What do you want?

All of our communities need money. There's no question about that. But, here is something that I think we should examine a little closer: what do you want the money for?

There is no doubt that fundraising is an important part of any Main Street revitalization effort, but without a specific idea of what the money should be used for, fundraising becomes difficult and pointless. Accordingly, I am drawing up a list of potential uses for money in all of the communities that I work in. If you have any thoughts on what money could be used for along Main Street, I'd love to hear them. Please leave a comment here or E-mail me at MichaelSchlossberg@gmail.com.

Promotional Plans

One of the things that the BBRP has really been working on of late is promotions. Obviously, we want to work to promote Main Streets as much as possible, be it through brochures like the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Restaurant Guide, the Macungie Murder Mystery or the creation of the BBRP Event Guide.

Well, there is one item that we have been working on of late is the development of a Promotional Plan in each community. It's actually a really simple idea that can be really useful when it comes to promoting your communities.

The basic idea here is that every community already has a slew of events. Think about your home for a second - how easy is it to think of game nights, festivals and parades that your community has? Well, if your community already has established events, why try to reinvent the wheel? Here's the basics of a promotional plan:

1) Assemble a list of public events in your community.
2) Identify which events your organization may want to work it.
3) Contact the organizers of these events and offer your assistance.

One point here to stress: I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, encouraging a group to try to TAKE OVER an event run by another organization. I am just saying that it may be useful to offer your assistance. One of the things that I've found is that our revitalization committees can be very useful in terms of organizing an event, recruiting volunteers and attracting media attention. Make sure that you emphasize these points when you reach out to a group that runs an event.

$5,000 for the Facade Program in Coopersburg

On March 5, we had a check presentation with State Representative Karen Beyer of the 131st Legislative District. Representative Beyer was kind enough to give our Facade Program a grant of $5,000, and we are incredibly appreciative of her support of our program.

The picture, from left to right, is Councilman David Novak, myself, Representative Beyer, and Coopersburg Mayor Johnathan Mack.

Once again, thank you Representative Beyer!

Coopersburg: Working with the Borough

In an effort to make it easier for businesses to come to our Boroughs, the BBRP has created a Working with the Borough guide. The guide lists contact information of important people within the Borough, Zoning and Permit requirements and has a checklist of steps to take to form a business within the Borough. I am working on this guide for all four of my Boroughs. So far, I have one completed in Coopersburg. For the link, click here. A special thanks to Coopersburg Borough Councilman David Novak for putting it on their website.

Facade Program: The Interest So Far

Well, yesterday I did my final Facade Program Educational Seminar in Hellertown. Like the rest, it went well. I just had an interesting fact to share with you all. Including people who have called, E-mailed, sent in their applications or attended the seminars, there is a total of 55 interested property/business owners who have expressed an interest in going through the Facade Program. That's an amazing number by any stretch of the imagination.

Here's my favorite part of that statistic. In Alburtis, there are only about 70 or so eligible properties/businesses. Amazingly, 19 property owners are from Alburtis. That's more than 25% of the total eligible area!

So far, I couldn't be happier.

For those of you in Bangor, Bath, Catasauqua, North Catasauqua and Wilson, your seminars will be in April.

Stay tuned!

Running for a good cause

Three entries in two days - a new record!

Anyways, the Coopersburg Business Revitalization Program is pleased to announce that their 2nd annual 5K run is ready for registrants! The run benefits the CBRP and the Make-a-Wish foundation. The cost is $25 to register, and remember, all money goes to a great cause.

Click here for more info.

The Great Lehigh County Cleanup

One of the key components of Downtown Revitalization is ensuring that your community is a clean place to be. After all, who would possibly want to shop in a community that is in bad physical condition and where there is more liter than people?

To that end, Pennsylvania is sponsoring The Great Pennsylvania Cleanup. Lehigh County is jumping in on the event. It will take place on Saturday, April 19. Last year, many communities participated, including Macungie from the BBRP. This year, many more are expected. To summarize, the Cleanup is a statewide effort to remove litter and trash from our communities.

Locally interested individuals can contact me and click here for more info.

Happy cleaning!

Event Guide for Communities

Hey everyone,

So, here's the latest brain child of the Borough Business Revitalization Program. We've created an Event Guide. The basic goal of it is to provide our communities with a variety of different ways to promote their communities: fundraisers, activites, image building, the works. If you want to download it, just click on the link.

UPDATE: Lehigh County has uploaded the grant to their website. The links have been adjusted accordingly. Thank you, Lehigh!