Cambridge Local First |
|
|
|
|
Cambridge Local First hopes that everyone had a
wonderful holiday season. Its over for another year
and we now have time to make good on our New Year's
resolutions. CLF made a few resolutions of our own,
most notably to increase membership, involve the
citizens
of Cambridge in our campaign, and to support the
growth and development of all CLF businesses. We
think that the directory will play a big part in
this resolve and we invite you to read on about some
exciting things happening for our organization.
|
The Directory is Here!!!
Hot off the Press
We are excited to announce that 20,000 copies of our
first ever
Cambridge Local First Member
Directory have arrived and we are in the
process of hand-delivering them to all Local First
businesses. A press release has gone out to local
media and we feel that we have made history in New
England. We will also be distributing the directory
to other key distribution points throughout the
city in the coming weeks.
Please note that the directory
lists only members who joined Cambridge Local First
before we went to press. Our membership is growing
daily and founding members will be added to the
front page of the CLF website. In the near future
we will also boast a complete on-line directory of
all members.
Let's put the directory to
work . . .
. . . at building business for all of us. Here's
what you can do to help make this happen.
A letter with helpful suggestions on displaying and
distribution of the directory will accompany your
supply. Please read the letter and feel free to
make suggestions and comments on how to get the word
out. We will be mailing you a hard copy of the
helpful hints and have
posted the letter to our website.
Thank you one and all for making the
directory a success!
And, a huge thank you to Ambit Press! Lisa, our rep
was especially helpful, patient and thorough, not to
mention kind and thoughtful in working with us.
Ambit's owners Peter and David Reed, also get a big
thank you for placing their ad on the back of the
directory, and giving us a very reasonable price for
their labors!
We also want to thank Simon of TAGS Home & Hardware
for being the pick-up point for directory
distribution. It is a huge effort on the part of
his staff, but we have found them to be very
cooperative, friendly and well informed about what
CLF is all about. Thanks Simon.
|
|
Our Apologies
Pill Hardware - Cambridge Local First Member!
We tried so hard
to be perfect in getting all member businesses of CLF
listed and listed correctly in this our first edition of
the directory.
However, we missed Pill Hardware. Pill was one of the
first Central Square businesses to proudly display the
CLF decal and we sincerely apologize for this
oversight. Don't overlook Pill for your hardware, home
and garden shopping. To us long-time Cambridge
residents, we don't need to be told where Pill is
located, its a landmark in Central Square, but in case
you don't know: 743 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-876-8310.
The Games People Play - 617 · 492
· 0711!
We
also listed an incorrect phone number for The Games
People Play, 1100 Massachusetts Avenue. Please note the
correct phone number, 617-492-0711 and visit this
wonderful store - The Speciality Store for Board Games,
Chess Sets and Puzzles Since 1974! |
The Cambridge Local First Story
February 6, 8-10 p.m.
Cambridge Center for Adult
Education
56 Brattle St
Click Here to Register
Join us for an evening with the
leaders of CLF as they share the Cambridge Local First
story and explain why they have invested their time,
energy, and resources into building this exciting
movement. Learn why and how you can shop local, think
local, and be local.
You'll also find out about why Local First is a part of
a larger community that includes the Sustainable
Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN) and is led by
the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)
that includes almost 50 local networks from all over the
US and Canada.
The program will be an interactive panel discussion
featuring some of Cambridge's favorite local business
owners, led by BALLE co-founder Laury Hammel. Come and
learn and get fired up about this growing international
movement.
Panelists:
|
Cambridge
Local First Party
"Celebrate the Directory"
February 21, 5-7 p.m.
Upstairs On the Square
91 Winthrop Street
(facing Winthrop Park)
No Charge
Please RSVP to Karen Kelley
Its time to
celebrate!
We have planned a
directory and welcome new members party. This will
be a great opportunity for all of us to meet and
greet the 60 new members who have come on board in
the past few months, and give us a chance to
reconnect with each other, share news, ideas, and
have some fun. We deserve it!
We will also be launching our "Think Local, Be
Local" project (see Think Local, Be Local article in
this newsletrer) and will be sharing information and
plans about this exciting initiative.
Please join us at
Upstairs on the Square, our gracious host, for an
evening of celebration. We need to know how many to
expect, so please make plans to come and don't
forget to RSVP.
We hope to see you
there!
|
Local First Staff Member Workshop
February 23,
10-12 a.m.
Cambridge Center for Adult
Education
56 Brattle St
No Charge
We know
that Cambridge Local First is important to you and your
business. We want to take your commitment to CLF a step
further and invite your managers and staff to attend this
upcoming workshop. Our businesses need the buy-in of
our staff to ensure we maximize the benefits of
Cambridge Local First and to effectively promote
shopping locally.
The workshop will be an interactive session focusing on
the CLF mission, how to put the directory to work, ways
in which CLF businesses can collaborate to improve
customer service, decrease expenses, and increase
sales. Laury Hammel, the clerk of Local First, will
lead the workshop.
Please make note of this date and make
arrangements for your staff to attend.
|
Think Local, Be Local
Cambridge Local First is
excited to announce the launching of a new project
to involve the citizens of Cambridge in its mission
and outreach. Our first official activity will be
the "Celebrate the CLF Directory" party at Upstairs
On The Square (see Party article in this newsletter)
and everyone is welcome to attend this fun and
informative event.
Mission:
-
Establish a group of positive influential
Cambridge residents to support Cambridge
Local First in promoting locally owned
businesses.
Objectives:
-
Keep people informed about what is going on with
CLF and locally owned businesses.
-
Encourage people to buy locally.
-
Help publicize the programs and work of CLF to
Cambridge residents.
-
Enlist the assistance of Cambridge residents in
encouraging the City of Cambridge to support CLF
activities and programs.
-
Help raise money to support
CLF programs
Jonathan Henke, owner of
Didriks and
Bamboo Fencer, and Karen Kelley, our Executive
Director, and member of
Cambridge Artists' Cooperative will be leading
this initiative. Please contact
Karen with any comments, suggestions or
questions.
|
Business-to-Business
Spotlight Newsletter
| |
|
Cambridge Local First is excited to announce
a brand new newsletter focused on sharing
information, business to business,
exclusively for Cambridge Local First member
businesses.
Share the Wealth
Is your store or organization having a sale,
do you need to announce an event, a new
product line or an industry award? Tell us
about it and we will spread the word. We
need to know what is happening with each
other so that we can make good on our
commitment to support each other
business-to-business. In addition, our
general interest e-mail list is just over
300 strong and growing daily. That's 300
interested people we are reaching out to and
telling about your business!
Submit Your News
Each month, a special request for
submissions will be sent out at which time
you can reflect and plan to submit your
news.
Information will be compiled and the CLF
Spotlight Newsletter sent to every member of
Cambridge Local First!
How to Submit
A simple e-mail is all it takes!
E-mail Karen Kelley, our Executive Director,
your news (please include spotlight
newsletter in the subject line) and she will
work with you to make sure your message gets
posted in the best light possible.
Click here to submit your news now!
A simple message with the facts is all we
need. If you have an exciting link to your
web-site, we can include that as well.
Thank You and we hope you take advantage of
this opportunity to have your business in
the spotlight! |
|
Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston
Formerly Responsible Business Association
Cambridge Local First is a project of the 501c3
nonprofit organization that was originally
called the Responsible Business Association
(RBA). RBA changed its name to the Sustainable
Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN) in
December of 2006.
SBN is an organization of business leaders
committed to promoting high ethical standards in
business, a multiple stakeholder business model,
productive and fulfilling workplaces and
environmentally sustainable business practices.
Changing the name of RBA to SBN is more than
simply a name change, the new name reflects an
evolutionary change in the strategic direction
of SBN's work and in its programs. The major
shift is a stronger orientation toward bringing
together businesses who promote sustainability.
SBN has noticed that the growing number of
businesses committed to sustainability has grown
in greater Boston to the point where there is a
critical mass. SBN's objective is to bring
together business leaders who want to change the
world through their business.
SBN has ramped up its work in promoting
sustainability in the greater Boston business
community and is currently involved in a number
of important initiatives that are making a
significant difference in our world and include
local first campaigns, the Boston Green Business
Awards program, the Business Summit for a
Sustainable Boston, the International Symposium
on Spirituality and Business, and other programs
and projects. Check out the SBN web site at
SBNBoston.org.
|
Growing Local Value
New Book by
Our Own Laury Hammel
Drawing on real-world
examples from TAGS Hardware, Roxbury Technology
Corporation, Greyston Bakery, Wild Planet Toys,
and many other companies, Laury Hammel of
Cambridge and the Clerk of Local First, and
co-author Gun Denhart show how you can leverage
every aspect of your business - from product
creation to employee recruitment, vendor
selection, and raising capital - to benefit both
the community and the bottom line. Growing Local
Value explores in depth how your business can
contribute to its community - and the benefits
it will receive when it does.
Laury began his book tour
at in December at WBUR speaking at the annual
Sustainable Business Network (SBN) holiday
party, followed by Salt Lake City, and most
recently at Boston College. His next stops take
him to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and California.
He will also be leading a keynote address a the
18th Annual Sustainable Business Network
Conference on May 17th at The Lenox Hotel. His
book can be purchased at Local First members,
the
Harvard Book Store and
Porter Square Books.
|
|
|
|
|
