Gabbing on Grand 1 July/August 2011

GABBING ON

GRAND July/August 2011

BI-MONTHLY

NEWSLETTER

FROM THE GRAND

AVENUE BUSINESS

ASSOCIATION

GABA's mission -

"To preserve

Grand Avenue's

unique

urban tradition

and hometown

character while

fostering

cooperative

relationships with

businesses,

government and

the community at

large."

Inside:

Grand Old Day

Note from the

President

GABA Committees

Paws on Grand

Brown Bag

Luncheons

Grand News

Thirsty Thursday

Happy Hour

Nice Ride

National Night

Out

Pedestrian

Safety Week

Board of

Directors

Mid-summer greetings. It

has been a beautiful sum-

mer thus far here on

Grand Avenue and I hope

that it is treating you well.

GABA staff and the Board

of Directors have been working diligently

since early spring on plans for this mem-

ber organization’s future. The process be-

gan by collecting feedback from you via

survey and phone calls and then went on

to the board level. All comments and feed-

back were grouped in what became three

common themes on what members want

from GABA: 1) Attract and keep more cus-

tomers on Grand Avenue, 2) Add value to

membership, and 3) Provide advocacy on

issues that impact Grand Avenue. We are

working on specific action-packed items

for each goal that will be part of our work

plan.

At the end of the day, we want to be ever-

improving, continually adding value to your

membership. I am confident that this plan-

ning process will produce positive change.

I will share more detail regarding the spe-

cific work that will be done this year after

August Board approval.

While I share this exciting

news of growth and

change, I must also regret-

fully share that Jaimee

Lucke Hendrikson has re-

signed from her position of

Program Director, after five

years of service to mem-

bers. She will be in the office through July

29th, but be certain that you will see her

and her family shopping, dining and taking

walks along her proclaimed ―favorite ave-

nue‖ in the months and years ahead.

Jaimee has been responsible for the tre-

mendous events that have driven aware-

ness to Grand Avenue to benefit business-

es. With her positive personality and pas-

sion for premiere events, her energies

have benefited all and will be sorely

missed.

Robin Ongaro,

Executive Director

Keys 4/4 Kids Awarded Best in Show Trophy

The 2011 Grand Old Day parade, presented by Green Mill,

featured over 70 community organizations and businesses

and was themed ―Hometown Heroes‖. The Best in Show

trophy was presented to Keys 4/4 Kids for their float featur-

ing 15 painted pianos being played by students from McNal-

ly Smith College of Music. The float highlighted Keys 4/4

Kids’ public art project, Pianos on Parade, which has pianos

transformed by local artists placed throughout St. Paul

neighborhoods this summer.

Stop by Keys 4/4 Kids, 1326 Grand, to say congratulations

and see the Best in Show trophy!

Letter from the Executive Director

Jaimee Lucke

Hendrikson

Robin Ongaro

Gabbing on Grand 2 July/August 2011

Grand Old Day 2011

Thank you to the businesses, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, neighbors & attendees

that helped to make Grand Old Day a success! The sun was out, attendance was

great, and thousands of guests enjoyed activities up and down the avenue.

Post event surveys were sent to participants who hosted booths ~ if you didn’t receive

a survey, and would like to send your feedback, please contact robin@grandave.com.

This information is being reviewed by the Board of Directors and will be considered as

changes are made for 2012.

GABA will be bringing back the Grand Old Day Committee—if you’re interested in being

involved in activities like coordinating volunteers, recruiting vendors/parade partici-

pants/non-profit partners, entertainment, parade theme and more, please call the of-

fice to sign up: 651-699-0029

Board member Shane

Montoya, helping with set-up Grand Country Stage Grand Old Day volunteers Koo Koo Kangaroo entertaining kids

of all ages at the Whole Foods stage

Grand Old Day Social Media

Grand Old Day sponsors, SMCpros, took the event’s Social Media to a whole new level! They developed a full so-

cial media marketing strategy for the three weeks leading up to the event and a secondary strategy for the day of

the festival.

These efforts resulted in:

- 296,000 impressions

- 9,875 pageviews

- Over 1,000 user actions

- Estimated 2.2 million impressions

- #GrandOldDay locally trends in the #3 position

GrandAve.com: During Grand Old Day, the official website saw nearly 20,000 visi-

tors. Over the course of 3 weeks, GrandAve.com saw over 56,000 visitors. Visitors

from mobile sites increased to 15,000.

To read the full SMCPros Grand Old Day Case Study, http://smcpros.com/case-studies/grand-old-day-2011/

To check out more Grand Old Day photos, visit the Grand Old Day Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/Grand.Old.Day.mn

Photos by Lou Michaels

Gabbing on Grand 3 July/August 2011

Join a GABA Committee GABA's Board of Directors invites members in good standing to participate in the Association’s committees. We know

that the Avenue is brimming over with business leaders with great ideas and enthusiasm to continue to improve Grand

Avenue. Committee involvement increases your knowledge via interaction with other knowledgeable individuals, in-

creases your contacts, and provides an opportunity to impact what happens or doesn't happen on Grand.

ADVCOCACY COMMITTEE: Ensures that our collective business voice is heard by decision-makers on topics

important to Grand Avenue, such as parking and property taxes. Meetings are held at 9 a.m. on the second

Tuesday of the month in the GABA conference room.

Advocacy Committee Members:

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: Involved with all aspects of membership recruitment and retention, with a mission

to add more value to membership via education, improved website, networking opportunities, discounts, etc.

Meetings are held at 9 a.m. on the first Tuesday of the month in the GABA conference room.

Membership Committee Members:

PROMOTIONS & EVENTS COMMITEE: This committee will work with staff to develop, plan and evaluate annual

promotions and events. This will include long-range planning, the event calendar, event coordination and post-

event evaluation. Meetings are held at 9 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month at the GABA conference

room.

Promotions & Events Committee Members:

For more information or to join one of these committees, contact Robin at 651-699-0029 or robin@grandave.com.

Beverly Brending, Brending Electrolysis, Inc.

Elizabeth Norton Cermak, Cooks of Crocus Hill

Jim Fritz, The Wedding Shoppe, Inc.

Lou Michaels, Lou The Photo Guy

Greg Roedler. Baby Grand

Steve Matysik, Macalester Groveland Comm. Council

Sarah Paul, Pizza Luce

Nathon Park, US Bank

Chad Skally, Live Green Apartments

Nick Stoffel, Lloyd’s Automotive

Tim Carroll, The Villager

Emily Darling, Coulee Bank

Lisa Erickson, Summit Hill Association

Jen Finger, Whole Foods Market

Abby Geisler, Dixie’s on Grand

Gary Huffman. Grand Ole Creamery

Tom Johnson, A. Johnson & Sons Florist

Sue Katsiotis, Creative Kidstuff

Darya Lucas, Baby Banou

Shane Montoya, The Odd Couple Team/Keller Williams

Kay Norbury, The UPS Store

Eric Samshal, BankCherokee

Kelsey Shanesy, Keys 4/4 Kids

Tim O’Phelan, The Lexington

Patti Winger, Lillians on Grand

Note from the President

Summer is here and things at the Association are in overdrive:

The board and staff are working on updating our mission statement and work priorities.

We have a new Events committee.

Our committees are now open to any member to participate in (see below for more information

about how to get involved).

A new, more powerful, website is under development to bring more customers to your businesses.

I look forward to the work we will be doing this summer and fall as our Association continues to grow and evolve.

Please keep your eye on future emails from the Association as these projects move forward. As always, give me a

call if anything comes up: 651-280-4423.

Chad Skally, President, Grand Avenue Business Association

Gabbing on Grand 4 July/August 2011

Paws on Grand 2011

Grand Avenue is gearing up for the 6th annual Paws on

Grand on Sunday, August 7! The day includes great sales

and happenings all along the avenue, the involvement of

12 pet rescue partners, a new PawsPort with the oppor-

tunity to enter to win prizes, and a pet food collection to

benefit The Pet Project.

Our pet rescue partners will participate with booths along

the Avenue, sharing information about their work, how to

become involved, animal adoption and activities like

games, a dog wash, photo opportunities, kissing booths

and more!

The Pet Project, an organization providing assistance to

pet owners who are struggling financially, has a goal of

collecting 5000 lbs of pet food during the event. Many

Grand Avenue businesses have rallied behind this goal

and will be collecting unopened bags of pet food from July

31-August 7. Solid Gold Pet Food is matching donations up

to 500 lbs!

The Pet Project will also be offering a PawsPort to the first

150 guests who make a donation of $10 or more. The

PawsPort encourages guests to visit locations all along the

Avenue to receive giveaways and incentives. Once they

have completed the PawsPort, it can be entered into a

drawing for prizes, including a weekend stay at Gunflint

Lodge during their Dog Lover’s Weekend!

For a full listing of activities visit grandave.com

GABA Professional Development: Brown Bag Lunches

Pack a lunch and join us for professional development during GABA's new monthly luncheons. We’re getting things

started with a two part series on Social Media presented by BreAnna Fisher from SMCPros.

Brown Bag Lunches will be Noon-1pm at US Bank, 1071 Grand Avenue.

Free to attend for Members. $10 per person for Non-Members. Please RSVP to info@grandave.com ~ please share

this invite with your co-workers and colleagues!

Save the Date for November 16 when our topic will be Property Taxes

Wednesday, September 21 / Social Media: Why is it Important for Our Business?

Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter. You've been hearing about it everywhere but what you've learned so far seems basic.

You're not sure you're doing everything you should be and just want to figure out whether these services can take

your business to a new level. Stop trying to "figure it out" on you're own and join us to find out the answer.

Thursday, October 13 / Social Media Terrorism

UrbanDictionary.com defines Social Media Terrorism as: The use of social media tools by individuals to cause dam-

age thru bad behavior, P.R., lies, half-truths, rumors, etc. to a company's brand or product. The effect is terror and

distraction to the brand's core IP. Find out how to be prepared to respond to these attacks on your business and to

have your crisis plan in place.

Gabbing on Grand 5 July/August 2011

New Openings: Toppers Pizza, 1154 Grand—Coming Soon

Gent Cuts & Grooming, 867 Grand

Shoesters, has moved from 917 Grand to 1062 Grand

Congratulations: A. Johnson & Sons Florist, 1738 Grand, is celebrating

75 years in business.

Welcome New Members: Aria TEA BAR

Avenue I.T.: Computer Service, Support @ Sales

Bombshell

Brending Electrolysis, Inc.

Coulee Bank

Health Quest Chiropractic & Sports Clinic

House Calls Technologies Inc.

India House

Indochin

J. Anderson Design

Khyber Pass Cafe

Lou, The Photo Guy

New Life Contracting, Inc.

Signal Garage Auto Care

SMC Pros

The Lexington Restaurant

Grand News!

William Skally Golf Tournament The 4th Annual William Skally Charity Events will be held

on Tuesday, September 13, 2011 at Prestwick Golf

Course in Woodbury. E vents include a golf tournament

from 1pm to 4pm and a silent auction and dinner/dance

from 5pm to 8pm. To participate or donate items to the

auction, please visit: www.ochealthcenter.com/skally.asp

Thirsty Thursday

GABA Happy Hour

Thursday, August 11

5:00-7:00pm

Green Mill, 1342 Grand Avenue

Wrap up your day with a GABA Happy Hour at Green

Mill while connecting with members of GABA,

Highland Business Association and Visit Saint Paul!

-----------------------------------------------------------

Please RSVP to info@grandave.com.

Invite a guest ~ your co-workers, employees and

neighboring businesses!

Look who’s talking about Grand Avenue! One of the tremendous benefits of Grand Old Day is the

media exposure it provides for our Avenue. In the

month leading up to Grand Old Day, stories about the

avenue appeared in/on:

89.3 The Current — CITIES 97 — City Pages — Downtown

Journal — Duluth News Tribune — FOX9 — KARE 11 —

KSTC — KSTP — METRO Magazine — Minneapolis Inner

Life Magazine — Minnesota Daily — Minnesota Public

Radio — MN Good Age — MN Monthly — MN Parent —

Mpls. St. Paul Magazine — Pioneer Press — Southwest

Journal — St. Cloud Times — Star Tribune — The Onion —

The Villager — Vita.mn — WCCO — WCCO Radio

...plus numerous blogs and online event listings!

The Advertising equivalent of these media

placements is valued at over $101,000!

Nice Ride Comes To St. Paul

Nice Ride bike sharing service has expanded into St. Paul and there is a new station located

on Grand Avenue near Macalester College. Nice Ride is a non-profit organization, and any-

one can become a subscriber. With a Nice Ride subscription, you can take a bike when you

need one, and return it to any station in the system when you arrive at your destination. The

current expansion brings the number of Nice Ride stations to in the Twin Cities to 113 with a

fleet of 1,200 bikes.

For more information about Nice Ride’s expansion to St. Paul, check out this video from the

City of St. Paul: http://youtu.be/MkhRtJMCBho

You can learn more about Nice Ride here https://www.niceridemn.org/

Gabbing on Grand 6 July/August 2011

National Night Out—August 2 from Diane Hilden, Summit Hill Association National Night Out (NNO) is Tuesday, August 2nd. It will

be celebrated throughout the Summit Hill neighborhood

as well as nationwide by informal gatherings of neighbors

who use this day to declare to criminals that criminal ac-

tivity will not be tolerated !

Summit Hill residents will be gathering in front of their

homes with their neighbors enjoying treats, potlucks,

games and camaraderie. Police and firefighters often

stop by to visit these informal events. Neighborhood con-

versations about safety and crime prevention will help to

strengthen the resolve of this community to deter crime

by practicing crime prevention practices.

Our Grand Avenue business

community neighbors are

invited to stop by a gathering

in their area. Together we

can all make Summit Hill a

safer place in which to live

and work.

Executive Committee:

President: Chad Skally, Live Green Apartments, 298-1188

Vice President: Paul Dzubnar, Green Mill, 698-0353

Treasurer: Kathy Brudevold, Sevenich, Butler, Gerlach &

Brazil, Ltd, 690-1040

Secretary: Jim Fritz, The Wedding Shoppe, Inc. 298-1144

Directors:

Node V – Cretin to Snelling

Jen Finger, Whole Foods Market, 690-0197

Node IV – Snelling to Lexington

Tim O’Phelan, The Lexington, 222-5878

Greg Roedler, Baby Grand, 224-4414

Node III – Lexington to Milton

Nathon Park, US Bank, 229-6123

Nick Stoffel, Lloyd’s Automotive, 228-1316

Node II – Milton to Avon

Elizabeth Norton Cermak, Cooks of Crocus Hill, 228-1333

Eric Samshal BankCherokee, 292-9200

Node I – Avon to West Seventh

Abby Geisler, Dixie’s on Grand, 222-7345

Brian Muller, Edward Jones, 224-3072

At Large

Shane Montoya, The Odd Couple Team/Keller Williams Realty,

492-6423

Sarah Paul, Pizza Luce, 288-0186

Community Representatives

Steve Matysik, Macalester-Groveland Community Council,

699-4937

Lisa Erickson, Summit Hill Association, 222-1222

Staff:

Robin Ongaro, Executive Director

Jaimee Lucke Hendrikson, Program Director

GABA B OARD OF D IRECTORS AND S TAFF

All board of directors are volunteers to their positions. If you

are interested in joining the board or have questions about

GABA, please contact the GABA office at 651-699-0029 or

contact any of the above members.

Grand Avenue Business Association - 649 Grand Avenue - St. Paul, MN 55105 - 651-699-0029