Keys to Small Business Success

The following list of Keys to Small Business Success was generously provided to us by Danny Korman, the owner of Park+Vine. This business located in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati, has been called the "General Store of the Future." They specialize in eco-friendly merchandise that minimizes the use of natural resources and animal byproducts. Products include reusable bottles, bags and food carriers, non-toxic cleaning and paint supplies, natural baby and parenting supplies, a growing selection of foodstuff, and lots more. Through a variety of events hold at their store, they have successfully made it a center of the social and cultural life of Cincinnati. 

Hopefully, some of these suggestions will be helpful to you and/or your business...

1. Running a small business is a lot of work, but a lot easier when we're in touch with our inner spiritual self. This little store has taught me how to be a better human. It's the hardest and most rewarding experience of my life
2. Be yourself and be persistently positive no matter what.
3. Be kind to yourself first and every single person who walks in the door, regardless if (s)he buys something.
4. Avoid worrying about/competing with other small businesses. They're allies. Cheer them on and be glad you're not in a business district desert.
5. Move stuff and, therefore, energy around. This gives people a reason to question what's up.
6. Listen to what people are saying, sleep on it, keep listening and then respond if you hear the same thing often enough.
7. Tell folks how grateful you are that they're supporting your business and how much of a difference it makes.
8. Surround yourself with people who know more than you do.
9. Hand over the scary tasks (taxes!) to a trusted person.
10. Shake things off, like puppies.
11. Local places are struggling/doing-everything-they-can to stay open, while others are thriving. Businesses come and go. Change is the essence of life. If you love a business, do everything you can to support it. This could be the day that makes the difference in the life of someone or something you love. This is both sappy and the real deal.
12. People go where they want to go, do what they want to do, and spend time with people they want to spend time with.

Courtesy of Park + Vine, Cincinnati, OH, http://www.parkandvine.com/.

Middlesboro partners with Walk [Your City] of Raleigh to Promote Walking

Middlesboro, Kentucky - This southeastern Kentucky community is one of the first of several hundred communities in the U.S. and internationally to apply for and receive two free complimentary signs from Walk [Your City]. These will be placed at locations in the downtown area and direct people to other areas they may walk to with the approximate time it takes to walk to that location.

The mission of Walk [Your City] is "Getting More Feet on the Street™!" One the initial signs are installed, people in other communities all over the U.S. and internationally will be able to create their own signs through this easy to use web-based service.

Keep your eyes open for where the signs will be popping up the next few weeks in Middlesboro. Better yet, if you see them, share a picture with us on social media via Twitter @DDMBoro or Facebook.com/DDMBoro.

Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program Has Pumped $66 Billion into the Economy and Supported 2.4 Million Jobs

The Nagle Law Office on Cumberland Ave in Middlesboro was one of the first and only
tax credit projects in Southeast Kentucky.

WASHINGTON, DC – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today marked the 35th anniversary of the highly successful Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, which has helped preserve historic buildings across America while serving as an economic engine for local communities.

According to a new report from the National Park Service, in the 35 years since the first project was certified through FY 2012, the program has helped generate $66 billion ($106 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars) in private investment in historic rehabilitation and supported 2.4 million jobs, which have tended to be local and more high-skilled and higher paying than new construction.

“Since its inception the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program has proven to be an extraordinary success, supporting rehabilitation of more than 38,000 historic properties,” Jewell said. “The tax incentives administered by the program help preserve our past, benefit our economy in the present, and ensure that our national heritage will be remembered in the future. They are an investment in who we are as a country, both in conserving our heritage and in building stronger, more vibrant communities for today.”

In addition, the report details that projects supported by the program have rehabilitated or created 460,000 housing units, including 124,000 low-to moderate-income units. About two-thirds of projects are located in neighborhoods at or below 80 percent of area median family income.

In Fiscal Year 2012 alone, tax incentives made possible by the program supported projects that pumped $3.5 billion into local economics, supporting an estimated 57,000 jobs.

The report builds on an announcement earlier this week from the National Park Service issuing $21.6 million in historic preservation grants to states and territories and $3.7 million to 142 American Indian tribes to help preserve and protect historic sites.

Commonly referred to as the federal historic tax credit program, the program is administered by the National Park Service and the Internal Revenue Service in partnership with State Historic Preservation Offices. It provides a 20-percent tax credit to property owners who undertake a substantial rehabilitation of a historic building in a business or income-producing use, while maintaining its historic character.

Across the country, the program has helped revive abandoned or underutilized schools, warehouses, factories, churches, retail stores, apartments, hotels, houses, agricultural buildings and offices, and, in turn, helps support the redevelopment of entire downtowns and neighborhoods. It also supports community revitalization, job creation, affordable housing, small businesses, farms and Main Street development, among other economic benefits.

“The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program is the nation’s most effective program to promote historic preservation and community revitalization through historic rehabilitation,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “For 35 years, we have given these buildings a new life in a manner that maintains their historic character.”

The National Park service report marks the 35th anniversary of the first project to be certified under the program and highlights the program’s accomplishments and economic benefits as well as examples of the many projects, in communities both large and small throughout the country, that have benefited from the program.

The 35th anniversary report follows the release by the National Park Service earlier this year of the Fiscal Year 2012 annual report on the program and an executive summary of a report prepared by the Rutgers University Center for Urban Policy Research on the economic impacts of the historic tax credit.

The reports are available online here.

Additional information on the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, including the application for participation in the program; the status of historic tax credit projects; and guidance on applying the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation as well as technical information concerning the treatment of historic buildings is available on the National Park Service’s Technical Preservation Services website.

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at: www.nps.gov

Contact Information
Mike Litterst | 202-213-0354

Craig A. Potts named Kentucky Heritage Council executive director and state historic preservation officer

Kentucky Heritage Council Press Release

Craig A. Potts named Kentucky Heritage Council executive director and state historic preservation officer

Release Date                                                                Contact: Diane Comer

Thursday, June 6, 2013                                                502-564-7005, ext. 120

                                                                                    diane.comer@ky.gov

Frankfort, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear has announced the appointment of Craig A. Potts as executive director of the Kentucky Heritage Council (KHC) and state historic preservation officer, effective June 1. The position had been filled in an interim capacity by Lindy Casebier, deputy secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

“I join with the entire board and staff of the Kentucky Heritage Council in congratulating Craig on his appointment,” said KHC Chairman Robert W. Griffith. “Craig is well-qualified by experience and temperament for this important work, and all of us wish him every success in this job, one that is so important to all Kentuckians.”

Potts has served as KHC’s Site Protection program manager since 2009, responsible for a staff of six who oversee Section 106 Review of federally funded projects and the agency’s professional archaeology component, which includes the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, a partnership between KHC and the University of Kentucky Department of Anthropology. In his new capacity, he will oversee a staff of 20 whose responsibilities also include administering state and federal rehabilitation tax credit programs, the Kentucky Main Street Program, historic sites survey, the National Register of Historic Places, preservation planning, the Certified Local Government (CLG) Program, and staff support for the Kentucky African American, Kentucky Native American and Kentucky Military heritage commissions.

“I am thrilled to receive this appointment,” said Potts. “I’ve always had a special love for this agency, and believe deeply in our mission of helping Kentuckians preserve their heritage and the things that give us a strong sense of place, including small towns, rural environments, and cultural resources that range from historic commercial buildings to prehistoric archaeological sites.”

In addition, he adds, “I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside this staff for a number of years and I greatly respect the work they do, day in and day out, for our constituents. I look forward to supporting them in this new role and working with them to do new and exciting things in moving the agency forward.”

Potts was previously senior architectural historian, principal investigator and supervisor for Cultural Resource Analysts Inc. in Lexington, responsible for oversight of architectural history and historic preservation projects; and a principal, project manager and general contractor with Potts & Potts LLC, a historic property rehabilitation and management partnership. The firm was recognized on the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation’s “Positive Preservation in the Bluegrass” list of 25 outstanding projects in September 2007, for adaptive reuse of a circa-1850 building in Frankfort’s downtown commercial historic district.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Wittenberg University; a Master of Arts in architectural history, and a Master of Fine Arts in historic preservation, from the Savannah College of Art and Design; and logged a wide range of practical experience in cultural resource evaluation and management prior to first joining KHC as environmental review coordinator from 2001-2004.

Potts lives in downtown Frankfort with his wife, Amy, and sons Sam and Simon, in a historic commercial building he and his family recently rehabilitated.

# # #

An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office is responsible for the identification, protection and preservation of archaeological resources and historic buildings, sites and cultural resources throughout the Commonwealth, in partnership with other state and federal agencies, local communities and interested citizens. This mission is integral to making communities more livable and has a far-ranging impact on issues as diverse as economic development, jobs creation, affordable housing, tourism, community revitalization, environmental conservation and quality of life. www.heritage.ky.gov

 

National Trust for Historic Preservation Awards Discover Downtown Middlesboro A Preservation Grant

For Immediate Release
Isaac D. Kremer Discover Downtown Middlesboro, Inc. Phone (606.248.6155),downtownmiddlesboro@gmail.com	National Trust for Historic Preservation 202.588.6141, pr@savingplaces.org

National Trust for Historic Preservation Awards Discover Downtown Middlesboro A Preservation Grant from National Trust Preservation Funds

Grant Will Go Toward the People’s Plan for Economic Development, Job Creation and Revitalization

Middlesboro, Kentucky (June 4, 2013)—Today, Discover Downtown Middlesboro was awarded a $5,000 grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation from the Linda and Jerry Bruckheimer Preservation Fund for Kentucky of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  The seed grant funds will be used to develop a strategic plan for the National Register-listed historic downtown area.

Discover Downtown Middlesboro has already hosted a Community Forum and Stakeholder’s Workshop with the help of this grant. The results are now being analyzed and further public input is being sought. Faculty and students with the Lincoln Memorial University School of Business will assist with preparing a professional report that will be completed by mid-September 2013. This will then guide downtown revitalization efforts over the next three to five years.

"Without organizations like Discover Downtown Middlesboro, communities and towns all across America would  have a diminished sense of place," said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.  "The National Trust for Historic Preservation is honored to provide a grant to DDM, which will use the funds to help preserve an important piece of our shared heritage."

The National Trust for Historic Preservation dispenses small grants for local projects through the National Trust Preservation Funds grant program.  The grants range from $500 to $5,000 and have provided over $5.5 million dollars of funding since 2002.  They are awarded to nonprofit groups, educational institutions and public agencies, and must be matched, at least dollar for dollar, with public or private funds.  Preservation Funds grants are being used nationally for such wide-ranging activities as consultant services for rehabilitating buildings, technical assistance for tourism that promotes historic resources and educating children about their heritage.  These grants are often the deciding factor on whether historic buildings or sites can be saved for future generations.

For more information on National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Fund grants, visit: www.PreservationNation.org/resources/find-funding/grants/.

About Discover Downtown Middlesboro

Discover Downtown Middlesboro is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that  was founded in 2006. Since that time the organization has worked to spearhead revitalization of the downtown area. This is accomplished through coordinating grassroots action by volunteers on four committees – Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring. Some recent DDM projects include organizing the Christmas Parade and decoration of the downtown, addition of four fountains and seating at Cumberland Avenue and 20th Street, and encouraging the restoration of several buildings downtown.

About the National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately-funded nonprofit organization that works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is committed to protecting America’s rich cultural legacy and helping build vibrant, sustainable communities that reflect our nation’s diversity.