In this month’s newsletter, our focus is on our appreciation for the employers and agencies we have worked with throughout the year. We also give year-end highlights of BOB’s accomplishments in 2010 and discuss the Event Catering training that took place in November at W2 Media Arts Centre.

Ada from BOB (right) asks Chris (left), a BOB client, about his work with Recycling Alternative

To read more, please see the newsletter in full:

December Employment Newsletter

Other items featured this month include:

• Event Listings
• Job Postings

Potluck Café and Catering will be holding their annual fundraiser featuring Barney Bentall & the Grand Cariboo Opry at the venerable Vogue Theatre on December 11, 2010. For the past few years, Potluck and Barney have provided a toe-tapping good time for those in attendance. The show is comprised of humourous monologues and all sorts of amazing musical guests. This year’s performance promises to be better than ever!

Potluck is a social enterprise in the Downtown Eastside that runs a café and provides catering services, both of which serve hundreds of customers in the area. Potluck offers many great community programs to residents of the Downtown Eastside. They (rightfully) believe that no one should be deprived of quality, nutritious food and are committed to sharing this message.

BOB has maintained a good working relationship with Potluck for a number of years. We have partnered with them on numerous occasions, including collaborating with them for monthly SHINE dinners for clients, as well as employer breakfasts.

Barney and the band

BOB and Potluck also worked together to offer a Banquet Server Training Program last year. As a part of BOB’s Business Links program, clients were taught valuable skills in order to enter the workforce and were given the opportunity to interview with employers once they completed the training.

The night at the Vogue not only supports a fantastic cause, but is guaranteed to be a good time. Tickets can be purchased at: https://tickets.voguetheatre.com/Online/default.asp 

If you are not able to make it to the fundraiser and still want to support Potluck, visit their café at 30 W. Hastings from 8-4 Monday to Friday or donate here.

Businesses and property owners in the Downtown Eastside are invited to attend the second public meeting with the Hastings Corridor BIA Formation Committee today, Thursday September 9th, 2010. Being discussed today will be the amount for proposed levies, potential use of BIA funds and capacity (including a brief look at what some of the other BIAs in Vancouver have done).

The presentations will begin at 3pm and again at 6pm at 163 E Pender St (Building Opportunities with Business offices- Main floor BOB Gallery)

RECAP:

The proposed BIA will serve businesses along the Hastings Corridor from Richards Street all the way to Gore Avenue, and will potentially serve a portion of Crosstown along Pender, from Richards to Beatty as well.  The consultation meeting will be held back to back at 3:00pm and then again at 6:00pm at the Building Opportunity with Business office (163 E Pender Street, in the BOB Gallery and Co-Working space)

What is a BIA? A Business Improvement Association is a specially funded and district managed non-profit association of businesses and commercial property owners who work to improve the economic vitality of their business district. In Vancouver there are currently 20 BIAs serving a variety of corridors and areas. In total 60,0000 businesses in BC are served by approximately 60 BIAs (35 of which are located in the Greater Vancouver area) as they have proved to be a highly effective and worthwhile venture for the business communities in these areas.  Working closely with municipalities, BIAs have become important partners in area planning and revitalization initiatives and have provided a vehicle for the business community to champion constructive improvements in the interest of neighbourhood beautification, events and entertainment, functionality and safety. The proposed Hastings Corridor BIA would fill the gaps between the Chinatown BIA (zone 2 in the BIA Map below) the Gastown BIA (zone 8 ) the Downtown BIA (zone 5) and the Strathcona BIA ( zone17). Click on the map to see an enlarged version of the image.

Why a BIA for Hastings? Well to find out I interviewed Lynn Kitchen, a member of the committee and  Custom Training Manager for Continuing Studies at Langara College. According to Lynn the value of BIAs are not to be underestimated.

” The return on investment for businesses who have a BIA is triple and quadruple fold. One of the areas in this city that could benefit the most from having a BIA, the Hastings Corridor, is currently one of the few business areas without.”

Lynn has worked closely with BOB’s Brian Smith, Business and Social Enterprise Developer, representatives from the Board of Trade Small Business Council (of which she is Vice-Chair and Chair of the Council’s Inner City Development Subcommittee), members of the business community such as Heather O’Hara of Potluck Cafe and Brian Dodd of United We Can and several others on the BIA Formation Committee.

“The Board of Trade Inner-City Development Subcommittee has been so devoted, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such devotion and commitment to start a BIA before and I really hope the rich and diverse voices in this community come out to these consultations. I really have to credit Brian though for championing this process and getting the ball rolling!”

As much work as the committee has done so far, having the community involved is a crucial factor, as ultimately the decision rests with the commercial property owners and businesses themselves who vote on whether or not to support the initiative. If 1/3rd of property owners and businesses vote against the BIA it does not go to Council, where it is then provisioned. Lynn emphasized how important these consultations are in the BIA process.

“We’ve been very busy canvassing businesses to get them involved in this consultation process. We want to build support but we also welcome critical voices, especially at this phase. We want to hear everyone’s concerns and ideas and we would like to see this be a real community driven BIA. We want change makers”

If you own commercial property in the Downtown Eastside or are an inner-city business looking to improve the economic vitality of your neighbourhood please come and share your thoughts, and see the work that the Hastings Corridor BIA Formation Committee has put into this proposal.

Draft copies of the work the committee has done on this BIA proposal will be presented at the  Thursday August 12th consultation 3:00 and 6:00pm.

For more information contact Shirley Chan at shirly.chan@bobics.org or Wes Regan at wes.regan@bobics.org have a look at the BIA budget FAQ by clicking on the link below.

Budget Related FAQ Draft

Looking for inexpensive commercial retail space in Chinatown or along the Hastings Street Corridor? (200 block E. Hastings – 200 Block W. Hastings).

Building Opportunities with Business (“BOB”)  is working with the City of Vancouver to implement their “Vacant Storefront Facade Program“.

Simply put, the City of Vancouver will – for approved projects – pay for improvements to a building’s facade up to an amount of $50,000 per building.  We have already identified the buildings with vacant street level storefronts in them in both Chinatown and along the Hastings Street Corridor and, in many cases, have the building owner waiting for us to find them a prospective tenant!

The benefit to you, as the potential tenant, is that we would use the facade grant as leverage to negotiate longer term leases, leasehold improvements, less expensive lease rates, etc.

For more information please email Randy at bds@bobics.org.  and leave him a phone number where you can be reached during the day

BDS@bobics.org

Hastings Racecourse is giving Building Opportunities with Business (BOB) a Day at the Races from noon to 4:00 on Sunday, June 6th!

Join us for a delicious buffet, a Fancy Hat Contest, thousands of dollars in prizes (from Fluevog, Four Seasons Hotel, Fairmont Pacific Rim, Blue Olive Photography and other great sponsors) and old fashioned FUN in the Marquee Tent. All right beside the exciting race track! Your participation will help the team at BOB and our sister charitable organization, Fast Track to Employment, to continue living our passion – working with local residents and businesses for positive change in Vancouver’s inner city and Downtown Eastside!

Tickets are $60 (with a tax deductible receipt for $30 that will be given to all ticket purchasers) and can be purchased in person at the BOB office:  163 East Pender on weekdays between 10am and 4pm or purchased online at

https://tickets.firehallartscentre.ca/TheatreManager/1/online

For more info please check out the e-vite below or go to Day at the Races on the BOB Blog.

Hope to see you there!