long branch newsletter october 2015 final
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Volume 8
Supported by:
Long Branch Business League Issue 7 October 2015 Long Branch Business League
Join the Business League
Over the last four years the Long Branch Business League, with its Dis-cover Long Branch! initiative, has gradually built a more exciting im-age for Long Branch commerce. We brought the community the suc-cessful Super-Block Party last May; we started a Salsa Night series this September and we have helped install art work.
What is more, the Business League's newsletter keeps you up-to-date on important events, local business news, and business tips.
What are the benefits to you of membership? Preferred access to store design improvements Assistance with marketing and business planning Help with Enterprise Zone tax credit applications Greater visibility in business league marketing materials
And with big changes coming to our area because of the Purple Line, now more than ever we need to stand together to make sure all of us benefit from the expanded customer base the Purple Line will bring.
Making Long Branch successful for everyone.
IN THIS ISSUE
Public Places in Long Branch?
Page 1
Flower Avenue Music Fest
Page 1
Profile of Edith Yanez
Page 2
Shopping Center Transformed
Page 3
Another Mural Completed
Page 3
Resources
Page 4
Resources:
Small Business Development Center
SBDC provides counseling and classes. Coun-
selors speak Spanish and other languages.
301-403-0501x11
7100 Baltimore Ave, Suite 303,
College Park, MD 20740
Enterprise Zone Tax Credit Program
Access to County tax credits for real estate
improvements and employee hiring.
Mr. Pete McGinnity
240-777-8126
Montgomery County Council
240-777-7900
Department of Permitting
Responsible for all permits to make property
improvements and signage.
permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-0311
DED’s Small & Minority Business Empowerment
Resources and training for small businesses.
Judith Stephenson
240-777-2012
Montgomery County Police
Non-emergency dispatch for Long Branch:
301 279-8000
All emergencies: 911
Montgomery County (All other services)
For all Montgomery County services there
is now a single number you can call, this
includes bulk trash pickup
(5 requests annually)
311 (English)
311 + 1 (Español)
Department of Liquor Control
DLC licenses and regulates businesses that
sell alcohol, and provides education and
assistance to businesses and their
employees.
Emily DeTitta
240-777-1904
Business League October Gathering
Tuesday, October 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
El Golfo Restaurant, 8739 Flower Avenue
Guest Speaker: Prof. Kim Pichot, WAU Business School Long Branch Business News, a monthly publication , Paul Grenier, Editor 301-622-2400, x 41 [email protected]
Attendees of the September Business League meeting had the opportunity to review a slide show on how to create more outdoor space in Long Branch. The slide show was created by MHP’s architecture intern Edgar Alvarado.
According to Alvarado, a continuing challenge for commercial Long Branch is that some nearby residents see it as unwelcoming and unsafe even though crime statistics show that serious crime in Long Branch is pretty much the same as in any other part of the county.
Alvarado believes another important challenge in Long Branch is the lack of healthy activities for young people and teens. In the absence of better things to do, bored teens in Long Branch are in danger of getting involved in un-healthy activities, such as gangs. Recent graffiti activity suggests the danger is real.
Alvarado’s presentation was developed over the course of half a year, and makes use of an earlier pedestrian traffic study, crime statistics, as well as interviews with community leaders.
These interviews, together with a community place-making workshop
See Public Space, p. 2
(conducted by MHP and the Business League in 2014), point to high local demand for more outdoor events and more outdoor gathering spaces.
Does Long Branch Need More Public Space?
‘Flower Avenue’
Music & Arts
Festival Coming to
Long Branch
Saturday, Oct. 3
Saturday, Oct. 3, from 12 –3 p.m., a family-friendly festival of international music and art will be held in the Flower Avenue Park, 8746 Flower Ave.
Three different bands will play folk, jazz and rock music. Also: tie-dying (bring your own t-shirt), a drum circle, face-painting, food and a chance to help paint a community-made mural!
The event celebrates all the new art-work on Flower Avenue (story, p.3).
This new mural is just one of many projects made
possible through the collaboration of the Long
Branch Business League with its partners. Story, p. 3.
Alvarado feels that actively-used, attractive public spaces would greatly improve the reputation of commercial Long Branch.
At present, Long Branch has no public square or gathering places. In response, Alvarado proposes creat-ing two public places.
The first would be a dual-use park-ing lot/public square, ideally, he thinks, between el Golfo and el Gavilan Restaurants. The parking lot could be resurfaced with attractive pavers, and an artistic focal point would make it clear that this is the place to go when it is time to have a celebration.
Alvarado’s second suggestion is to transform the existing soccer field behind the Long Branch Recreation Center so as to make it both more architecturally striking and more useful for local youth teams and their spectators.
The presentation was well received at the meeting, which took place at el Golfo Restaurant, and stimulated a very lively debate.
Business League Secretary Art Cobb, who, like Alvarado, is a local resident, expressed his concern for young men in the neighborhood who, in some cases because of past criminal records, have become almost unemployable. This is just as big a challenge, he said, as the ones identified by Alvarado.
Paul Grenier, of MHP, suggested there might be a way to connect these concerns. “What if the work on creating the public spaces could be also the opportunity to provide new skills and unemployment to these young men?” he asked.
To learn more or to see the slide presentation, contact Paul at [email protected]
Public Space, from p. 1
3
DiscoverLongBranch.com DiscoverLongBranch.com
Artistic Re-painting of Shopping Center Attracts Praise Getting to know … Edith Yanez
September saw the completion of yet another
beautification project in Long Branch -- the repainting of
the entire Flower Avenue Shopping Center by local paint-
ing contractor M&M Painting led by Mike Matlin.
It took months of hard work, often in the blazing hot sun,
but Matlin and his hardy team of painters got the job
done. “We are finally done! Thank you for the marvelous opportunity to work on this project,” messaged Matlin
triumphantly on Sept. 1.
The re-painting of the Flower Shopping Center on Flower
Avenue was no ordinary paint job – it was a work of art in
itself, requiring the use of 32 different shades of paint,
contrasting trim colors, and imaginary dividing lines
separating one store from the next through the use of
contrasting colors. The color scheme was designed by
MHP architecture intern Edgar Alvarado.
The project had begun half a year earlier in the office of
Greg Fernebok, president of Harvey Management and
owner of the center. He was given three very different color schemes to review.
The most complicated of the schemes – which was the one
finally chosen by Fernebok – uses a combination of bold
colors and neutral tones that make the unusual shades of
bright color seem more natural and acceptable.
It was a courageous move that has certainly paid off. The
owner says he is getting lots of complements, and, judging
by a recent informal poll of pedestrians on the
street, locals are very positively impressed.
The comments of Vanessa, a Long Branch resident,
were typical: “It’s beautiful work, and whoever did it
is very talented.” Another local resident named
Christiana said “I enjoy all of the new colors in the
neighborhood. It really brings light and life.”
The project was made possible thanks to support
from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz
Foundation and Harvey Management.
Mural Completed
With support from these same sources, plus partial
funding from the Business League, a major new
mural was completed this summer at the same site.
Designed and painted by local artists Kate Deciccio
and Rose Jaffe, the mural depicts the community of Long Branch through the faces and work of its
residents.
The mural also displays different fabrics representative of the varied ethnicities living in Long Branch. Its name: “Sewing the Fabric of our Community.” (See back page for photo.)
The Flower Shopping Center is located at 8739 –
8703 Flower Avenue in Silver Spring. The new
mural is on the side facing Piney Branch Road.
Job: Marketing Manager at InTown
Connection, LLC
My job is to help businesses sell more. For
that, I work with business owners to create a
marketing strategy to present their businesses
and to increase sales. This strategy can
include designing a website, creating a logo, print materials, car wrapping and lettering,
internet marketing and more. I also teach in
different organizations, including the U. of
Maryland Small Business Development Center (SBDC), about how to increase
sales, how to market a business and also how to start a business.
Grew up: Rancagua, Chile, one hour south of Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Childhood memory: I grew up in a business family. I saw my parents working
hard every day in the store. When I was 9 years old my father started teaching us
how a business works. He wanted me and my siblings to learn everything about it.
It was a very nice time. I think my parents really enjoyed their work and taught
me to love the world of business.
Person to meet: If I could to travel to the past and meet someone in person, I
would like to meet Jesus.
Favorite restaurants: All the ones on Flower Avenue.
Favorite vacation spot: I love the south of Chile which is very similar to the south
of Germany with lakes, mountains and forest. I would love to go to the Alps in the summer time again.
Guilty pleasure: My husband’s cheesecake from an original German recipe. I can
eat it all at once (but then I feel bad about it).
Hobbies: Sports, reading, dance, cooking, theater, music, horse-riding …
Startling fact: My life was never usual or “normal.” I grew up in a dictatorship,
which is really difficult, especially when you are a teenager. My mother was really
afraid we may get into trouble and she prohibited us a lot of things, among them
talking in public. We were not allowed to talk about many issues, politics,
religion, news, etc. It was her way to protect us.
After my marriage and moving to Germany, I learned German and studied in the
University there. When people complain about the difficulties of learning
English, I just say to them: “You should try learning German!”
Edith can be contacted at: 571-332-0083 or [email protected] or by appointment at Cyber Web Computer Store (8703 Flower Avenue).
Sept. 1 saw the completion of the above unique repainting of the
Flower Shopping Center at 8739-8703 Flower Ave.