Category: Business

Hometown Holidays draw crowds

Last Friday night, there was so much going on downtown that there was no way I could take it all in. Fortunately the action continues this coming Friday, Dec. 10 and the following Friday, Dec. 17. Here’s what I did do…

Remembering Rev. H. L. Butler
I actually kicked off my Hometown Holiday Celebration by dropping in on the tail end of the Pottstown Firebirds luncheon at Brookside Country Club. The reminiscences were in full swing. I just love hearing stories about antics from days-gone-by and this crew had plenty of them. Later, there was more schmoozing with the team at The Gallery’s Open House. You might want to consider purchasing a poster, “Hometown Heroes,” which honors that championship team and was painted by local artist, Mary Ellen Christ. The Gallery also has a wealth of unique gift items in every price range. Last year I got my mom a stained glass cross that hangs in her kitchen window, catching the morning light. It’s something to reflect on every single day. I’ll be back in town this week to do some shopping & I can’t wait; you never know what you’ll find!

Pine Forge Academy Choir
After I left The Gallery, I heard the Pine Forge Academy Choir down at Smith Plaza and caught up with some folks – there was a very nice crowd there all night long. But before too long, my toes were going numb. No matter – I just hopped across the street to Churchill’s and got a melted cheese and tomato pannini. That hit the spot. Churchill’s is so beautifully decorated, and there was a steady crowd as people purchased tickets for the horse-drawn carriage rides. There was a line all night, so get there early this Friday, Dec. 10th so you don’t miss the chance for a charming ride down High Street.

Churchill's on Friday night
After that, I dashed up to St. Al’s, looking for my mom, and caught some of the Charlie Brown performance happening in Begly Hall. But, alas, no sign of my mom. I failed her again! (Like my father, I talk too much and then I don’t show up where I’m supposed to be at the right time.)

There are so many more things I need to do in the coming weeks… look at all the decorated storefronts and vote online at The Mercury, see A Christmas Carol at Tri-PAC – it is getting rave reviews! – take a carriage ride… and maybe sit on Santa’s lap. I’ve got some pretty big wishes for Pottstown for the coming year… maybe he can help. 🙂

Playing catch-up…

1. I feel like I’ve been put through the wringer. Put my last packet of writing for this term into the mail about an hour ago. Brain = fried.

2. The previously mentioned Holiday Hop must, unfortunately, be canceled. Wait. It’s actually it’s not that unfortunate because I will still be there! And I will still be hopping from one place to another and “laughing all the way,” as the song goes. But I didn’t have time to properly advertise it and get all the hoo-ha and goodies organized, and the few people I heard from who were interested in the Hop will be out on the town with their families, so we will run into each other here and there, but not Hop as a group.

3. PLEASE, PLEASE come downtown tomorrow night to check out all the fabulous decorations, fun activities, shopping and merriment!! The Mercury describes a lot of it right here. I will be at the Firebirds lunch tomorrow and The Gallery Open House beginning at 5 pm at 254 E. High Street before hopping around town.

4. Get your tickets for A CHRISTMAS CAROL! It opens at Tri-PAC at 245 E. High Street tonight and runs the next few weeks. I’ll put up a separate post later but get it on your calendar now. Here’s a sneak preview from The Mercury.

5. Last but not least: HAPPY HANNUKAH!! to all readers observing the holiday. May your latkes be crisp and your home filled with the glow and warmth of the Menorah candles.

Holidays kick into high gear in downtown P-Town!

Okay, it’s official: There’s a lot on tap during the month of December, and we here at Positively!Pottstown want to do our part to make your head spin.

Please check out the updated calendar here and check back every few days because I’m sure I haven’t gotten everything in there yet. For one thing, I’m still nailing down the details of my own High Street Holiday Hop, but rest assured, it IS happening this Friday, December 3rd, and it will be loads of fun with lots of free drawings for cool stuff! The idea of the Holiday Hop is to roam the downtown with like-minded, upbeat holiday carousers, see all the decorations, stop in at businesses, make merry, hear talented singers, sit on Santa’s knee, and support the whole crazy notion of Pottstown having a lively commercial center!!

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE FOR POSITIVELY!POTTSTOWN HOLIDAY HOP

5-6 PM Meet-up at The Gallery on High at 254 High St.(NOTE NEW LOCATION) for their Annual Holiday Party & meet legendary Pottstown Firebirds football champs!! Get your free Positively!Pottstown Santa hat! Win a Firebirds t-shirt!

6-6:30 PM Stop in at Grumpy’s Handcarved Sandwiches & decorate an ornament for the Borough tree!

6:30-7:30 PM Still being planned… salon visit and free drawing for manicure… stop at Tri-PAC…

7:45-9 PM Head to Smith Plaza at catch the Pine Forge Academy Choir, hang your ornament on the Borough tree, sit on Santa’s knee, free drawing for 2 carriage rides down High Street! Wind down with warm drinks & dessert at Churchill’s!

**Free Santa hats to the first 20 Holiday Hoppers that rsvp to positivelypottstown@gmail.com**

Check out this gorgeous renovation on High St.!

The Mercury has a great feature on Brian and Lori Patrick’s renovation of 221 E. High Street. They’re operating Affinity Property Management out of the first floor and are living on the second and third floors. I just met Mr. Patrick this past Friday, but didn’t realize they’d also made the building their home.

Judging from the photos, they have done an outstanding job using many local contractors and local architect, P. Richard Frantz (did I ever tell you that I used to be Mr. Frantz’s “papergirl”? My first job: delivering the daily Philadelphia Bulletin & the Sunday Inquirer.)

I hope this article lets others see & believe the amazing potential offered by Pottstown’s historic buildings!

Come downtown & build community

It’s Friday afternoon, do you know where your friends are?

They might be at the monthly Postively!Pottstown Happy Hour! It starts in just one hour and runs til 7 pm. It’s at the PDIDA office at 139 E. High Street. $5 gets you refreshments, a free chance to win a $20 gift certificate to Funky Lil’ Kitchen and the opportunity to network with more than 60 people already signed up! Walk-ins welcome!

At 7 pm there’s a Neighborhood Watch meeting at the PAL building at 146 King Street. All are welcome there to meet neighbors and figure out ways to make Pottstown a safer place. Hope to see you there!

p.s. As I type, I can see a tree getting decorated over on Smith Plaza. Hometown Holidays are coming up – Dec. 3, 10, 17. More on that soon!

PDIDA Calendar

If you don’t know what PDIDA is or what it stands for, read on.

The Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority is a special assessment district that provides benefits to businesses such as keeping the area safe and clean and helping with marketing.  The Main Street Manager, Leighton Wildrick, works under their umbrella.

PDIDA is pronounced Puh-Dee-Duh. And, yes, it’s kind of musical!

And now the main reason for this post: PDIDA recently began updating their online calendar and it looks awesome! Please check it out HERE.

Also, please note the Hometown Holiday Celebrations that are happening on Fridays in December – the 3rd, 10th and 17th. There will be TONS to do downtown and it will be lit up and decorated!

To support the businesses, arts & restaurants, I’m hoping we can get a crowd together for a “High Street Holiday Hop” for December 3rd. The basic idea is to start at The Brick House at 5 pm and then every 30 minutes or so, move as a group to another venue. We can listen to the choirs and carolers along the way and eat, drink and shop our way up and down High Street. I’ll let you know more as the date gets closer.

In the meantime, be sure to bookmark PDIDA’s calendar!

Open Invitation

Because the town that breaks bread together will find a way to revitalize together…

[Click 11/19/10 for vibrant, colorful invitation.]

(Get your positive vibe on here.)

 

POSITIVELY!POTTSTOWN HAPPY HOUR

When: Friday, November 19 from 5:01-7:00 p.m.

Where: PDIDA Office, 139 E. High St., Pottstown, PA 19464

Bring yourself, bring a friend!

Anyone interested in Pottstown’s revitalization is invited to

this casual, monthly gathering.


Bring business cards, brochures or flyers for 50 people.

We want to help you make connections!


Your $5 contribution helps pay the talented local vendors

who supply food & beverages.


RSVP

suerepko@gmail.com

or

positivelypottstown@gmail.com

or

609-658-9043


Thanks to Leighton Wildrick & PDIDA for the generous use of their space

and

Chestnut Knoll Assisted Living for their donation of appetizers this month!


Free drawing for a $20 gift certificate to Funky Lil’ Kitchen!

 


 


 

Pottstown: Time for the full-court press?

The article about Danville, PA that we just added to our Revitalization Library got me thinking about very specific actions that Pottstown might want to consider now.

Why not take the $45,000 remaining after painting the Mrs. Smith’s building brick red and apply it to QUANTIFIABLE & VISIBLE ACTIONS to improve Pottstown’s downtown?

High Street is THE face of Pottstown. People take one look and make a snap judgment, maybe without even getting out of their cars. Pretty soon High Street is going to be beautifully illuminated. Now is the time to press any advantage to be gained from that, coordinate resources, and put out a blitz of tried-and-true downtown economic development strategies.

1) I’ve heard from several sources that there was a downtown site  inventory/survey started or completed as follow-up to the Economic Development Strategic Plan. Where is it? Resurrect & update it. Find a simple, clean, attractive, inexpensive way to create an online database with key information about vacant properties that are available for sale or rent; allow for uploading of photos. Call upon Montgomery County Community College’s new urban planning students to help with site inventory and in getting additional info from local realtors and the county’s property records database. Input the data and unveil a new downtown district marketing tool via PDIDA’s website.

2) Determine the vacancy rate in the downtown and set a goal for getting X number of additional storefronts occupied within 6 months. Use some of the $45K to create a rent subsidy/marketing incentives package to attract new businesses that have solid business plans. Include existing businesses in the marketing plans. (I don’t know what PDIDA’s budget is, but I’m pretty sure it needs more resources to get its job done.)

3)  There is this wonderful resource for new and existing business owners right in the New York Plaza building at 244 High Street: SCORE. They’re a non-profit business mentoring association that gets funding from the U.S. Small Business Association. Four times a year they offer a workshop seriesto help with all aspects of running a business. They offer other courses as well, all of which are taught by experienced professionals who volunteer their time to share their knowledge. Use some of the $45K to fund partial scholarships for new Pottstown-based businesses and nearly-full scholarships for existing business owners.

Imagine the messages the Borough could pretty quickly & easily send to the business world:

1) Here’s our downtown property inventory; we want to help you find the space that works for your business.

2) If you have a solid business plan, we will help with the rent during a pre-determined start-up phase.

3) We help promote all our businesses.

4) We will fund training workshops and introduce you to a network of business professionals to help you succeed.

5) By the time the 2011 First Saturdays start up again, there will be a VISIBLE difference in the downtown.

6) By coordinating the expertise already in the community, we can make $45K go a long way.

High Street is how the outside world judges you.At some point, you gotta put on your full-court press.

(Ideally, along a parallel path, the Borough would be doing the same thing for its industrial sites, including facilitating brownfield clean-up & marketing the sites nationwide, even internationally. I’d put an emphasis on green manufacturing and renewable energy tech companies, but that’s just me.)

Danville, PA: “Each stride forward begets another.”

I am sending a HUGE thank-you out to Pottstown resident Andrew Kefer for sending along this article: “Welcome to Downtown Danville, the Vibrant Small Town You Never Expected.”

There are so many lessons here that could be immediately applied to Pottstown’s revitalization.

1) Create a “better business climate.”

2) Tap Montco college students for discrete planning and community development projects and give those students real-world experience.

3) Resurrect the facade improvement program. (Is PDIDA’s Facade Rehabilitation Loan program active?)

4) Promote arts district downtown. (Danville is doing a multi-year mural program: “To one degree or another, all murals should touch on Danville’s heritage and history,” said Danville Main Street manager, Jim Wilson. Although I think a mural program would be fantastic, in the post that follows this one, I’m going to suggest using the additional $45K from the re-painting of the Mrs. Smith building toward other economic development efforts. For me it’s a matter of timing and getting the most bang for the buck. )

5) Create a business incubator downtown. Get designated as a Keystone Innovation Zone to get grants to attract tech start-ups and entrepreneurs. (Is this state designation/funding still available?)

Thanks again to Andrew for this informative, idea-packed article!

 

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