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It is still January so we'll take this moment to wish you a Happy New Year. Let's hope that 2016 brings everyone more health, happiness, and peace.
Last month we held a bunch of activities to help bring in the holiday spirit from community celebrations, to window strolls, to Thursday merchant specials. And with our neighborhood collaborators, there was a lot going on, lots of people out and about, and better weather too.
And building upon last year, we hope that 2016 will bring even more to the neighborhood. We'll outline this vision at our March 8 Annual Meeting along with our project to really understand Hyde and Jackson Squares. Read below on how we will be kicking this off and how you can help.
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Holiday Celebrations
On December 4, Tails Retail hosted Hyde & Jackson Squares' holiday merchant decorating kickoff at our Light Up Hyde/Jackson event. We had delicious food from Aurum Restaurant and a great turnout of merchants and residents. Thank you to City Councilor Matt O'Malley for lighting up the neighborhood by flipping the window display switch.
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Light Up Hyde/Jackson celebration.
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On a truly, beautiful day on Saturday, December 5, the Mayor's Enchanted Holiday Trolley Tour came through to enliven the crowd of residents in Hyde Square. A special thank you goes out to the Office of Mayor Marty Walsh for organizing this special community celebration.
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Mayor's Trolley Tour in Hyde Square.
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Neighborhood volunteers from all ages met at El Oriental de Cuba on a relatively cool night on December 10 to gather some warmth and hot chocolate and set out to view all the holiday window creations of the merchants. They also acted as our judges to choose their favorite holiday windows. While walking from Hyde Square to Jackson Square, resident-judges were able to enjoy 33 holiday window displays of merchants along with residential buildings that were also excited to participate. To cap off the evening, the group finished up at Latino Restaurant and enjoyed a delicious meal. Thank you to all 33 of the merchants that participated in this activity as well as our cheerful judges.
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Walking the neighborhood and viewing visual treats in windows.
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For the second year in a row our overall Holiday Window Decorating Contest winner was Tails Retail at 380 Centre Street. They also won in our Retail/Restaurant category. And for winning this year again, they will host our Light Up Hyde/Jackson party next year. Congratulations to Tails Retail!
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Tails Retail's top winning window along with staff.
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New this year were two new contest categories: Best Business Office/Nonprofit Office and Best Residential Building.
Family Caregivers won the Best Business Office/Nonprofit Office Window.
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The Team of Family Caregivers in front of their winning window.
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And in the Best Residential Building category in our commercial business district, 3 Westerly Street won by putting on an amazing light display.
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3 Westerly Street residence.
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Understanding Our Assets:
Lend Us Your Thoughts at Our Annual Meeting
Hyde Jackson S
quare Main Street will be kicking off our year-long Asset Mapping Project at our Annual Meeting to gather and understand our community's assets as they relate to the Main Street Approach. Come join us at The Frogmore Restaurant to enjoy some tasty bites from their menu, network with other community members, learn about our accomplishments from last year, and think along with us to articulate our community's assets.
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2005 banner promo highlighting neighborhood strengths. Many of these are still here today.
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Asset Mapping is the process of identifying a community's positive attributes in order to better understand it. Once we gather this information through stories, data, photos, etc., we will be able to use it to leverage resources and develop strategies from our community's wealth. Once done, we would like to share this valuable information to other community groups.
The March 8 Annual Meeting is free. Please RSVP your attendance to [email protected] or call 617-522-3694.
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Business
Corner
Free Trainings and Information for Our Merchants
2016 ILC Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Call for Nominations
Do you know of an outstanding foreign-born entrepreneur? The International Learning Center (ILC) is soliciting for nominations for its 2016 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. Nominate a business or nominate yourself. More information can be found at
www.ilctr.org
. Nominations are due by March 4, 2016.
SBA Resources
Deadline to Apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans in Massachusetts is February 15
The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts of the deadline to submit disaster loan applications for economic injury caused by record breaking snowfall and extreme cold temperatures between Jan. 26, 2015 and Feb. 22, 2015. The deadline to apply for a working capital disaster loan is February 15, 2016.
Applications and program information are available by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by sending an email to [email protected]. Loan applications can also be downloaded from the SBA's website at
www.sba.gov/disaster.
Sick Time Leave Laws - Are You Compliant? What You Need to Know About the New Massachusetts Sick Time Leave Law
The Massachusetts Earned Sick Time law went into effect on July 1, 2015 imposing new obligations on employers with full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees.
This workshop will address which employees are covered, whether or not the leave is paid or unpaid, and how to accrue and track time off. For more information, c
ontact Abby Grant at [email protected] or 978-542-2021.
Thursday, January 28
8:30 - 10:30 am
Enterprise Center at Salem State University
121 Loring Avenue, Suite 106
Salem. MA
LGBT Business Builder
The purpose of this initiative is to remove barriers and increase access to strategic growth opportunities for America's LGBT business owners. Join NGLCC, SBA, and the Greater Boston Business Council for the LGBT Business Builder event in Boston.
Click to register for this event.
The workshop will prepare attendees to:
- Grow their businesses with the NGLCC LGBT Business Enterprise® (LGBTBE) certification,
- Leverage the resources and information provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration into lucrative procurement contracts,
- Take advantage of emerging procurement opportunities now open in California as well as Massachusetts.
Wednesday February 17
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Tip O'Neil Federal Building
10 Causeway Street
Boston, MA
Check out These Short Articles:
SBA Online Trainings
The Small Business Administration has many free online trainings that can help you in your business.
Click here for a complete list of trainings.
SCORE Workshops
Developing Your Business Plan
Has everyone told you that you need a business plan, but it seems like a daunting task and you're not completely sure how to get it done? In this 2-hour workshop, we will demystify the business plan process. The workshop is presented by SCORE Boston and will be led by Ken Watman, a SCORE counselor who focuses on business planning and strategy, market research, and competitive intelligence. Click
to register.
Tuesday February 9
10:00 - 12:00 pm
Harvard iLab
125 Western Ave
Allston, MA
Financial Statement Basics for Small Business Owners
Every entrepreneur starts a business intending to make a good living, but a surprising number of business owners are missing critical skills for understanding the financial aspects of their business. Join us for this down-to-earth workshop that explains what you need to know about planning, profits, and cash flow. Click
to register and receive more information.
Friday, February 12
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Newton Library
330 Homer Street, 3rd Floor Rear Arc Room
Newton, MA
Score Online Trainings
The Service Core of Retired Executives has many online workshops and services.
Click here for a list of online workshops.
If you would like to receive further information specific to the business community (workshops, meetings, etc.), please register/re-register
here by typing your email address and clicking "Go". Instructions will be send to you to change your profile.
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Main Street Activities
Annual Meeting
Tuesday, March 8
5:00 - 8:00 pm
The Frogmore Restaurant
365 Centre Street
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Do you have neighborhood news that you'd like others to know about or information about a meeting, activity, or event that you'd like to post? Send listings or ideas to [email protected] or call 617-522-3694.
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