New Website!

The GBA website is now located at www.greenpointbiz.com.

This blog will no longer be updated - please check the new site for all our news and information.

Green Sweep Greenpoint Team Leader Meeting

The Greenpoint Business Alliance is holding its 1st Green Sweep Greenpoint Neighborhood Clean-Up on Sunday, June 5th, 2011.  Action Environmental

Services (a leading provider of waste collection in Greenpoint), the Pistons members of Aviation High School's football team, GBA members and the community will be joining forces that day, sweeping the sidewalks and picking up trash.

  

We need Team Leaders on the day of the event to lead teams of 10-12 as they work their way through the neighborhood.  If you are a proud member of the community and want to ensure that Greenpoint honors its moniker as the garden spot, join us at an informational meeting, 7:30 PM on May 18th at Redstar, 37 Greenpoint Avenue, corner of West.  Please e-mail us at greenpointbiz@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to lead one of the teams, but are unable to make this meeting.

  

The members of the Greenpoint Business Alliance are proud of our neighborhood and are excited to work with other members of the community to keep Greenpoint clean!  We hope you will join us!!

GBA Monthly General Membership Meeting Monday, May 16

The next GBA monthly membership meeting is coming up:

Monday, May 16 @ 7:30 pm

37 Greenpoint Avenue, corner of West Street

Join the 86+ businesses of Greenpoint who are working together to support the community.

Agenda Highlights:

• Neighborhood Clean-Up
• GBA Members Directory/Magazine
• Update on Website Development
• More

Current members, prospective members - all are welcome to come together to share ideas and learn more about the exciting programs the GBA has planned for Greenpoint.

For more information: 718-383-3004

Brooklyn Forum on Small Business - May 26

Assemblyman Joe Lentol's Forum on Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship: Mapping the future of Brooklyn's small business.

May 26, 2011
9:30-11:00 am
Brooklyn Brewery
79 North 11th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Free Admission/Limited Seating

SBS Commissioner Robert Walsh
CEO of NYC Economic Development Corp. Seth Pinsky
Executive Director of EWVIDCO Leah Archibald
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carl Hum
Founding CEO of the Brooklyn Brewery Steve Hindy
Designer William Harvey

Reserve your seat by contacting:
Slava Rar
(518) 455-4477
rarr@assembly.state.ny.us

Minutes from the General Membership Meeting on April 18

Website:

• Beth Lewand (Eastern District) who is leading this project was unfortunately unable to attend however sent an update. The website, which will evolve from the current blog, is due to be launched in June.
• All members can list their businesses and should send their business descriptions to beth@easterndistrictny.com if not already done.

Magazine:

• The magazine is on track to be published at the end of June.
• All members are entitled to a free standard size ad - for an additional fee, upgrades to half/full pages is being considered.
• We are considering opening up advertising space to non-members for a premium fee.
• The timing of the magazine launch will coincide with the membership renewal timeline.

Neighborhood Clean-Up:

• Timing for neighborhood clean-up event is slated for June - June 5th; rain date of  June 12th 
• Eric Hall (RedStar) will coordinate with Automotive High School football team who will help out the day of the event.
• We need GBA members to volunteer to own and lead a zone/block within the clean-up area.
• Discussions are ongoing regarding whether to open this up to the wider community or not - key considerations are the ability to manage a large group of people and also ensuring adequate supplies (trash bags etc).
• Gina Zayas (Zayas Appliance) will contact Action Environmental to ask if they will assist by providing dumpsters/waste disposal.
• A proposal to get T-Shirts with GBA logo on the front and the logo of Action Environmental, or any other business providing significant sponsorship on the front, is being reviewed.

Future Projects/Initiatives:

• SBS grant requires that the GBA completes the fiscal year by surveying members for feedback on existing activities and ideas for future projects. Ed Veneziano (Cato’s Army & Navy) is working on the draft survey.
• Key projects on which feedback will be requested include the, the GBA Blog, Last Saturdays of Summer, Holiday Guide, Holiday Lights and fundraisers as well as upcoming website and magazine.
• GBA is considering the most effective means to launch a membership drive.
• Lily Peachin (Dandelion Wine) asked about plans for a street fair - this is subject to confirmation of the GBA’s 501c3 status. Following that it takes 60 days to file for a permit. Therefore, timing for any street fair would be fall onwards.
• The GBA will be incorporated ahead of receiving 501c3 status as additional due diligence is necessary to confirm that the GBA meets the IRS non-profit designation.  
• Lily agreed to think about ideas for potential events with a focus on increasing membership and fundraising.

Focus for Next Steering Committee (May 5th):

• Membership drive - all membership expires June 30th.
• Survey of past year's activities
• Discussion on preliminary agenda for new fiscal year
• Neighborhood clean-up

GBA Monthly General Membership Meeting Monday, April 18

The next GBA monthly membership meeting is coming up:

Monday, April 18 @ 7:30 pm

37 Greenpoint Avenue, corner of West Street

Join the 86+ businesses of Greenpoint who are working together to support the community.

Agenda Highlights:

• Neighborhood Clean-Up
• GBA Members Directory/Magazine
• Update on Website Development
• More

Current members, prospective members - all are welcome to come together to share ideas and learn more about the exciting programs the GBA has planned for Greenpoint.

For more information: 718-383-3004

An Invitation from Town Square to GO GREEN! GREENPOINT!

Town Square is delighted to invite members of the Greenpoint Business Alliance to participate in Town Square's 4th annual GO GREEN! GREENPOINT! Earth Day Festival on Saturday, April 30th (12N to 4 pm) in McCarren Park, Brooklyn. (Saturday, May 7th rain date)

Go Green! Greenpoint! is the only Earth Day festival in our exciting community of Greenpoint/Williamsburg. Go Green! Greenpoint! is a fun-filled, many-faceted event with educational displays, enviro-friendly merchandise, arts/crafts, health & wellness tips, gardening demos, children's activities, and more! At present count, we have more than 70 artists, artisans, crafters, companies, community groups, not-for-profits, schools, and government agencies coming to offer products, services, and/or information that will help us live a more green and sustainable way of life. Go Green! Greenpoint! is a cool, hip, family-friendly way to bring our community together to celebrate each other and the world we live in.

Go Green! Greenpoint! invites GBA members to take booths at the Earth Day festival to offer earth-friendly merchandise and/or services available in our local community. We expect a great turnout. In addition to the vendors and exhibitors, there will be children's activities and live music entertainment throughout the day. Our local elected officials will be stopping by. Town Square will be running art, science & writing contests for our local schools and children. Metro NY, our official media sponsor, is planning to run a contest to select Greenpoint's Greenest Company.

The vendor fee for GBA members is $45. The normal rate for businesses is $50. We had actually decided to cut the rate by 25% from the prior year's $75 fee in order to help our commercial neighbors in these challenging economic times. We would like to help our local GBA members further with an additional 10% discount, which brings the GBA rate to $45. We are also preparing a gift bag for the first 100 festival-goers; we will be happy to include coupons or gift certificates of our vendors and thereby, generate
traffic to your establishment at a date of your choice. We would also like to offer the opportunity to become a Local Sponsor for $100 (normally, sponsorship opportunities for our programs start at $2,500). The $100 includes the $45 GBA vendor rate. So for an additional $55, you could be listed as Local Sponsor in all our promo materials, including electronic poster, email blasts and event playbill. As you can see, we have already listed the GBA as a Local Sponsor on our poster.

A vendor form is available here: http://www.townsquareinc.com/105671/149904.html. If you would like to join Go Green! Greenpoint, please fill out the form (it is a word document and easy to fill out) and email it back to us. You can pay the vendor fee either by check or PayPal. Don't worry; you don't need a PayPal account to use this payment method. Please do not use the hyperlink. Rather, cut & paste the address into the URL and follow the instructions. It's very straightforward.

GBA Vendor Fee ($45):
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YCSM96DS3CGC4

Local Sponsor ($100):
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=QDGKXLVXTTRB2

Beth Tardalo will be your primary contact from Town Square. Please feel free to contact either of us if you need more information.

This will be the best Earth Day celebration yet!

Susan Anderson
Chairperson
Town Square
www.townsquareinc.com