers from Congressman David Wu’s office as well as from Senator Jeff Merkley. A representative from President Obama’s “Organizing for America” was also present to provide the President’s position on the issue.

The consensus of the meeting: all 20 businesses believed significant healthcare reform was needed this year.

The event was covered by 2 local TV news stations : View the coverage

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Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward was interviewed & featured in today’s edition of “The Times” newspaper (serving the cities of Tigard, Tualatin & Sherwood Oregon). The article is titled: “Tualatin, Tigard folks speak out on health care reform“. Paul discusses healthcare reform from the perspective of a small business owner.

On Friday, August 28th,  Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward met with Oregon state Representative Tobias Read at Nike World HQ for a lunch meeting to discuss a variety of topics. Among them was the logical next steps in expanding healthcare in the state of Oregon. Thanks to Rep. Read for the great input!

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The new Oregon Universal Healthcare for Kids that Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward testified in favor of before the Oregon state Legislature earlier this year went into effect on August 3rd 2009: “Oregon becomes one of 12 states to cover all kids with health insurance”

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Media Mechanic founder Paul Ward has been invited by Senator Jeff Merkley’s office to meet with the Senator to discuss his views on Healthcare reform & the potential effects on small business, after the Senator read Paul’s recent Op-Ed article in The Oregonian.

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Pick up a copy of today’s (July 22) The Oregonian (Oregon’s largest newspaper) to read my new Op-Ed article “Healthcare: a cry for help from small-business owners”. (you can read it online here:  http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/07/health_care_a_cry_for_help_fro.html). It is the first time I have written an article for a newspaper, so I am very excited. I hope you enjoy it and learn something of value.

This follows my recent interview in The Wall Street Journal: “Sick & Getting Sicker” (you can read it here:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204005504574233992478668488.html) and last Monday’s write up in The Oregonian: “Healthcare: touch choices for small business” (you can read it here: ttp://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/07/health_care_tough_choices_for.html)

Special thanks to Galen Barnett of The Oregonian for giving me the opportunity to express my opinion to the Oregonian’s nearly 1 million readers across the state. Special thanks to The Small Business Majority for my statistical research.

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Paul Ward & his company MEDIA MECHANIC are featured in today’s WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Sick & Getting Sicker” - a Special Report cover feature on Small Business & Healthcare reform:http://online.wsj.com/arti..cle/SB10001424052970204005..504574233992478668488.html - pick up a copy at your local bookstore, coffee house or anywhere that sells the WSJ.

A sample from the Wall Street Journal featured cover article:

Tough Choices

Across the country in Oregon, business owner Paul Ward has discovered the many compromises it takes to set up health coverage for a small business. The founder of Web- and multimedia-design company Media Mechanic LLC, based in Tualatin, Ore., outside Portland, is in the process of trying to replace contract workers with three new full-time staffers. He wants local employees who know the market and can help establish the young business. But competition for high-tech workers is fierce, and the best workers demand benefits, Mr. Ward says.

The cheapest plan he found will cost about $400 per employee in premiums, assuming the employees are young and healthy. Covering employees’ spouses and children would run as much as $800 per employee per month—if the company covers 100% of employee premiums and 50% of the spouses’ premiums. That’s simply too much to handle, Mr. Ward says, so he plans not to offer family coverage, and he’ll likely cover only half or two-thirds of his employees’ premiums. That’s a tough pill for Mr. Ward to swallow; in Michigan, where he grew up, workers’ rights reigned supreme, and he believes employers should offer the fullest possible coverage for their staffs.

Even with those concessions, health insurance is likely to come in as the company’s No. 2 expense—second only to wages, and edging out rent and utilities. “It’s less money I can spend on marketing, and less money I can spend on investment in the company,” Mr. Ward says.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE: http://online.wsj.com/arti..cle/SB10001424052970204005..504574233992478668488.html

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