When Matt Tripp, owner of SmileMakers Denture and Dental (850 NW 6th Street, #12), talks about his career as a denturist, all he can do is smile.

“I was born and raised in Grants Pass and served in the Marine Corps,” Matt said. “Upon my return, I worked as a deputy sheriff for six years and a city police officer for three. After having children (sons Brody and Kellen), I decided I wanted a different lifestyle that would allow me to spend as much time as possible with my boys than law enforcement would afford, so I took a huge leap of faith and entered the dental field, becoming a dental hygienist in 2009.”

You can’t get more local than Carrie and Phil Stobbe, owners of Goodness Gracious Café and Catering. Carrie is 4th generation Josephine County, as her great grandmother Cecilia Fifeld was valedictorian at Kirby High School before 1900. Her grandparents Helen and Dewey Probst started Probst Flower Shop in 1942, and her dad, Bob Hamilton, owned Ham’s Body Shop.

Before Larry Vellozzi and his family moved to the Rogue Valley in 1991, he bought and sold many residential and commercial properties in the L.A. area while operating a glass manufacturing company. Seguing to the real estate industry later in life thus came easy for him.

For the last two weeks I’ve been looking out my office window watching carpenters build an elaborate mother-in-law unit in the backyard. It’s an extraordinary process, and my hat is off to builders who can meticulously put together beautiful structures from scratch.

Ted Holman and Automania LLC are celebrating 38 years in business this year. The warehouse facility, located at 895 SE Gladiola Drive, “consigns and sells interesting motorcycles and specialty vehicles” and is almost like walking through a museum of unique and incredible-looking vehicles.