long branch newsletter june 2016 final
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Volume 9
Supported by:
Long Branch Business League Issue 4 June 2016 Long Branch Business League
Join the Business League
Over the last four years the Long Branch Business League, with its Dis-cover Long Branch! initiative, has gradually built a more exciting im-age for Long Branch commerce. We brought the community the suc-cessful Super-Block Party last May; we started a Salsa Night series this September and we have helped install art work.
What is more, the Business League's newsletter keeps you up-to-date on important events, local business news, and business tips.
What are the benefits to you of membership? Preferred access to store design improvements Assistance with marketing and business planning Help with Enterprise Zone tax credit applications Greater visibility in business league marketing materials
And with big changes coming to our area because of the Purple Line, now more than ever we need to stand together to make sure all of us benefit from the expanded customer base the Purple Line will bring.
Making Long Branch successful for everyone.
IN THIS ISSUE
Cinco de Mayo
Page 1
LEDC apoya a Long Branch
Page 2
Rainbow: First Place in U.S.!
Page 2
A Fond Farewell
Page 2
Flowers for Long Branch
Page 3
Resources
Page 4
Resources:
Small Business Development Center
SBDC provides counseling and classes. Coun-
selors speak Spanish and other languages.
301-403-0501x11
7100 Baltimore Ave, Suite 303,
College Park, MD 20740
Enterprise Zone Tax Credit Program
Access to County tax credits for real estate
improvements and employee hiring.
Mr. Pete McGinnity
240-777-8126
Montgomery County Council
240-777-7900
Department of Permitting
Responsible for all permits to make property
improvements and signage.
permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov
240-777-0311
DED’s Small & Minority Business Empowerment
Resources and training for small businesses.
Judith Stephenson
240-777-2012
Montgomery County Police
Non-emergency dispatch for Long Branch:
301 279-8000
All emergencies: 911
Montgomery County (All other services)
For all Montgomery County services there
is now a single number you can call, this
includes bulk trash pickup
(5 requests annually)
311 (English)
311 + 1 (Español)
Department of Liquor Control
DLC licenses and regulates businesses that
sell alcohol, and provides education and
assistance to businesses and their
employees.
Emily DeTitta
240-777-1904
Business League June Gathering
Wednesday, June 1 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. El Golfo Restaurant, 8739 Flower Ave.
Remember: Business League Meetings now held on Wednesdays! Long Branch Business News, a monthly publication , Paul Grenier, Editor 301-622-2400, x 41 [email protected]
into a decidedly hip public square, filled
with small tables, movable chairs and
smiling faces.
The parking lot became the site of Long
Branch’s first Cinco de Mayo
celebration.
Food and drink was provided by the nearby restaurants. The crowd-pleasing
Cinco de Mayo: A Long Branch Tradition is Born
Carlos Perozo, President Long Branch Business League [email protected]. 301-587-4829 or 301 812-4141
See Cinco de Mayo, p. 3
Long Branch residents want outdoor
gathering places and outdoor events,
according to resident surveys and work-
shops.
On Cinco de Mayo (May 5th ), they got
both.
For three hours that Thursday after-noon, a large slice of the parking lot
along Flower Avenue was transformed
Rainbow Laundry Wins
First Place for WAU at
Nationals!
Enactus, Washington Adventist
University’s Business School
student entrepreneurship program,
won first place in the national “Step
Up for Business Competition.”
Enactus won the first place award
for their unique tutoring programs
held each Wednesday at 5 P.M. at
Rainbow Laundry.
The award is given by Sam’s Club and provides a $5,000 check and
trophy, with $2,000 to Rainbow.
Congratulations to the WAU
students, their leader Prof. Kim
Pichot, and to Nok Kim, owner of
Rainbow Laundry!
NOTE: In order to continue the
tutoring throughout the summer
months, Mr. Kim is actively seeking
volunteer tutors. He can be
contacted at: (703) 624-1980 or visit
the store at 8735 Flower Ave.
A Fond Farewell
Kim Pichot, the WAU business
professor who has been such a
valuable consultant to Long Branch
businesses for several years, is
leaving the area to take a teaching position at Andrews University
business school in Michigan.
Pichot, who recently completed her
Ph.D. in business, has been the
force behind several imaginative
and successful small business
programs in Long Branch.
In the News
3
DiscoverLongBranch.com DiscoverLongBranch.com
Outdoor Plaza Event a Great Success and ‘Mucho Fun’ LEDC: Apoya a comerciantes con el espíritu
emprendedor Cuando Isis Salmeron habló en la reunión de la
Liga de Negocios de Long Branch el 2 de marzo,
inmediatamente hizo muy claro que ella entien-
de qué es muy difícil para las pequeñas
empresas obtener el capital necesario.
Bancos comerciales, dijo Salmeron, hacen muy
difícil el poder obtener préstamos bancarios hoy en día. “Los requisitos se han vuelto muy
estrictos.”
Sin embargo, LEDC no es un banco comercial.
Es una organización sin fines de lucro que
provee asistencia técnica gratuita y también
ofrece préstamos para negocios. Su meta es
servir a pequeñas empresas que tienen dificulta-
des con conseguir préstamos en otros lados.
A diferencia de bancos comerciales,
LEDC ofrece préstamos de una
forma más personal.
“La cosa más importante para nosotros es ver [que el dueño] tiene un espíritu
emprendedor, junto con un conocimiento de la industria,” dijo Salmeron.
Si un prestatario potencial tiene un buen “carácter,” ella dijo, incluso una bancarrota previa puede ser aceptable.
LEDC no tiene un requerimiento mínimo en términos de calificación de crédito,
pero este si puede afectar la tasa del interés. También hay un requisito de
colateral (así como vehículos pagados o bienes financieros).
Las tasas de intereses varían del 8% al 14%.
El préstamo promedio de LEDC es de $15,000, aunque el mínimo que ofrecen
es de $5,000 y el máximo es de $50,000.
El presidente de la Liga de Negocios de Long Branch, Carlos Perozo, en una
reunión con organizaciones sin fines de lucro del área, elogió la experiencia de su
empresa ZP Tax con LEDC.
“Me ayudaron a entender qué cambios necesitaba hacer- digo, aparte del
préstamo, para mejorar mi negocio. Ellos fueron fantásticos,” dijo él.
Nota: LEDC tiene un centro de atención técnica cerca de Long Branch en
Wheaton en 11002 Veirs Mill Rd, Suite 503.
Contacte a Ms. Isis Salmeron al 202 540-7430 o al [email protected].
band In the Meantime performed songs in Spanish and English.
The weird May weather added some unexpected
drama. At 5 p.m., it started to rain. Disaster! After a
few minutes, though, the rain turned to drizzle and
then stopped for good. But the air temperature remained unseasonably cool.
El Golfo’s Ada Villatoro served hot food throughout
the event and did a brisk business. Participants were
enthusiastic despite the chill. Throughout the event
about 150 people stopped by.
“Everyone passing by stopped to see what was going
on and became part of the celebration even for a few
minutes,” Ada said. “I strongly think that people in
Cinco de Mayo, from page 1
Who Buys Long Branch Flowers?
Long Branch are ready to have events like this.”
Couples of varied ages got up and danced as El Gavilan’s
staff kept busy providing drinks. In keeping with the Cinco
de Mayo theme, Tequila was the favorite.
At one point an instructor, after first plugging her iPad into
the sound system, started a Zumba class. A few brave souls
joined in. A Newsletter writer who struggled -- mostly in vain -- to perform the Zumba moves declared he found the
process invigorating.
Hernandez Insurance’s Pedro Hernandez set up a table and
distributed small gifts and information about his business,
located inside near-by Cyber Latino computer store.
“It’s a great way for people in the community to come out
and enjoy other cultures,” Pedro said. Such events, he said,
do more than just promote businesses and communities: “They bring people’s minds and hearts
together, tearing down barriers such as color
and race, even for a moment.”
Concluded Business League secretary Art Cobb: “It was a
great success and mucho fun.”
Cinco de Mayo was sponsored and developed by Discover Long Branch! a project of the Long Branch Business League and MHP, along with other community partners such as C.H.E.E.R, which provided the Zumba instructor. Special thanks to John Angel, El Gavilan’s manager, who conceived of the event, and to staff and owners of El Golfo and El Gavilan restaurants who collaborated
Isis Salmeron es la encargada
de los préstamos para
pequeñas empresas para
LEDC.
Flowers are going up again this May along Flower
Avenue, just as they have for the past three
summers.
But did you know that these flowers are purchased
by the Long Branch Business League, in other
words, by your fellow businesses and neighbors?
Yet another reason to join the Business
League during our June sign-up season!
She has played a particularly important role in assisting Rain-
bow Laundry. Pichot was the source of Rainbow’s highly-
successful, and now nationally-known tutoring programs for
children and adults. It was also Prof. Pichot who came up
with the idea of colorfully repainting the Laundry’s interior —
and did the painting herself!
Pichot, who has family in the DC area, told the Newsletter she hopes, over the coming year, to keep in touch with Long
Branch businesses and her several ongoing programs here.
Farewell, from p. 2
See Farewell, p. 3