Closet Tailors is the Small Business of the Month

The Small Business of the Month for the month of February is Closet Tailors of Asheville located on Stratford Road in Asheville. Closet Tailors opened for business in 2007 and has grown to four full-time employees.

Closet Tailors provides custom design and installation services for both residential and commercial clients. Closets, garages, basements, laundry rooms, pantries, and offices are some of the spaces where a custom storage solution can be applied. In the commercial arena Closet Tailors provides custom casework for any area that requires the efficient use of workspace.

The company supports a number of community organizations including Rotary, the School Board, and the Chamber of Commerce through the Chamber Ambassador Program.

Cut Cost Without Cutting Your Lifeline

Here is an introduction from Tech Journal South's Seven Ways to Cut Costs Without Cutting Your Lifeline. Although the article was written with Tech companies in mind the principles could certainly be applied to almost any company.

Seven Ways to Cut Cost Without Cutting Your Lifeline
January 29, 2009
By Lorraine Haataia, Ph.D.
When the global economy is in a recession, all companies – from Fortune 500s to small, family-owned businesses – suffer. And some of the weakest ones become casualties, leaving their employees without jobs, and losing customers to their competitors.

During these tough times, owners, executives and managers often make decisions about jobs, resources and facilities they think they can do without, and then they cut.

But this isn’t necessarily the best answer. The truth is, excess waste accumulates in all of these areas during prosperous times. When managers don’t have to worry about the pennies, the company can quickly begin to leak dollars. And it can easily go unnoticed for months and even years.

Read the full article at:
http://www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=6827

Meet Jonas Gerard!

Meet Chamber member abstract artist Jonas Gerard! Visit him in his studio on Clingman down in the River Arts District.



Jonas has a wonderful piece in the visitor center here at the Chamber here is a photo of it:

Grove Arcade becomes the Groove Arcade with First Fridays!

One of the classic spots of Asheville is about to get a little bit more fun on Friday nights! Check out what the Grove Arcade has in store:

Groove Arcade Launches First Friday Series:
Combat the Winter Blues with Motown Music, Great Food and Drinks

The Merchants Association of downtown Asheville’s historic Grove Arcade, a.k.a. the Groove Arcade, will kick off a new evening event – First Friday – featuring music, food and drinks that will transport you to Coney Island and take you back in time. First Friday will debut on Friday, February 6, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. with additional events taking place on March 6 and April 3.

In February, First Friday will feature Motown music from Steve Davidowski & Friends, wine and beer from Santé, cherry cokes and root beer floats from Red Bike, chili dogs from Cats and Dawgs, frozen treats from Kamm’s Custard, Coney Island Iced Teas from Carmel’s, pizza from True Confections and much more. It’s going to be a real party. So grab your friends and head downtown to boogie the winter blues away!

The First Friday events are being organized by the merchants and management of the Grove Arcade but have attracted interest and involvement across downtown. “As small, independent merchants, this sort of event presents logistical problems including having enough people to actually make sure the evenings come off,” explains Donna Wright of Jazzy Giraffe. “We sent out an email to downtown residents asking for volunteers and have been astounded at the response. It makes our downtown a great place to do business.”

The Grove Arcade is located at One Page Avenue at the heart of the Battery Hill neighborhood in downtown Asheville and offers unique shopping and exciting dining in one of Asheville’s architectural jewels. Parking is available a short walk away in the Wall Street, Rankin and Civic Center garages as well as on the street. Directions to the garages and the Grove Arcade can be accessed www.GroveArcade.com. For additional information, call 828.252.7799.

Touring the new downtown venue, The Venue

We had the opportunity to walk through a new downtown event facility, The Venue. The Venue is located on Market Street across the street from Vincenzo's. The Venue will be downtown's largest event center, at least that I can think of! It will ultimately have three separate (but can be joined) rooms, available for functions, the facility can host 800 people. The upstairs has one of the best balconies in town, downstairs has a great original art deco tile flooring and the middle level feature huge windows looking North towards Mellow Mushroom.

Check out the artist renderings at thevenueasheville.biz

Here are some photos from todays walk through:

Girl Scout Cookies are here!

How can you say no to Girl Scout Cookies? A few weeks ago one of my fellow Chamber staff member's daughter made the rounds. Even though I had already bought way too many boxes from my niece, I couldn't find it in me to say no.

Here come the cookies!

Here is an press release excerpt from the Girl Scouts of Western North Carolina Pisgah Council:
“When you buy a box of Girl Scout Cookies, you know you are getting a great tasting product and you are supporting the premier leadership program for girls,” Molly Keeney, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Western North Carolina Pisgah Council said. “Like all Girl Scout programs, cookie sale activities are girl-driven. Girls make their own decisions and run the sale with the help of adult volunteers. Cookies are one of the reasons why Girl Scouting is so successful at building leadership.”

Girl Scout Cookies are sold door to door in western North Carolina from Friday, Jan. 2 through Saturday, Feb. 14. Through the spring, Girl Scout troops will be selling cookies at booths set up in areas such as department stores and shopping centers. If you wish to purchase cookies and have not been called on by Feb. 1, look for cookie booths in your community (posted on the council’s Web site at www.girlscoutswnc.org) or call Girl Scouts of Western North Carolina Pisgah Council toll-free at 800-522-6280 to be connected with a local troop.

Girl Scout Cookies have long been a major fund-raiser for girls and their troops across the region, and is an integral part of Girl Scouting’s business and economic literacy initiative for girls ages 5-17. The program provides finance, marketing and public speaking skills as well as valuable experiences that develop girls’ personal leadership style.

Through the Girl Scout Cookie Sale Program, girls manage inventory, set goals, learn money management and develop marketing skills. For more information on Girl Scout Cookies, visit our website at girlscoutswnc.org or call us Tamara Blankenship at 800-522-6280.

Destination Center Lands Gold LEED Certification

The Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center has earned the gold LEED certification. The Destination Center on the parkway is a great interactive center located near the Parkway Headquarters in East Asheville. If you haven't been it is well worth the visit.

Here is an excerpt from the article on GreenBuildings.com:
The Destination Center for the Blue Ridge Parkway has attained LEED Gold status in a rating that acknowledges the building's design exceeds the standard for high energy efficiency.

The Blue Ridge Parkway, which celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2010, stretches for 469 miles between the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. The Parkway Destination Center is in Asheville, N.C.

In certifying the Destination Center's compliance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards at Gold level, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the maximum 10 points for energy efficiency.

The USGBC also awarded an additional point for besting the 60 percent standard for energy savings: The project tracked a 75 percent improvement when compared with performance for a comparable conventional building, according to Lord, Aeck & Sargent, the architecture firm that designed the center.

The center, completed in January 2008, includes a 10,000-square-foot green roof that was seeded with drought-tolerant native plants, hydronic radiant-heated flooring, a high-efficiency HVAC system with an energy recovery unit and daylight harvesting with a lighting system that is expected to reduce lighting loads by 78 percent.

Among the more visually striking features are the 13 passive solar Trombe walls that stand in a sawtooth formation on the south facade.


Read the full story at: http://greenerbuildings.com/news/2009/01/13/blue-ridge-parkway