CACLV to Conduct Mobile Food Vending Seminar

You might know this Zen joke.

A Buddhist says to the hot dog vendor, "Make me one with everything," and hands a $5 for a $1.25 dog.

The vendor gives him the dog, but no change.

"Change must come from within," he says

How would you like to be the wise guy making the Buddhist one with everything? Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley is offering a two-part seminar on mobile food vending, whether it's wieners or something more exotic, like Vietnamese spring rolls.

When: August 11 and 18, 6:30 - 8:30 pm.

Where: Basement, 702 Hamilton St Bldg, Allentown, Pa. (Park in Wells Fargo lot)

What: Information for those interested in running a mobile food business, with presentations by the City of Allentown, the Philadelphia Mobile Food Association, the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund and CADCA. The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund is offering a special financing program specifically for mobile food vendors.

Register:

DJ Kormanik
Business Development Director
Community Action Development Corporation of Allentown
443 N. 7th Street
Allentown, PA 18102
610-433-5703 x3102
dkormanik@caclv.org

Austin Lloyd: Educational Toys For Tots

Lindsay Marles has launched a company, Austin Lloyd, that provides premium educational toys for infants and toddlers. Every month you subscribe, you receive 3-5 toys and at least one book customized to the age of your child. She also offers a donation program so you can keep your toys forever or donate them to a charity.

To raise money, Lindsay has launched a campaign on Indiegogo. This, like Kickstarter, is an online platform where people can donate money to start-ups or to anyone looking to raise money. I know one performance artist who funded a trip to Britain this way.

Lindsay knows that not everyone is in a position to contribute to her venture. "All I ask is that you take a look at the campaign page and share it."

I doubt she'll be offering the atom-bomber I've listed here.  But I'd sell that and fart machines

For those of you wondering, Lindsay is the daughter of prominent Bethlehem Attorney Blake Marles.

Leading Edge Signs Opens in Lehigh Valley

Leading Edge Signs & Imaging, an independent sign company operated by Jim and Arlyn Reed, is coming to the Lehigh Valley. It's a full service sign company featuring state-of-the-art equipment to produce the best in custom graphics. Its target? "The business client," says Arlyn Reed. 


Leading Edge will also be "eco-friendly." "All our large format printing is done using latex ink; no solvent
containing products are used," says Arlyn Reed. "We believe being 'green' matters to the corporate customer."

Leading Edge Signs & Imaging is dedicated to the Lehigh Valley business customer for all types of signs and graphic imaging. Visit them at 3864 Adler Place, Suite 400, Bethlehem, PA 18017.

Contact
Arlyn Reed
Leading Edge Signs & Imaging, Inc.
610-295-5921
ar@leadingedgesigns.net
www.LeadingEdgeSigns.net

Dent To Host a Week of Small Business Workshops

I'd like to borrow $20 million, with no collateral, to buy up properties around Allentown's hockey arena.

Hispanic Chamber Moving to Bethlehem

From the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: ) - Alvaro A. Diaz, Executive Director of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the L.V. (HCCLV), announces partnership with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and the move of the HCCLV office from Allentown to a new location in Bethlehem, as of February 1, 2012. The office is located at the Main Street Commons Building, at the heart of the Bethlehem business district. The move was facilitated through the strategic partnership that HCCLV established this year with the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce (GLVCC), which allows HCCLV tapping on resources and logistical expertise from GLVCC and enhances the diversity footprint of GLVCC in the Valley. The Hispanic Chamber is in the process of launching a new website to help better serve its members. The office move “places us literally at the center of the Lehigh Valley with easy access to our current members, as well as to potential new members in the bustling Southside of Bethlehem”, Diaz commented. A press conference will be held on Monday, February 27th at the Hotel Bethlehem, 437 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA at 3:00 PM and following a ribbon cutting at the new Chamber office at located at 561 Main Street, Suite 245, Bethlehem, PA. at 3:30 pm.

HCCLV was created with the purpose of advancing the commercial, industrial and professional interests of all its members, especially its Latino members, in the Lehigh Valley. Founded in 2003 as a separate and independent chamber of commerce, HCCLV accomplishes its mission by focusing on three key principles: Advocacy, Business Development and Community Development. HCCLV, through its Fe Foundation, provides entrepreneurial training and internships to high school students in the Lehigh Valley.

Rising Tide's Microlending Tops $2 Million

The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund, the small-business lending arm of the CACLV, has now topped $2 million in loans. Altogether, 92 loans have been granted to 80 different businesses, helping create 133 jobs while saving 125 others.

Dale & Georgia Boutique and Barkery, a woman-owned natural pet product business in the heart of Easton, received a $21,000 loan in February for its shop at 403 Northampton Street. 2 Daisies Design, a woman-owned wedding planning business based in Wilson Borough, received $35,000 in March for equipment, inventory and working capital. Windsong Photography, a woman-owned wedding photography business in Mt. Bethel, received a $75,000 in February to refinance a mortgage on the business property.

Each of these loans strengthened the businesses and retained the entrepreneurs’ jobs.

Throughout its ten-year history, only five loans totaling less than $50,000 have been written off as noncollectable, while 40 have been paid in full, leaving an impressive charge-off ratio of just 2.33%.

The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund is a federally-certified community development financial institution that was created to extend credit to entrepreneurs located in communities where resources and opportunities for growth are limited. Funds can be used for equipment, marketing costs, inventory, working capital and lease-hold improvements. Its terms are flexible. Businesses also have access to extensive technical assistance including one-on-one assistance from The Rising Tide and a multi-week entrepreneurial training program provided by the Community Action Development Corporations of Allentown and Bethlehem. The Rising Tide is a subsidiary of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

Dent: "How to Do Business With the Federal Government"

If you're in the Mafia, you already know how to do business with the feds. But if you're still legit or trying to go straight, LV Congressman Charlie Dent is hosting just the workshop for you. It's called "How To Do Business With The Federal Government" and will be presented by Vinnie and Anthony from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). It's open to the public, but you must register. You can do that here.

Easton Workshop
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
The Gold Room at the Grand Eastonian Hotel
140 Northampton Street
Easton, PA

Allentown Workshop
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Seegers Student Union, Rooms 108-109 at Muhlenberg College
2400 Chew Street
Allentown, PA

CACLV's Rising Lends Another $200,000, Helping Eight Small Businesses

In case you missed it, I'm a big fan of CACLV's Rising Tide Community Loan Fund. It's a federally-certified community development financial institution, created to help entrepreneurs in communities where resources and opportunities for growth are limited. So far, 84 microloans totaling over $1,654,000 have been made. They've led to the creation of at least 132 jobs, and helped keep 109 others. Only 5 loans, totaling $48,000, have been written off as uncollectable.

Since my last report, it's made eight new loans totaling $207,000. In a recession, that money helped create 8 jobs and retain 17 others at small businesses throughout the Lehigh Valley. Here are the lucky winners.

✓ Amber Connection, a fine jewelry and clothing store located in South Whitehall Township, borrowed $5,000, retaining one job.
✓ Priority Dog, LLC, a New Tripoli luxury boarding facility for dogs, borrowed $35,000, creating 2 jobs.
✓ On the Spot Dry Cleaners, Inc., a dry cleaning service in Pen Argyl, borrowed $29,000, creating two jobs and retaining five others.
✓ Biagio Pizza, a restaurant in Palmer Township, borrowed $35,000, creating two jobs.
✓ Kona Girl, LLC, a women’s athletic apparel manufacturer in Lower Macungie Township, borrowed $30,000, creating one job.
✓ AFab Hauling, LLC, a hauling company in Catasauqua, borrowed $23,000, retaining one job.
✓ Amareʼ Hairsalon, a salon in Palmer Township, borrowed $35,000, retaining nine jobs.
✓ Dale & Georgia Boutique and Barkery, an Easton retail store featuring all natural dog treats and pet products, borrowed $15,000, creating one job and retaining one other.

Rising Tide Offering Small Business Loans Up to $75,000

From CACLV: Representatives of the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund announced today a new loan product available to small business owners in the Lehigh Valley. The Small Business Opportunity Fund will offer loans up to $75,000 to small business owners, a significant increase over the existing Rising Tide microloans, which are capped at $35,000.

At a press conference held at Anthony Ashley Hair Design, located at 1740 Allen Street in Allentown, Rising Tide officials commented on the challenges many small businesses are having gaining access to credit. Rising Tide Community Loan Fund President Steve Melnick said, “This challenge is significant and overcoming it may be the difference between surviving this recession and not.” Anthony Ashley is owned by successful Rising Tide borrower Jeannine "Nina" Tulio, pictured above, who also spoke at the event.

Chris Hudock, Director of the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund, explained that the Small Business Opportunity Fund will help meet the needs of more Lehigh and Northampton County business owners. According to Hudock, “Historically, about 20% of the people who contact us request more than the $35,000 amount. This new product will allow us to reach a broader range of owners and keep more jobs and commercial properties in our neighborhoods.”

Kevin Rogers, Vice President of PNC Bank, which invested $100,000 to capitalize the Small Business Opportunity Fund, expressed his bank’s enthusiasm for investing in a lending vehicle to make loans banks once made as a matter of routine, but which the current climate has made especially difficult. Other investors in the new loan product include Embassy Bank, First Niagara Bank, KNBT, Susquehanna Bank, Team Capital Bank, TD Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Lehigh and Northampton counties (through their Community Development Block Grant, and the U.S. Treasury through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Their combined contributions total more than $900,000 in funding.

Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham also spoke at the press conference, representing Lehigh County’s $100,000 investment in the new loan fund. Cunningham expressed the county’s respect for the Rising Tide’s efforts to create opportunities for businesses to grow as we work toward economic recovery.

Tulio, who obtained a loan from the Rising Tide in April, 2006, and has since repaid in full, described the success her business has seen over the last several years. “Although the loan was only for $5,000,” Tulio says, “that start-up money was crucial. I had a credit score of over 700 and I still couldn’t find a bank that would even talk to me. This loan was the reason I could stay in business.” As the only entirely organic salon in the Lehigh Valley, Anthony Ashley Hair Design has since grown from a one-woman business in a 600-square-foot shop to a total of 4 stylists in a 1,600-square-foot location.

The Rising Tide has granted a total of 81 loans to women, minorities and low-to-moderate income businesses. Total investment? $1.58 million. Of these 81 loans, 35 are paid-in-full. Only 5 loans, totaling $48,000, have been written off as uncollectable. That's a charge off ratio of just 3.03%.

These loans have led to the creation of at least 131 jobs and helped to retain 98 more. The Small Business Opportunity Loan Fund is a separate Rising Tide loan product from the micro-loan product that provided these loans. A subsidiary of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, Rising Tide helps build economic opportunity across the Lehigh Valley by providing affordably priced credit products to small businesses and prospective entrepreneurs.

For other posts about Rising Tide, see Did You Know CACLV Likes Small Businesses? and CACLV Helps Dogs Keep Up With Latest Fashions.

While Callahan Hampers Main Street Merchants, Dent Listens to Them

Earlier this week, I told you that one Bethlehem City employee is scratching his head at Mayor John Callahan's job creation program. In the Christmas City, where he's the boss, that plan consists of a hiring freeze and threatened layoffs.

Private sector businessmen are scratching their heads, too. You see, he promises to create jobs on Main Street, but he's been fighting tooth and nail against Main Street businesses for parking solutions to help merchants like the Hotel Bethlehem on the lower end of Main Street. Incredibly, he'd rather blow Bethlehem's limited resources on an ice rink than repair a storm water drainage problem in the Lehigh Valley's most beautiful shopping district.

Some of these businessman are also grumbling that while Callahan is running for Congress, he's doing nothing as mayor, except to collect his full paycheck. Even Sam Bennett, with all her flaws, had her salary reduced at Properties of Merit when she decided to run for Congress.

While Callahan alienates both the City workforce and some Main Street businesses, LV Congressman Charlie Dent yesterday participated in a roundtable with local small business leaders in Allentown.

One candidate thumbs his nose at the small mom-and-pops, even hot dog vendors. The other listens to and supports them.

“Clearly, our nation will depend on small businesses to jump start our economic recovery,” Dent explained. “I learned today that many of these businesses are eager to expand, but hesitant to invest in their own growth because today’s economic environment is dominated by a sense of uncertainty. Congress has unfortunately contributed to this uncertainty by failing to address the looming tax increases, imposing burdensome new mandates and spending beyond our means.”

Dent learned yesterday that these small mom-and-pops are concerned about the impending expiration of tax provisions that have helped them invest greater resources into the development of their businesses. Just yesterday, President Obama was scoffing at the very idea, suggesting an extension of these tax cuts would only help the top 3%.

Small business leaders are concerned that they may soon face devastating tax increases on top of taxes and other costs imposed by the health care law.

Dent supports extending current tax relief provisions. Dent has also co-sponsored two Bills to help business:

H.R. 5554, the Small Business Assistance and Relief Act, would help small business owners dedicate greater resources to hiring employees, purchasing new equipment, and conducting innovative research, while reducing the excessive amount of time they devote to completing paperwork created by onerous federal mandates.

H.R. 5109, the Small Business Bill of Rights, would provide additional tax relief by eliminating capital gains on small business stock for 10 years, implementing a 5 year small business exemption from the harmful death tax, and providing the same tax advantages large employers receive for purchasing health insurance to self-employed individuals.

Finally, Dent supports efforts to increase tax deductions associated with start-up expenses for new businesses. These proposals include increasing the deduction from the current level of $5,000 to $20,000 and increasing the phase-out threshold at which deductions would begin to be reduced from $50,000 to $75,000.

Jennings: Banks Need More Transparency & More Community Investment

LV Congressman Charlie Dent is hosting a small business financing seminar today and tomorrow. Like most of us, Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, Dent recognizes that these small mom-and-pops are responsible for many of our jobs.

Another person who recognizes this is CACLV's Alan Jennings. I've told you before about his small business lending arm, the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund. Whether it's the Birdlady of Easton or Bath's Daily Grind, the Lehigh Valley's only federally-certified microlender has been there with 76 microloans for $1,447,000 (as of April), creating or helping save 142 jobs in the process. According to yesterday's Morning Call, the fund has just been replenished with a $353,514 Treasury Department grant. Private sources also contribute to this loan pool.

In addition to microlending, Jennings was in Los Angeles last week, asking federal regulatory agencies to improve Community Reinvestment Rules to make credit more accessible to our small businesses, especially in low and moderate income communities.

Alan L Jennings, Executive Director of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, is a long time advocate for access to credit for low-income families and their neighborhoods. His testimony in Los Angeles will address issues like collection and disclosure of small business lending data by race and census tract, opportunities for the public to be better informed about and comment on bank plans to merge or close branches, stronger rules related to the even distribution of branches (where most small business lending is done) throughout communities, not just in upper-income census tracts, and better consistency in rule interpretation among and within the regulatory agencies.

Jennings told the suits that in the "most dysfunctional credit market in decades," regulators themselves have contributed to the credit crunch by subscribing to the notion that lending in lower-income communities is too risky when the reality is that community development lending "is safe and sound."

He also argues for more transparency in Community Reinvestment Rules:

"Public comment periods are not publicized (in our region the only branch in one of our moderate-income boroughs closed and nobody knew until the bank informed their customers, long after the regulator approved; the low-income elderly folks who don’t drive never knew what hit them.) Large bank mergers occur, affecting hundreds of communities and hundreds of thousands of people, and no public hearings are held. Not only should hearings be held, but large mergers should only occur when the surviving bank offers a community reinvestment plan that includes public input."

Noting that bank branches "remain the most visible icon of banking, for everything from deposits to mortgages to small business lending," Jennings is shocked that many branches can have "satisfactory CRA ratings despite having not a single branch in a low- or even moderate-income census tract; in some cases, they don’t have a branch in an entire city but still get away with it."

Dent to Host Small Business Financing Seminar

What: U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (PA-15) will host two Small Business Financing Options seminars in the Lehigh Valley next week. The free workshops will cover financial assistance programs offered by federal agencies and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as national and local lenders. Presenters include the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), Lafayette Ambassador Bank, the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC) and the Superior Financial Group. The event will be geared towards local residents interested in starting or expanding a small business. Because space is limited, attendees must register in advance with Megan in the Congressman’s Lehigh Valley office at 610-861-9734.

Easton Seminar:

Monday, August 23, 2010, 5:30 to 9:00 PM
Gold Room, Grand Eastonian Hotel
140 Northampton Street, Easton, PA 18042

Allentown Seminar: Tuesday, August 24, 2010, 5:30 to 9:00 PM
The Rodale Community Room, Allentown Symphony Hall
23 North 6^th Street, Allentown, PA 18101

Dent: Government Health Care Takeover Will Kill Jobs

When Congressional wannabe John Callahan finally took a position on Pelosi-care, a day after it passed, he somberly stated, "The legislation passed last night brings down health care costs for families and small businesses." Guess what? A hidden provision of the government health care takeover touted by Callahan’s blessing will swamp small businesses with paperwork, costing them time, money and resources that could be used to create new jobs.

That's according to a CNN report. "[J]ust a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document ... mandates that beginning in 2012 all companies will have to issue 1099 tax forms not just to contract workers but to any individual or corporation from which they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a tax year. The stealth change radically alters the nature of 1099s and means businesses will have to issue millions of new tax documents each year.”

According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, an independent office within the IRS, this new provision will affect about 40 million taxpayers, including 26 million sole proprietors and one million charities. The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) adds that new Form 1099 expansion is “another crippling paperwork mandate that unfairly targets small businesses," and estimates average costs associated with tax paperwork is about $74 per hour.

“John Callahan should take heed – this is what happens when you blindly support a bill you didn’t bother to read,” said Congressman Charlie Dent in a news release. “This is only one of dozens of mandates in the health care bill that will cost more American jobs.”

Dent is a cosponsor of HR 5141, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, which would repeal this unnecessary and costly piece of red tape for American job creators.

The 1099 provision has been derided by Democrats and Republicans alike. Four Democratic Senators - Mark Begich (Alaska), Ben Nelson (Nebraska), Jeanne Shaheen (New Hampshire) and Evan Bayh (Indiana) – have publicly expressed concern about the regulation and asked the IRS to correct it administratively.

Dent Grabs US Chamber of Commerce Endorsement

LV Congressman Charlie Dent has just accepted the endorsement of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to a news release just issued by his campaign. The Chamber, which represents three million job-creating businesses and organizations, states that Dent's re-election "will produce sustained economic growth and help create more jobs.”

Congressman Dent has also been recipient of the Chamber’s “Spirit of Enterprise Award” for his pro-job voting record in three consecutive sessions of Congress.

Congressman Dent is "honored" by this endorsement because "it reflects my long-standing efforts to foster an environment where employers create sustainable jobs.” He also pointedly noted that the Pelosi agenda, supported by his opponent, will stifle economic growth.

“[R]ight now, the Washington establishment is pushing an agenda that will stifle economic growth and job creation – an unsustainable health care entitlement that will impose mandates and new taxes on small businesses and innovators; an undemocratic ‘card-check’ bill to deny secret ballots to workers in union elections; and a national energy tax called ‘cap and trade’ that will cause business and family energy bills to skyrocket. This agenda of more taxes, more spending, more regulation, and more government comes at the expense of private-sector job growth. You cannot be for workers and jobs if you are against employers.

“This year I face an opponent who is on board with these failed, job-destroying policies, and who is supported by Nancy Pelosi and other Washington insiders who are pushing them. My opponent likes to take credit for jobs created by others, but jobs aren’t created by politicians. Jobs are created by the business members of the Chamber of Commerce and other pro-growth organizations. That’s why I appreciate their support. And I will continue to fight for common-sense polices that will support investment and innovation and put Americans back to work.”

CACLV Helps Dogs Keep Up With Latest Fashions

In October, I first told you about The Rising Tide Community Loan Fund, a small-business lending arm of the CACLV. It's the Lehigh Valley's only federally-certified microlender, and was created to extend credit to entrepreneurs in communities where resources and opportunities for growth are limited. Primary targets are lower-income, minority borrowers or businesses located in distressed neighborhoods.

Since October, Rising Tide has lent to an additional seven businesses. This makes 76 microloans for $1,447,000, creating or saving 142 jobs.

Rising Tide itself is funded through loans, grants, and private contributions. This includes local, state and federal government, banks, businesses, and individuals. Four loans have failed. Most months, delinquencies are around three or four per cent.

Here's a listing of the seven businesses financed since October

• Christine’s Secret Garden, a gourmet tea shop located in Easton, borrowed $29,000, saving one job. Do any tea party people hang out there?

• Milou Couture, a designer dog clothes manufacturer in Allentown, borrowed $15,000, saving three jobs and several dogs. Founder Genny Perez, incidentally, dresses Chispita, a Jack Russell Terrier in Univision's “Despierta America”.

• MaidPro of the Lehigh Valley, located in Bethlehem, is a residential and commercial cleaning service. It borrowed $33,919, creating three jobs and saving seven others. This is one of the top 50 franchises for minorities, according to the National Minority Franchising Initiative.

• The Grid Code, an indoor airsoft and foam dart gaming center in Allentown received $14,000, creating two jobs. Foam dart gaming? I was there with my grandson when it first opened. They were using BB guns and all the kids shot my ass. I'm going back there with a bazooka next time.

• The Yoga Loft, a yoga studio in south Bethlehem, borrowed $20,000, saving two jobs. The drop in fee is $14. I walked in there and handed them a $20 bill and did my thing. When I asked for my change, I was told, "Change must come from within."

• hField Technologies, Inc., a technology business located in the Ben Franklin Technology Partnership at Lehigh's Goodman campus, received $35,000, leading to the retention of six jobs. One of their fields of expertise is setting up hot sports throughout municipalities, enabling bottom-feeding bloggers like me to hook up to the 'Net anywhere.

• Daily Grind, a café in Bath, borrowed $15,000, creating three jobs. That's for the coffee party.

Chris Hudock, Director of The Rising Tide, said, “Access to credit drives the creation of economic opportunities. Too few small businesses are gaining that access in this recession,” adding, “we are working hard to be the antidote to the tight credit market, at least for microenterprises in the Lehigh Valley.”

Hanover Township Business Rated 5th Most Promising Young Company in USA

During last night's Northampton County Council meeting, Rev. Mike Dowd told fellow council members that Weather Trends, a Hanover Township business established in 2006, has been recognized by Forbes as the fifth most promising young company in America. "This is out of 12,000 companies that were reviewed. They were number five. It's remarkable, a remarkable story." If this company can really predict which way the wind is blowing, it should forget meteorology and get into political consulting.

Pa.'s Department of General Services Will Network With Small Businesses on Friday

The Department of General Services (DGS) is hosting a networking event for small businesses, Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and Women Business Enterprises (WBEs).

When: Friday, September 12, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

Where: Lehigh University, Iacocca Hall, 111 Research Drive, Bethlehem, PA 18015.

This event will give small businesses and MBE/WBEs an opportunity to network with key individuals in the Commonwealth as well as other small businesses.

The idea is to mix small and minority businesses with some of the key state decision makers, obviously improving chances of doing business with the Commonwealth.

You can register online here.