I remember seeing a blog-post by Tom Snyder, stating that blogs have to go out of their way to get browsing folks’ attention, if you expect the blogs to be read. I hope that headline got your eyes to pause…
Yesterday was a great day in Milwaukee for local businesses and the local community. There was, on the south side of the Menomonee Valley, the groundbreaking for the Pedestrian Passage that will connect the south-side neighborhoods to the wonderful Menomonee Valley and the Hank Aaron Trail. The groundbreaking was led by Laura Bray, executive director of the Menomonee Valley Partners (click here for a pdf about their vision). As with any ground-breaking, there were lots of people in suits sharing words of encouragement and support for this project that really is going to make a difference.
As stated by Ken Leinbach from the Urban Ecology Center, in the past, residents would need to travel nearly “THREE MILES to reach the Valley.” With the project’s completion? 150 YARDS. Now that is change that’s making a difference.
Speakers included:
Laura Bray of the Menomonee Valley Partners,
the aforementioned Ken Leinbach,
Rocky Marcoux, from the Milwaukee Department of City Development,
Angelo Fallucca of Palermo’s Pizza (with a great Sustainability policy).
There were other speakers, but those are the only ones I remember–sorry to those I can’t recall!
While at the ground-breaking, I also had the chance to chat briefly with Dave LaHaye, another local photographer!
In the evening, on Milwaukee’s north side, at the Sprecher Brewery, Our Milwaukee held a B2B networking meeting for its members. Our Milwaukee is a great trade-group, espousing the importance of “thinking local” when it comes to our shopping needs. Locally-owned businesses bring a lot of the unique flavor to Milwaukee and it’s only through supporting these businesses that Milwaukee will stay the great place that it is! Please, when you’re considering where to go shopping, check the OM Member List first!
I was very happy to be a part of the B2B showcase, alongside businesses like Bleidorn Tax and Investment Services, Tri-Kleen, MC2, Peacemaking Associates, and UniFi Records.
OM President Pam Mehnert, from Outpost Natural Foods, stated, “We talk a lot about the importance of supporting locally-owned businesses from the consumer-to-business viewpoint, but just as important for those businesses’ success is the development of business-to-business relationships. We have many OM members whose missions are to support our other business members, so please take this opportunity to meet some of them!”
As has always been the case, I had a great time at this meeting, making new acquaintances and reaffirming current friendships! I had the opportunity to talk with:
Dima Pochtarev and Michelle Lopez, of Uni-Fi Records,
Stef Bartz of Stef Bartz Photography,
Katie Hunt, a fine art painter, who works for Stone Creek Coffee,
Brian Mayer, from Anna Grace Photography,
Michelle, Shelly and Gibson, from the Riverwest Co-op,
Brian Waterman, from Buelow-Vetter,
Joel Schudt, from MC2,
Dana Johnson, from Open Leaf Excursions, (GREEN)
Michael Stoddola, from Boelter-Lincoln,
Michael Glass, from Tri-Kleen (GREEN)
Karen Gill, of Karen Cooks It,
Anna Sprecher, from the night’s host, Sprecher Brewery.
A lot of the Our Milwaukee members are on Twitter. You can see a list of “tweeting” OM members HERE.
Enjoy these photos from Tuesday’s events!
[slideshow]