Minutes:

Minutes of October 14, 2008

Minutes from the Monthly Meeting of the
Doylestown Business & Community Alliance
Held October 14, 2008 8:00 a.m.
Doylestown Boroughugh Hall

ATTENDEES:  Don Stevens, Matt Caffrey, Bill Copes, Molly Lowell, Jim Sanders, Doris Neiss, Rick Kempes, Mark Russ, Pam Mikula, Kotcha McKirk, Collette Hern, Julie Dugery/Nova, Debra Cambra, Ken Hackman, Lynne Anne Donchez/L.A.D., Joan Doyle, John Davis, Ellen Mager

OPENING INTRODUCTIONS – Facilitated by Rich Slabinski/President

• Our December monthly meeting will be our annual breakfast meeting sponsored by Doylestown Hospital.  It is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2 at Pine Run, 777 Ferry Road, Doylestown. 
• We are looking to get our membership letters sent out by November 1.  We would like to have them out and back by January 1.  Getting the income in earlier will be better for this organization.
• A nominating committee is being put together for board members.
• Cindi Goodin will come on board as our auditor, putting together the financial reports so that the DBCA can move forward in obtaining our 501(c)(3) status.  This will be submitted to the IRS when it is completed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Holiday – Don Stevens

• Everything is really falling in to place with Santa coming to town.  Rich Slabinskii has come through with getting us a Santa and cookies to be handed out.  Ken Hackman has come up with the cider.
• Matt Caffrey has gotten the materials donated to refurbish the floor of Santa’s house and new carpet.
• The old kissing ball decorations have been cleaned out of the trailer.  If you are interested in obtaining any of them, please contact Dan Lightcap from Doylestown Borough.  Most of the new holiday decorations have arrived.   On November 2, we will be decorating the Doylestown lampposts with the holiday decorations.  A committee is being put together to monitor different sections of the Borough.  We will meet at Starbucks at 8:00 a.m.  Please bring ladders and scissors if you can help.  We will need between 60-70 volunteers to get this accomplished. 
• Doyle Walton will be sending out a note to the Borough residents to help bring in volunteers to help with decorating.
• On November 9 we will be installing the Christmas tree at Starbucks.  We have an 18 ft. Blue spruce tree that we plan to decorate with 1,000 lights.  I would like to thank Matt Caffrey for introducing me to Chris McGuire of McGuire Electric.  Chris took the old electric box located at Starbucks and refurbished it at no charge.

Shop Locale – Ellen Mager

• We have a safe, fun family evening scheduled in town on October 30 from 5-8.   ‘Twas the night before Halloween, stop in for (non candy) treats & refreshments and pick up a card for our holiday shopping raffles.                           
• We would like to have a table at Main & State Street.  Our Mayor Libby White will be at the table with brochures for purchasing the Shop Local/Dine Local card.  Our slogan for selling the cards is “Got the Card”.  We will also have Clifford the Big Red dog walking around town. 
• Barbara Gross from CB Cares has sent out a press release about this event.  She will also send out an email blast to their members to get the word out about the card.
• We need participating businesses to put the Shop Local/Dine Local decal in their windows and talk about the card to their customers.
• A question was asked if the participating merchants can change their sale receipts and have printed on the bottom information about purchasing the card.
• Joan Doyle asked if we could have a small banner for each store. This would be an incentive for other stores to participate.  Joan offered to help with the brochures.  She will also talk to Jim Sanders of the County Theater about running an advertisement for “Got the Card”.
• Doylestown magazine will be doing their main story next month about the card.
• Ellen Mager says that we desperately need more volunteers for this committee.

UPDATES:

Meeting Representative - Joan Doyle 

• We have an opportunity every Borough bulletin to put in an article.  Joan offered to do the article, as Carol Shellock is extremely busy.  The DBCA needs to write an article about who is responsible for the decorations in Doylestown and the driving force for the holidays.
• Joan will check with council members, Weichert and other realtors in town for help with putting up the holiday decorations.  We need to give back since we all make a living through Doylestown.
• Joan has volunteered to get dates into the town planner to highlight opportunities for the DBCA.
• Doylestown Borough is in the mist of doing our budget this year and times are very hard.  We are lucky that the Borough had the money for the holiday decorations.  The Borough stepped up this year with the DBCA and gave $10,580 towards holiday decorations to include the North Broad Street entrance.  We are tightening our belts and running at a deficit.  There will be an impact to the residents and now is the time for any budget issues.

Classic Towns – John Davis

• The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission has launched a program aimed at revitalizing the region’s older suburbs and urban neighborhoods.  Called the “Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia,” the program has designated 11 communities to receive funding and aid to give the towns.  The program hopes to help attract more residents and spark a continued revitalization of the communities.  Funding includes $250,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation as well as a $2,500 annual payment from each participating town that will be matched by the DVRPC.  The communities selected for the inaugural launch of the program are:  Ambler, Bristol Borough, Doylestown Borough, Lansdowne, Media and West Chester in Pennsylvania; Collingswood, Haddon Heights and Riverton in NJ; and the Philadelphia neighborhoods of Manayunk and Overbrook Farms.
• John went to a recent workshop for Classic Towns and all 12 municipalities participated.  The launch was in July and all of the newspapers covered it.
• In July they had 5,000 visits to their website.  The average person hits 6 pages on this website, while 80% of the visitors are new.  Philly.com is a gateway that had 20% of the hits.
• We want to reach out and look for advertising on this site.  This is an opportunity for the DBCA and businesses in this community.
• The Classic Town online tool kit offers media info, printable brochures, web banners, and Classic Towns logo.  I am urging you to incorporate this logo into our own marketing advertising.
• Each Classic Town community has its own profile page with space for advertisers.  Your business can show its support for your community and reach visitors who are specifically interested in your Classic Town by advertising on this website.  Banner ads and rates are very affordable.

Bucks County Visitors Bureau

• Matt Caffrey and Molly Lowell both attended a recent meeting.  Interesting information came out about businesses that are down like Disney, rooms by the airport, etc.  Bucks County is holding it’s own and hanging in there. We are blessed to be where we are.  Bucks County Visitors Bureau has a phenomenal website and we should get more involved and use this group to get more people into our area.  This agency has been recognized with a national award and is in the top 2 in 3 categories.
• Matt also mentioned that we should utilize the sign that we have coming into town.  He noted that the sign is very small and lackluster upon entering into town.
• The Revitalization Board is a good link to get involved with as a town.

Misc. Announcements –

Galaxy 2008 Art Show and Sale 15th annual fund raising event – First Federal of Bucks County Presents Galaxy Art Show and Sale 16th Annual Fundraiser to benefit Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA)

Preview Reception with the Artists, Thursday, November 6th, 5 p.m. – 8 p.m. – Cost: $35.00

Free Admission to Show & Sale,

Friday, November 77th, 10 a.m. –10 p.m., Saturday, November 8th, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday, November 9th, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Bucks County Courthouse, Third Floor Rotunda, Doylestown

For information or preview reception tickets, contact NOVA at 215-343-6543 or www.novabucks.org

CB Cares Masquerade

Saturday, November 1, 2008

8:00 p.m.

Elkins Gallery at the Mercer Museum

Contact Kimberly Cambra Executive Director at CB Cares at 215-489-9120 to purchase tickets

The Stanley Cup is coming to Bucks County – all proceeds benefit NOVA and The JAG Fund

Saturday, November 15, 2008

11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Middle Bucks Institute of Technology

2740 Old York    Road, Jamison Pa

Admission: $2 Adults, $1 Child, $5 max per family

Meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m.