Contents
Vitality Grant
Walk & Bike to School
From The Director
Sam Celebrates 45
Spirit of Portland Awards
Notes from the Seminar
Go See Portland
BDA Events
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Vitality Grant
The $1500 Vitality Grants are MUST be postmarked by Wednesday October 1st or turned in to Galadriel at the office by noon on Wednesday the 1st. She will not stay late to receive your request. If you use a mailing station, do not assume it will be postmarked on time.
For more information and a grant application, visit APNBA.com.
Walk & Bike to School Day
Seven business district associations and one interested neighbor have requested signs for the October 8th 2008 International Walk + Bike to School Day. The signs are on loan from PDOT's Safer Routes to School Project Manager Lore Wintergreen and must be returned by October 15th.
Here are the details on the lawn signs:
- You must sign a release form stating you will return all the signs you received. The $25 per sign recovery insurance will be covered by the APNBA.
- PDOT will deliver the signs or you can pick them up.
- You can post PDOT's signs in the right of way, but must remove any sign if the property owner complains.
- You are responsible for the signs you receive. You need to retrieve and return all the signs October 15th. You will be billed for any non-returns.
This is a simple, inexpensive way for the business community to support the school system and the well being of its future customers. For more information contact mjeanbaker@apnba.com.
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From the Desk of the Executive Director
School’s in! The September 16th Small Business Marketing Workshop was a morning session of fact-filled information and learning that gave participants real world ideas and practices they could use immediately in their own businesses. The star of the show was Jackie Babicky from the Small Business Development Center. She reminded us all about the basics we sometimes forget and regaled us with real life stories that brought her points home with real impact. The panel sessions organized by the PBA and PDC had fellow business owners sharing their issues and strategies with a highly interactive group of participants. Future programs will probably start in January 2009. Make sure you participate. As Jackie said more than once, you need to work as hard ON your business as you do IN your business!
I’d like your input on an idea recently put forth by Past President Patrick Donaldson. How about we produce some “webinars” on specific business-related topics on perhaps a monthly basis? Would these be of interest to you? Could you make the time to participate from your home or office? Do you have the right equipment – computer with sound/microphone and/or telephone? Would you be willing to pay a modest $20/$25 fee for an hour or so of valuable, practical, implementable educational material on an occasional basis? Please send me an email – the address is jturino@apnba.com – with your thoughts on this idea so that we can evaluate its viability and figure how we can do it. And, if you can help with the implementation of the idea – with production help, sponsorship help, etc. – please let me know that as well. Let us know also whether Tuesday or Thursday mornings would work best for you for these sessions.
We're now accepting Speakers and Sponsors for the June 11, 2009, APNBA Annual Conference. The event will be similar to the highly regarded 2008 conference with a dozen short papers in two tracks on BDA-related and business-related topics in the morning and with the addition of four workshops in the afternoon since several 2008 conference participants suggested that longer sessions for some topics would be of benefit to them.
Do you have something to say to your fellow BDA officers and directors, or to your fellow business owners? Are you willing to share your expertise? If so, please volunteer for a speaking spot, long or short. Professional help in preparing your presentation is available from APNBA staff to insure that you, also, will be a star at the conference.
Do you market to the 44,000+ businesses in the 35 BDAs that APNBA supports? Are you a member of an organization that needs to provide information to, or get information from, the small business community in Portland? Then consider becoming a sponsor for the 2009 Conference. Put some money is your budget NOW for 2009 for your sponsorship. There’s no better way to gain the kind of exposure that APNBA can offer. Contact me, jturino@apnba.com, for detailed information.
Thanks for your continued support of your local BDA and the APNBA. Together we are building business in Portland.
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Sam celebrates 45
Commissioner Adams, who gets to skip the general election, celebrates turning 45 and paying down his campaign debt. Our Executive Director offers his support, Amanda Fritz gets Sam's endorsement, and Storm Large enjoys herself. Sam's gettogethers are always full of interesting people.
Storm Large, Jon Turino, Amanda Fritz, and City Commissioner Sam Adams
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Spirit of Portland Awards
You have until October 24th to nominate one of your amazing volunteer leaders for the City of Portland's annual Spirit of Portland Awards, which recognize the importance of citizen involvement.
Forms are available from the Office of Neighborhood Involvement and nominations are due back to them by 4:00 pm Friday, October 24th. The awards are presented in mid-December.
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Go See Portland
"If your idea of the perfect vacation is to do what the locals do, look no further than GoSeePortland, a new social networking website where Portland residents and visitors share tips, ratings and reviews — and get customized travel recommendations. It’s a fun, easy and no-cost way to get an insider’s perspective on all things Portland. Already know your favorite Portland spots? Tell us about it!”
Travel Portland, source of local information for tourist and resident alike, has launched Go See Portland, a place where tourists can check out what we think about where to go and what to do. The one thing they need now is information.
Here is one of those golden opportunities where three groups perfectly meet each other's needs. GoSeePortland wants to know about business district associations, their character, their businesses, who shops and eats there, what they think about it. You can contribute as much or as little of your business district information about your businesses, events, theatres, shops, grand old buildings, and famous trees as you wish, including your bda itself (another small business when you think about it.) They have up-to-date information that someone else will be keeping updated.
Business District Associations and their businesses get displayed to all the tourists, locals, tour managers, and event planers who use Travel Portland and now GoSeePortland as a research tool when planning to visit Oregon. You will be connected anywhere Travel Portland GoSeePortland are connected in exchange for some administrative work to provide the initial data.
People who love to write about and rate virtually everything in Portland are able to provide Tips, which are comments about where they've been and how they were treated. This is the best part. GoSeePortland gets a steady stream of updated news and reviews, you get feedback from customers and tourists telling you what they saw and thought, and tipsters have reason to go everywhere and try everything, plus the joy of writing about it afterwards.
For more information, see the new site at Go See Portland. If you want to add your comments, GoSeePortland recommends starting with Getting Started.
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Notes from the Seminar
The September seminar on marketing contained a wealth of ideas, tips and strategies for starting, planning, and expanding your business. The following ideas are worthy of note:
The future of small business - Expect an explosion of small business startups, coming from immigrants, semi-retired baby boomers, mom-trepeneurs, and the millennium generation. How to run a business is a different skill set from how to provide goods and/or services. You need to work ON your business as well a work IN your business.
Planning your business - What differentiates you from the competition? What is your "Unique Value Strategy? Who is your target customer? How will you reach him or her? Why should customers choose you - what benefit can you provide? Remember that people buy solutions to problems or things that make them feel good.
Pricing and valuing your business - Find a niche or make one. Financial stability, convenience, reputation, and good customer/employee relations add value to your offerings. If someone complains about the price of a good or service, then you need to make the value of that good or service more clear. "That's too expensive" could mean, "Please explain the value of this." Convince yourself that your price is fair and good value. When you have explained to yourself all your arguments and counter agruments then you are ready to explain to customers.
Going international - Every retail business needs a web presence! Let customers search by your product not by your name. Consider a blog or newsletter. Businesses need to evolve more then grow. Consider branch or annex business ideas that are related to, but slightly different from your main business. Work with other businesses in the same field to maximize your advertising and marketing.
Next month, tips from the panel of small business owners.
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Business District Events
October 2: - 1st Thursdays, Pearl District 5 - 9PM, http://www.firstthursday.org.
October 3: - 1st Fridays
Milwaukie Avenue, 5:00 - 9:00 PM, Madeline Janovic, 503.231.8346.
Multnomah Village, 5:00 - 9:00 PM, Joan Steinbach, 503.245.3936.
Division/Clinton, 6:00 - 9:00 PM, Rin Carroll Jackson, rinzart@spiritone.com.
Sellwood-Westmoreland - May - October, place varies, Tom Brown, www.sellwoodwestmoreland.com.
October 4: - Old Town Chintown 1st Sundays, June Schumann, 503.224.1458.
October 16: - Hollywood District 3rd Thursdays, Rachelle Markley, sgbooks@qwestoffice.net.
October 30: - Last Thursdays, 13th - 30th NE Alberta, Allan Oliver, 503.493.1909.
Tell us about your event - Contact the Editor at info@apnba.com.
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AlbertaFair
Artist in Practice
"On Stilts meets on shoulders"
Entertainment
Belmont Fair
Nothing beats a good bounce
Musical Entertainment
A popular place to be
Foster Fair
Artistic display
Stroll past the band
Burger Battle
Tony Starlight
Nob Hill
Lightweight juggling
Face Painter and canvas
Lunch from the grill
Art in the Pearl
Glass Art
Music to Shop by
APNBA Seminar
Speaker Jackie Babicky
Panelist Mike Roach
Past Grant Projects
Photo credits:
David Ashton, www.eastpdxnews.com
Amanda Fritz by Bryan Grimes
Volume 16 No. 10
The Business Voice is published 12 times a year
by the Alliance of Portland Neighborhood Business Associations
107 SE Washington #244
Portland OR 97214
E-mail: info@apnba.com
Web site: www.APNBA.com
Editor: Jean Baker
mjeanbaker@apnba.com
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