Business Voice A Publication of the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations, Inc. www.apnba.com
	June 2005

Welcome to the Business Voice - our monthly e-newsletter for Portland's Business District Associations. To stop receiving this, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page. Send a copy to your email list by using the Send-A-Friend box below. The APNBA received 42 requests for Business Organization Grant funds. Requests for the available $95,000 totaled $173,183.70, promising a match of $332,550.93. Decisions are made by June 9th and the funds will be available on June 13th. Contributing to the Community According to a survey by Hewlett-Packard, 72% of small business owners say making a contribution to the local community is what they like most about being a small business owner.  Read this story Portland - A City of Small Towns Many of Portland's business associations carry the names of areas annexed by Portland in the early 1900s. Although the St. Johns and Sellwoods changed their names, at heart they remained small towns. Business districts retained their character and neighborhoods remained loyal.  Read this story Eat Local June 1st kicks off the 2005 Eat Local Challenge – a consumer campaign to increase consumption of locally grown foods. The challenge is open to all businesses that grow, produce, sell, cook, and/or serve local food.  Read this story Prosperity Symposium Keynote speaker Mary Means, who conceived the Main Street Program and was its first director, sets the tone for APNBA's symposium Tuesday, November 1st from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM at the Ambridge Conference Center.  Read this story Contributing The survey found that 79% of small businesses donate to local charities and 64% volunteer their time. These findings are echoed in a recent informal survey conducted in Portland by Think Local First where 20 small businesses reported contributing to over 450 separate non-profits. Think Local First found that 29% of the donations went to schools and educational foundations. Of the rest, 27% went to environmental causes, social welfare agencies received 8%, religious institutions 7%, and food agencies 6%. The remaining donations went to the arts and professional associations. Businesses were not asked how much they contributed nor did the list indicate more than one donation to a non-profit. If this amazing generosity is echoed by 79% of Portland's 40,000 businesses, 31,000 businesses donate time, goods and services every year. Surely something to celebrate! Top of Page Portland A large part of Portland's livability and charm come from these distinct personalities surrounding the city center. If you ask shoppers where they live, the majority reply with the name of their district (Albina, Montavilla, Woodstock, Lents) instead of their address. The recent BDA grant requests reinforced this local quirk by asking for funds to market "a city within a city", "our unique district", and "our main street." The city, quite correctly, believes that maintaining itself would be easier and cheaper if all regulations applied equally to everybody, while every BDA believes, also quite correctly, that its survival depends on maintaining its individual character. Given two such divergent views, how can we all work together to improve both our own districts and the panache of the city itself? Panache: dashing elegance of manner; carefree, spirited self-confidence. Top of Page Eat Local Participants are asked to pledge to spend 10% of their monthly grocery budget on local food, to try a new fruit or vegetable each week, and to preserve some fruits and vegetables for winter. They receive a scorecard and when it is completed, it is their entry in a prize drawing. Businesses that use local produce such as bakeries, groceries, restaurants, coffee or tea shops, pizza parlors, oyster sauce and jam makers are eligible to join the challenge. Participating businesses will have their names added to the website and receive a poster and instructions. If you are interested, contact Dianne Stefani-Ruff at 503.241.0032 or Diane@portlandfarmersmarket.org. For more information, see eatlocal.net. Boost your business association - get your businesses involved. Top of Page November Symposium Mary Means believes that long-lasting revitalization is built on small accomplishments like renovating buildings and recruiting new small businesses. The Main Street Program establishes a framework with the flexibility to work for communities and states of great diversity. "People must fill in the remainder themselves to make sense of it for their community." The Main Street strategy can be summarized as: Organize the town into a collective effort led by a paid, full-time manager. Develop an attractive and unified image that uses the building stock as a valuable resource. Generate interest on Main Street through advertising and special promotional events. Create a balanced business mix and explore new marketing niches. It's up to the Main Street communities, however, to search inward for both financial and human resources. Top of Page Coming Events June 4: Starlight Parade and start of Rose Festival. See Events and Programs at www.rosefestival.org for events schedule. June 24 - 25: Good in the Neighborhood. For more information or to volunteer, call 503-282-1288 or visit Good in the Neighborhood. June 26: Rose Festival Cruise-In 8:00am to 3:00pm Parkrose High School, 12003 NE Shaver. Mention your event here - contact the Editor for more information. Top of Page BDA Logos Fox Chase Lloyd District Belmont Area Central Eastside Industrial Parkrose Gateway Area Pearl District Hawthorne Boulevard Fox Chase Volume 13 No. 6 The Business Voice is published 12 times a year by the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations P.O. Box 5123 Portland OR 97208-5123 E-mail: info@apnba.com Web site: www.apnba.com Editor: Jean Baker Subscribe to the monthly Business Voice. Subscribe to the weekly News Source. Support the APNBA - Pay your dues!