South Park Business Group (SPBG)

SPBG Meeting, July 25, 2012, 8:30 a.m. at Alchemy. Meeting chaired by Donna Walker, South Bark Dog Wash.
Introductions and review of Mission Statement.
New member announced: Captain Kirk's Coffee

POLICE & SAFETY: There have been three car thefts between Fern and Fir - one stolen from the driveway. Police will check on reports and follow-up. Also working on plethora of complaints re trash/recycling scavengers.

PR/SPECIAL EVENTS:

a. Pride: Did a lot of promotion - the prize wheel was very popular, a lot of SP exposure. One of the prizes was a hug - gave out a lot of hugs!! Thanks to Jeffrey of Junc for organizing the booth, sponsoring the prizes. SPBG provided a banner for booth and cards with South Park Scene website, which were attached to necklaces and thousands distributed.

b. BID grant - Thanks to Anne for coordinating our application; there are many more micro-bids than there were years ago, so BID Council must spread the grants out, making our grant smaller, but the BID council is very supportive of what we do and granted us $5,695 to support Walkabouts 2012-13.

c. Walkabout: Summer of Love was a huge success. Traffic at Beech was great. Business was a little better, always gets a little bit better with each WA. Discussed keeping the Summer of Love theme for every summer - because it was such a success. Danceabout, School of Rock band, and DJs at several locations were great features. It was great that we didn't conflict with Pride - need to ensure similar scheduling next year. Reports of many visitors from outside our area, many heard about WA on KPBS radio. Encourage all to capture email address info, zip codes from customers. Marsha to report on web traffic results.

Sam Chammas sent word that the Historic Streetcar display on Ivy Street went well. He also mentioned that he removed tops of trash containers during walkabout to avoid overflowing, replaced them on Sunday.

Bad Madge/Junc/Make Good had outdoor movie, own displays in the rental lot on Fern St., and will do this again in October.

Is it possible to speak with the church about using their parking lot? Insurance could be an issue.

d. October 6th/December 1st -Themes will stay the same. Fall: ArtOberfest. Holiday: Twinkle, Twinkle, Mix and Mingle. Voted: Yes, unanimous. Need to investigate (better) carolers and book them now. Anyone who has a recommendation needs to email contact info to Marsha (email to spbg@lucyslist.net) by the 10th of August -- will discuss at next meeting and solicit contributions from businesses to cover costs (last year = $375 total).

e. Economic Development Grant: Update on meeting with Luis Ojeda - thanks to Connie for setting this up, Matt for report. The grant is intended to help communities with branding, marketing, beautification, bringing people into the neighborhood - we need to write a business plan and proposal. We would be eligible for about $5k - amount is proportionate to our total annual budget. If we had larger events, we could potentially bring in more money. Need to think forward in terms of future branding and events. Also, how can we document the financial benefit of our events; show that our efforts are helping to support local economy. Growth potential is there. Every association went out for this grant - most of them got it. Vote: are we in favor of applying for the grant - YES.

COMMUNITY AFFAIRS:

Trash Cans - emptying is going well - need to be cleaned. Samantha Keenan knows someone who will come through and steam clean the cans -- will provide info to Matt to seek out proposal, fees. In meantime, please do what you can (elbow grease) to keep benches clean, cans reasonable. Need a volunteer to manage the can in front of the liquor store on Grape across from the Big Kitchen. Junc requests that the last bench available be installed on Fern St. in front of their store.

Todd Gloria's office: Courtney - Distributed District 3 Report. Balanced budget approved on June 11th, increased size of police academy - retained graffiti removal team, and more in the Dialogue this month. Graffiti removal update - if you call them, they will use spray paint - not our colors. Chains in front of Crow Thief are going to be fixed by the city, however in the future it will be the responsibility of us to maintain. Future fixes to the clock? Must be identified.

Samantha K. and Connie M. have the formula of paint for anything that needs to be repainted - needs to be water based. Samantha K. believes that she has the key to the clock.

We should consider adding the chains and clock to a maintenance list that SPBG maintains - future agenda.

Questions about the process to remove the billboards in our neighborhood.

GGHCDC - no report. (They did have Golden Hill Street Fair on July 22nd. No report to us to date.)

NEW BUSINESSES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:

None reported. Baby Garten Studio is relocating to the space previously occupied by Space Travelers Emporium (next to So Childish on 30th St.).

ANNOUNCEMENTS/EVENTS:

Announcements: be sure to send all news announcements to Marsha - she needs a lead time to send out to media - she does general publicity once a month - will also post online. SPBG@lucyslist.net

• Luci Dumas is participating in a photography show reception August 1, more info online (see facebook.com/southparkbiz), show on display ‘til Sept. 28.
• Every Thursday - guided mediation held at Kwan Yin. Also, on every Sunday from 9 to Noon, they offer drop-in tarot readings and massages.
• Where Magazine is a great opportunity - if anyone is interested in advertising, it would be great if we could fill three full spreads.
• Crow Thief mentioned in SD Magazine in the best of issue. Congrats!
• Walkabouts - we have been successful in creating a culture that does not allow for street vendors - our efforts have been successful.
• Be sure to send all listings or mentions of your business to Marsha to add to our Media section of the website.