Welcome to the Business Voice - the monthly newsletter for Portland's Business District Associations. To unsubscribe, use the link at the bottom of the page or use the Send-A-Friend link to forward it.

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APNBA Annual Meeting
Monday, April 24, 2006 5:30 - 8:30 PM
Ambridge Event Center, 300 NE Multnomah Blvd
$15.00 at the door

5:30 - Networking, 6:00 - Buffet dinner, 6:30 - Board elections, President's annual report, short program.
7:30 - Board meeting to elect officers and conduct business.

RSVP to 503.774.2832 or email Nancy Chapin.

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APNBA Receives Vision Grant
The APNBA has been selected to be part of the Community Grants program for VisionPDX and is awarded a grant to talk to businesses about Portland's future. This is an outstanding opportunity for small businesses to provide input to the Mayor and City Council. The APNBA will shortly be contacting business association leaders to discuss the best and most efficient way to collect information from the district's members. The grant runs from March to September. For more information, contact info@apnba.com.

Avenue of the Roses Breaks Ground
The 82nd Avenue Business Association planted its first "Avenue of Roses" bush at Eastport Plaza, in joint celebration with the opening of JoAnn Fabrics superstore on March 22. Assisted by the Royal Rosarians, Commissioner Adams and East Portland Chamber of Commerce President Greg Zuffrea planted We Salute You, a new rose commemorating the emergency responders during 9/11. The next planting is scheduled at Bank of the West on April 7th.

82nd Avenue is working with leaders from Montavilla, Lents, Foster Powell, Mt Scott, South Tabor, Madison, Roseway, Cully, and Sumner in a grass roots effort to improve the five mile stretch of state highway as well as the public perception of the area.


Granted - It's a success!
Foster Area, Midway, and Central Sandy business associations used APNBA Business Improvement grants to create business directories, the first for both NE Central Sandy and Midway. All the business directories contain a complete list of businesses, a calendar/day planner, a section of community service information and contacts, and pages of ads.

NE Central Sandy - Central NE Neighbors started listing all businesses in the area in response to the Mayor's directive to work on collaborative relationships between businesses and neighbors. After talking to Nancy Chapin and Patrick Donaldson of the APNBA and the businesses in the Roseway area, they decided to form a business district. Businessman Michael Roth walked Sandy, Halsey, Fremont, and Prescott for two months, selling ads and locating businesses. He did the design and used the $2500 grant from APNBA to cover printing costs. NE Central Sandy is now in the process of becoming a business district association.

Foster Area - The Foster Area Business Association hired a program manager who laid out the directory, sold the ads, and supervised both desktop publishing and printing. The $4975 APNBA grant covered the cost of printing and binding and the ads paid for the program manager and design. Foster plans to print a directory next year, reasoning that with good design and a successful directory, ads will be easier to sell.

Midway - Midway, celebrating its first year, used its $3025 grant to print 720 directories. The board decided on a general plan and the total cost before making their grant request. Volunteers researched and listed every business in their area, provided free ad space to their paying members, and hand delivered the directories to businesses. The directory contains two pages about the association's meetings and boundaries and local agency contact numbers.

Parkrose - The Parkrose directory, funded entirely by business, has made a modest profit for nearly 20 years using a well defined process. Information packets are mailed in August with an incentive to respond early. Board members sell ads at meetings and by visiting businesses. Cut off date is September 15th. 500 directories are published the first week of December and are given to board members, local officials, other associations, and new businesses.
Their advice is, "Get somebody to create a game plan, hire publishing and printing, and set prices to cover the total cost. Set a realistic price and offer options on size and color to fit business budgets. The first time is the hardest and success breeds success."

APNBA.com Promotes District Events
The Events page on www.apnba.com now contains a list of business district events for the remainder of the year. Let us know if your event is missing or reported incorrectly. Send info@apnba.com the name of the event, the date, address, and the contact name and phone/email/website and we'll post them on the site as well as mentioning them in the Business Voice the month of the event. There is no charge.

Coming Events
April 6: VisionPDX Open House, city Hall, 5:00 - 7:00 PM. VisionPDX was formed to develop a 30 year vision for the city by talking to Portlanders about their hopes and dreams. For more information call 503.823.5415 or email plvision@ci.portland.or.us.

April 7: Rose Planting at Bank of the West, 82nd and SE Division, 10:00 AM - 82nd Avenue of the Roses.

April 13: Second Thursday Music Walk on Mississippi Avenue between Skidmore and Fremont. Music, entertainment and open houses.

April 20: Casino Night, 42nd Street Station, 2000 NE 42nd in Hollywood, 6:00 - 10:00, over 21 only please, Paul Clark, 503-281-8891.

April 27: Last Thursday on Alberta Street.

April 29: A Neighborhood Spring Thing - Fox Chase, 30th and Killingsworth, 10:00 - 5:00. The first street fair of the year! Check the Events page on for others.

Mention your event here - Contact the Editor for more information.

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Photo credits:
Rose Planting; David F Ashton, www.eastPDXnews.com
Ribbon Cutting; Nancy Chapin, The Support Group