That's actually almost the way I got a job in a bike shop this year. Last basically canvassed everybody, went to UBI, volunteered at the CCC (I live in Portland too), and didn't get hired...but I'm a persistent bugger and this year my luck finally came around. Funny thing is that they seemed more impressed with my volunteer work than whatever UBI taught me. That being said I learnt a ton while there and met some amazing people.