Contents
APNBA Board
East Portland Plan Adopted
Sidewalk Cafes
From The Director
Planning Your Summer Events
BDA Calendar
Spring is coming!
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APNBA Board
It is time for every business district association to appoint or elect a member to represent them on the APNBA Board of Directors. Names must be sent to the APNBA office before April 10 to be included on the ballot.
Elections are held at the Annual Meeting, April 27, 2009 at Wilf's Restaurant. Delegates must be at the annual meeting to be elected.
The board meets once a month at 4:30 PM on the second Monday of the month at Friendship Center 57th and NE Sandy. Directors are expected to attend every meeting, join discussions, vote on policies, and serve on committees as needed.
The APNBA would like every business district association to be represented on the board to give them the broadest range of opinion and expertise in small business matters. We look forward to working with you!
East Portland Action Plan Adopted
At an off-site meeting held at the Midland Library on February 18, 2009, the Portland City Council voted 5-0 to adopt the East Portland Action Plan: a guide for improving livability in outer East Portland. The East Portland Action Plan (EPAP) embodies the interests and aspirations of residents, businesses, schools, and other community stakeholders in making East Portland a better place moving forward.
The EPAP committee started in late 2007 by then-Mayor Potter, Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler, and then-Speaker of the Oregon House Jeff Merkley. Over many months, with great help from the City, the County, Metro, TriMet and ODOT (among others), the committee took over 160 ideas and honed them down to the seven short-term implementable strategies that would have highly visible effects on the livability of East Portland's neighborhoods.
One of the key provisions adopted was earmarking over $100,000 of the approximately $500,000 initial funding to expand PDC's storefront improvement program in areas that were not previously eligible. That this strategy was one of the seven strategies adopted is testimony to the fact that the committee members and plan stakeholders recognize that healthy neighborhoods and healthy business districts go hand in hand.
Hard work still lies ahead given the current economy. However, the funded projects will act as a good start. The East Portland Action Plan will guide the City bureaus as they formulate the Portland Plan in the coming years. Congratulations and thanks to all who worked to support the EPAP effort and shape the plan, and to those that testified to the Portland City Council.
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Sidewalk Cafes
The final draft of the Sidewalk Cafe permit program is available as a pdf document. The draft has yet to go before City Council for approval.
The first year application fee will consist of $4.50 per linear-foot of sidewalk cafe operations in addition to a $150.00 base fee. Annual renewal fees will be $1.50 per linear-foot of sidewalk cafe operations in addition to a $75.00 base fee.
As an incentive for participation, the draft proposes, "The application fee will be waived for all sidewalk cafe application received in 2009; this policy will
encourage cafes, both those permitted under past regulations and those who do not hold current permits, to quickly begin participating in the program." If your sidewalk space meets the guidelines, it is worth $150 to get your permit before the end of 2009.
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From the Desk of the Executive Director
It is easy in these difficult economic times to fall prey to the malaise of negativity. The financial markets are in the tank. Consumers are not spending and many businesses – large and small – are struggling to survive or simply giving up. On the positive side, however, the U.S. Government has adopted an economic stimulus plan that should help the State of Oregon, and the City of Portland, which has its own economic stimulus agenda, mitigate at least to some extent the worst of our current economic woes. You can find links to many helpful resources in the current and past issues of APNBA's weekly e-newsletter the News Source (available for subscription and at www.apnba.com).
In addition to the City's economic stimulus plan, the Portland Development Commission is preparing a complete economic development strategy document and a lot of work and advocacy is going into making sure that our existing small businesses are fairly considered in that strategy. The City is in the process of centralizing and simplifying permitting processes. The Small Business Administration is making loans available to help those businesses in Portland who suffered most severely from our December “arctic blast.” The Small Business Development Center is making its business consultants available without fees to help businesses with their most pressing problems. The APNBA is working to provide all possible support to its member business district associations.
Over the years, I've had the opportunity to participate in many training sessions that incorporated concepts like visual image formation and the power of positivity. While these concepts are not panaceas, my experience has been that positivity generally breeds better results in the long term than negativity. East Portland complained for many years that it was being ignored. Then the focus changed to developing something positive, and communicating it in a positive way to the powers that be (see related article on the East Portland Action Plan). Have all the problems been solved? Most certainly "no.” Is there a new attitude in East Portland and in City Hall about the future of East Portland? There certainly is.
I humbly suggest that we all might do better, and we will certainly feel better, if we make conscious efforts to replace negativity with positivity wherever we can. If we at APNBA can help, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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Planning Your summer events
"This is the worst year to cancel your events. The neighborhood will notice if nothing happens more keenly than they will notice that the event is simpler than in previous years," says Mike Roach of Hillsdale. This is the time to build good will, to show your neighbors that your district is surviving, and that you remain appreciative of their custom.
If you have a traditional event, plan to do something. Ask your long time members how you started; get advice from other business districts. The APNBA is collecting ideas from business districts and plans to publish a booklet giving advice and ideas for inexpensive celebrations.
SE Portland celebrates with an Art Walk the last weekend of February, South Portland is holding a Merchant Fair March 31st, and Old Town Chinatown is planning a series of Dragon Moon festivals the first weekend of every month starting in June. Hillsdale is planning its Customer Appreciation Pancake Breakfast for July. 82nd Avenue of Roses will parade in April; Parkrose will Cruise in July. These events are all open and the public is cordially invited to join the celebrations.
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BDA Calendar
February 28 - March 1: - SE Artwalk, Division/Clinton 10:00AM - 5:00PM, http://www.seportlandartwalk.com.
March 1: - Old Town Chinatown 1st Sundays, June Schumann, 503.224.1458.
March 5: - 1st Thursdays, Pearl District 5:00 - 9:00PM, http://www.firstthursday.org.
March 12: - Historic Mississippi 2nd Thursday, 5:00PM Mississippi Ave, Bridgit Beasley, 503.517.8222.
March 31: - Merchant Fair, 5:00PM- 9:00PM South Portland BA, French School,
6318 SW Corbett Ave, www.southportlandba.com.
Tell us about your event - Contact the Editor at info@apnba.com.
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Event Participants
Mother Goose
4-Legged Man
Dancing Scarecrow
Landlocked Pirates
2-wheeled mass transit
Clowing Around
Past Grant Projects
Photo credits:
David Ashton, www.eastpdxnews.com
Volume 17 No. 3
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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