MOSAIC COMMUNITY Gardens STAY BEEZY!‏

Happy SNOW DAYS!

But believe it or not, we are already planning for our best GARDEN season yet!

Pretty soon, we will trade in our snow gloves for gardening gloves, so GET READY!

Community Garden Member Applications are NOW being Accepted!

We are now accepting applications for the 2016 growing season!  Everyone is welcome to join us this season at the Mosaic Community Gardens – a safe place for the entire family to grow, learn, share and play!

For your annual one-time contribution, Mosaic will supply all of the tools, seeds, plants, dirt and water you need to grow yourself a fantastic garden!  The first planting weekend is set for Saturday, May 14 – 15.  We will prepare to plant, dig-in and enjoy ourselves the entire weekend!  All are welcome to put down some roots with MOSAIC!

Please visit us on the web at www.mosaicclt.org or send an email to mosaicclt@gmail.com to sign up!

MOSAIC Makes a Statement-So Can You!

MOSAIC Community Gardens have an all-new logo! Help us spread the word, plant the seed and change our neighborhood by purchasing a T-shirt for $16 (front and back printed in sizes for the whole family), tote bag, magnet or button displaying the MOSAIC logo. Contact Mary-Beth Bacallao at flyeredup8831@gmail.com or Laura Washington at wash5000@msn.com to get your goods today!

 

We also have the following items for sale:

Standard size reusable tote bags $10 and Jumbo size reusable tote bags $15 Mugs – $10 Magnets – $10 Buttons – $6

Do You Want to Build A… Garden?

MOSAIC will present “How to Design, Plan and Start a Home Garden” at Pottstown Library in late February. Please check back for date and time and details and join Tracy Purdy, our star intern, to think Spring and plan your home garden!

Thank You!

Pine Hill Farms and the Heylmun Family supported MOSAIC Community Land Trust through our annual Christmas Tree Sale and Home Garden Contest! Thank you to the Heylmuns and everyone who purchased a tree and donated to MOSAIC. We appreciate the support of the Heylmun family year after year.

Painting with a Purpose

Jackson Pollock your hero? Renoir make your heart race? Join MOSAIC and ArtFusion on Saturday, February 13! From 7-9 PM, you can let your inner Picasso shine for a good cause! BYOB and snacks, and maybe a smock or two in case you’re inspired to do some abstract art on yourself! $20 per ticket or $35 per two ticket purchase. Proceeds to benefit Mosaic/ArtFusion summer programming.

Register online at http://www.artfusion19464.org or at ArtFusion, 254 E. High Street, Pottstown. Hope to see you there!

TEENAGERS WELCOME!

Beginning February 18, from 6 to 8 PM, MOSAIC will partner with ArtFusion, STRIVE, Olivet Boys and Girls Club to present My Voice, a 12-week program for teens. Healthy meal preps, art journaling, music and theatre workshops will be provided. Through fun, interactive experiences, My Voice will increase the involvement of young people in their community by asking them to visually articulate their ideal community, resulting in a visual art canvas, short film and relevant artistic renditions that define and embody the voice of young peoples’ dreams for Pottstown. This program is graciously sponsored in part by Olivet Boys and Girls Club.

On the 18th, an information session will be held prior to the workshop for parents and youth alike.  A warm meal will be prepared and served by the entire group!

 Please contact ArtFusion at (610) 326-2506 to register.

Together we are stronger—one community, many voices!

Amazon Smile – An Easy Way to Give and Get!

AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to your favorite charitable organization.  MOSAIC CLT is now available as your charitable organization on Amazon Smile! The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. The purchase price is the amount paid for the item minus any rebates and excluding shipping & handling, gift-wrapping fees, taxes, or service charges. For more information, please go to

ttp://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_aas_redirect?ie=UTF8&qid=1453292501&ref=spkl_3_1_2279808142

Lancaster City Alliance Economic Development Plan Looks At Whole City

The Lancaster City Alliance wants to see $1 billion in private investment in the city over the next 15 years.

It’s one of the many goals — both specific and broad — of the economic development strategic plan the alliance put together to foster the city’s growth over the next 10-15 years.

The plan will be released to the public Thursday evening at the Ware Center.

Bob Shoemaker, Alliance president, and Marshall Snively, its executive vice president, talked with LNP’s editorial board about the year-long process on Thursday.

Read more:

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-city-alliance-economic-development-plan-looks-at-whole-city/article_6698547a-0bc7-11e5-b611-8b51c7e97c34.html

Royal Square Development Scores More Stores For Downtown York City

It isn’t supposed to be official yet, but a map of the Royal Square district in downtown York includes four new businesses expected to open later this year.

The map of the district was being distributed Sunday at district businesses during the annual Olde York Street Fair.

Dylan Bauer, the vice president of real estate development for the company, said the maps were not supposed to be released yet, but that he would soon be able to comment on the new businesses.

Read more:

http://www.ydr.com/local/ci_28089775/royal-square-development-scores-more-stores-downtown-york

York City’s West End Gets New Name

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting York County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There’s a new brand in town.

York City’s west end has been given the nickname “Weco,” which is short for “west of the Codorus.”

Weco includes the four-block area bordered by the Codorus, Penn Street, and West Market and West Philadelphia streets.

It’s the latest marketing effort from Downtown Inc, a York-based nonprofit tasked with supporting downtown businesses.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/breaking/ci_26146271/york-citys-west-end-gets-new-name

RadioShack Corp. To Close 1,100 Stores, Company Reports

English: A Radio Shack store in the Plaza Caracol shopping center on Boulevard Francisco Medina Ascensio in the city of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

RadioShack Corp. said it plans to close up to 1,100 stores in the U.S. and reported a wider quarterly loss after a disappointing holiday season.

Its stock tumbled 24 percent in premarket trading today and was down 11 percent at 2.42 after opening on the New York Stock Exchange.

CEO Joseph Magnacca said in statement that the store closings would leave RadioShack with more than 4,000 U.S. stores, including more than 900 dealer franchise locations. The company didn’t immediately identify which stores will be closed or how many jobs would be affected.

There are several stores in the Lehigh Valley, including stores within a mile of each other in Palmer Township.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/03/radioshack_to_close_1100_store.html

Tastykake Looking Fresh At 100

As an independent company, Tasty Baking Co. didn’t quite make it to Tuesday’s 100th anniversary, selling out to Flowers Foods Inc. in 2011 for $141 million to avoid bankruptcy.

But nearly three years after the rescue, the Tastykake brand – which drips nostalgia in the Philadelphia region, but had failed to break through nationally – has renewed strength.

The Flowers bailout has given workers at Tasty’s bakery in South Philadelphia and delivery-route owners throughout the Mid-Atlantic the chance to celebrate the brand’s centennial.

“Couldn’t be better,” is how Dom Rosa, who has owned a Tastykake delivery route in South Jersey since 2000, described life under Flowers Foods.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140225_Taskykake_looking_fresh_at_100.html#qDDZokmzwt3ebC40.99

Bill Would Promote Products ‘Made In PA’

Map of Pennsylvania (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG — Would you be more likely to buy a product if it were labeled “Made in Pennsylvania?”

A bipartisan group of state lawmakers has introduced a bill to create a “Made in PA” program, complete with a logo and website to encourage consumers to purchase products made close to home.

A similar program, to identify and promote Pennsylvania agricultural products, began in 2004, called the PA Preferred program.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2013/12/16/Bill-would-promote-products-Made-in-PA/stories/201312160060#ixzz2neriTSq7

Good-Bye Ruby Tuesday?

NEW YORK (TheStreet) – Casual-dining restaurant chain Ruby Tuesday issued a press release last week meant to show investors that the company is taking steps to turn itself around, but what it told me is that theroad to recovery may be a long one.

Coming on the heels of worse-than-expected results for its fiscal first quarter and then the sudden resignations of the company’s chairman and a key vice president, plus a downgrade of its debt by Moody’s deeper into junk territory, the press release gave more details about the cost-cutting initiatives Ruby Tuesday is undertaking in attempts to right its ship.

In its efforts to cut $6 million from its selling, general and administrative costs beginning in 2015, the company is reviewing its cost structure. The first move will be the elimination of 50 jobs at its Maryville, Tenn., restaurant support center. Next, the restaurant chain will hire a consulting firm to help it cut cost of goods sold and other restaurant operating costs.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/philly/story/good-bye-ruby-tuesday/12124084

The 10 Most, Least Respected U.S. Brands

Logo of Campbell’s Soup Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The consulting firm CoreBrand did a report on the country’s most- and least-respected brands, and there’s good news for several Pennsylvania and New Jersey businesses.

Pennsylvania chocolate-maker Hershey’s is the third-most-respected brand in the nation, CoreBrand found.  Also making the most-respected list were Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Brunswick, N.J., and Campbell’s Soup, headquartered in Camden.

However, Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid didn’t fare as well, making the least-respected list.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillylists/The-10-most-least-respected-brands.html#GMtoLqXXpcd6fYmM.99

Will A New Face In The Mayor’s Office Improve Harrisburg’s Image?

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note: YES!  We would like to see Eric Papenfuse win the November election.  It’s time to restore someone with business acumen to the office of the mayor in Harrisburg.  Eric is an excellent businessman and has been a leader in helping to revitalize Midtown Harrisburg.  Eric’s bookstore, Midtown Scholar, is one of the anchors of the new Midtown.

When major financial news organizations send reporters to a city the size of Harrisburg to cover the election for mayor, it usually means things haven’t been going well.

That was evidenced Tuesday night, as a Reuters news dispatch described Mayor Linda Thompson‘s defeat in the Democratic primary. The story began, “The embattled mayor of Pennsylvania’s financially crippled capital of Harrisburg was ousted on Tuesday…”

Embattled.  Financially crippled.  Harrisburg.

No matter who wins in November, the city’s next mayor must repair Harrisburg’s badly damaged brand, and that could be one of the most formidable aspects of the job.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/harrisburg_mayor_thompson_pape.html#incart_m-rpt-2

5 Most Damaged Brands Right Now

A conservative, a liberal, a country, a football team and a car make up the list!

See the list: http://money.msn.com/investing/5-most-damaged-brands-right-now

Pottstown’s Tri-County Performing Arts Center Transforms Into Steel River Playhouse

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

POTTSTOWN, PA  — You might call it their third act.

What began as a small local theater company called Village Productions, and then grew into the Tri-County Performing Arts Center has now matured into the Steel River Playhouse, the name and brand which will adorn the soon-to-be completed facade of Pottstown’s premier arts center.

As anyone who has driven or walked down the 200 block of High Street knows, the front of the former Newberry’s store has been “getting a little work done” for quite some time now.

But now that the appropriate materials have arrived, and a June 15 “grand re-opening” looms, look to see that new marquee finished in a short time, said Marta Kiesling, executive director of the Steel River Playhouse.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120429/ENTERTAINMENT01/120429390/tri-pac-transforms-into-steel-river-playhouse&pager=full_story

Lansdale Looks To “Beef Up” Economic Development Committee

Image via Wikipedia

Lansdale Borough Council is looking to expand the size of their Economic Development Committee (EDC) in the next two months.  The EDC will expand to seven members, four of whom will be borough residents or borough business owners.  The other three members will be council members, by appointment.  The chair of the EDC will also be a councilor.

The strength of the EDC is that this committee is borough business focused by cutting red tape and being an advocate for business and not government focused.  The idea is not to create another budget item.

Wednesday evening, council gave approval to create an ordinance to formally establish the committee.  This came about by changes in legal requirements when council passed an economic incentive development ordinance last year.  The economic incentive development ordinance gives discounts on electricity purchased from the borough to qualified businesses.  Ordinance language mandates that any business who is interested in this program needs to go before the EDC.  Officially establishing this committee by ordinance was connecting all the dots.

The Lansdale Business Association (LBA) will also continue to stay involved with this committee by hopefully continuing to have an LBA member on the EDC.  The EDC will also be working closely with the Communications Commission.  The newly created Communications Commission is tasked with creating a “marketable brand” for the borough.  Initially the EDC and the Communications Commission will be working together to create an image and branding for Lansdale.

Once these tasks are completed, the EDC will take the newly developed brand image and market Lansdale.  The Communications Commission will be responsible for technology, signage, the website, attracting technology and keeping residents updated.

We give this well thought out effort, with expanded resident involvement, two Roy’s Rants thumbs up!