Reminder!!!!

Trick or Treat night in Falls City

will be Saturday, October 30th!

Come to Spooks on the Square

from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Then head out to Trick or Treat!

January 24, 2011

January 5, 2011

Falls City Elks Lodge

January 18, 2011

Falls City Elks Lodge

Annual Soup Supper

November 21st

5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

St Mark’s Church

SE of Verdon, NE

Check out this link for more information!

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2010/sb20101019_201595.htm

Are you having a tough day?

Are you wondering why you are doing what you are doing?

Do you think you’re just stuck on “neutral” on your Main Street, in your neighborhood, or in your community today?

Here’s a great story that’s going around the e-mail circles like wild fire the past couple of days.  This is just great news.  It is even better that such a supportive journalist like Steve Lackmeyer gets to deliver the news.

The Paseo Neighborhood, once the unanimous black eye, the crime epicenter, the embarrassment of near northwest Oklahoma City, was named as one of the best ten neighborhoods in the country by the American Planning Association.

A long time ago, I bought a bungalow.  I simply wanted to  save little frame bungalows in a place called The Paseo. 

I learned about absentee landlords, arson, murder rates, prostitution, school truancy, children’s issues, illiteracy, stray dogs, stray cats, car theft, vandalism, drugs, public urination, loud music, and neighborhood conflicts.  For 9 years I worked as neighborhood president.  For 3 years, I worked on our house.  (Thankfully my wife bought into this urban experiment mid-way and jumped into the process.)  I now have been gone longer than I lived there.  We were the 3^rd owners of our house.  There have been 4 families since.  Many volunteers and presidents have followed in the 16 years since we moved.  Recently, I had a current neighbor explain the history and the makeup of the neighborhood to me.  I learned new things.  Time goes on…as humbling as it may be.

What you are doing today in Main Street—or in your neighborhoods and communities—may seem to be fruitless.  You may be tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, or simply depleted.  Today may be a good day as well.  There are those days, too.  On the positive side, I learned about community.  There were those days (before I was married) that I would arrive to find a pot luck supper on my back stoop.  “You’re working too hard.  We whipped up something for you,” read the scribbly little note on yellowed paper.  Under each tent of foil would be, warm, home-baked surprises.  The guess for the largest (left to last) would be just what kind of pie—knowing it would be a whole pie of some kind.  There was the thrill of delivering a Christmas tree—fully decorated—to a household where there had never been one.  At ages 8, 10, and 12, all kids glow.   There was a network of neighbors who converted garages to large dog houses.  At one time, the network included about 9 households, 8 cats, and 32 dogs.  Hauling food and water down moonlit, snow-packed alleys brings neighbors together.  Placing homeless dogs with lonely residents only can be measured with licks and wags and squeals and loving names.  The sense of community comes at you in so many ways that it takes the edge off those other days, other issues.

However, if it is a tough day today, remember, that what you are doing is most likely the best thing you can do at this time on this day with the resources at hand.

It may take 28 years before the designation comes…but realize that you, as a Main Street manager or a Main Street board member or a community volunteer or a neighborhood advocate, poured the foundation for something much bigger than yourself and your time here.  Your footprints will be cast as positive change.

Hard work and good deeds do get recognition—and it doesn’t matter who or how many contributed.  

It is just that you took the effort to contribute to a making a better place for your neighbors and for yourself. 

As most of my Paseo comrades from those years back have since passed through The Pearly Gates, I wanted to share this with others.  Many of those stately men and women remembered their neighborhood when it was “The Lawn Chair Society.”  They worked so hard to accept and adapt and adopt as new neighbors and new cultures moved in next door and down the block.  We dipped hundreds of cups of “Pink Paseo Punch” (recipe long lost) and passed around platters of heaping, warm, home-baked cookies during those years as we dreamt of a place that those of us who are left can now read about—and experience.

Thursday, November 18^th

 $7 adults - $3.50 kids

 Bazaar opens at 10:00 a.m.

 Luncheon 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

By Fred Patterson

It’s the Urban Myth that won’t stay debunked.  The Government will give you “free” money to start your business.  It’s easy to get!  All you have to do is ask them for it! Don’t know where to apply?  Buy my book and find out!  Only $69.95!

Uh-huh. Sure. That “Free Lunch” you’re looking for?  Guess what?  It’ll cost you $69.95 (plus shipping and handling)!  There is no free lunch, folks.  NO ONE is going to give you money without expecting something in return.  It’s called the “WIIFM” factor.  What’s In It For Me?  There’s always a WIIFM.   And all WIIFMs come with strings attached.

But there are different kinds of strings.   And, guess what?  If you can satisfy the WIIFM and are willing to manage the expectations of the string holders, money is available.  It’s just never free, and never without those strings.  

For perspective, let’s classify the different ways a business can be financed, after the owner has exhausted all personal funds, and bootstrapping (using generated revenues to finance all costs) is premature or insufficient:

Amateur financing strings are the easiest to manage, but can get tangled in a knot you’ll never untie if you’re not careful!  All your “3F Investor” wants is to be proud of you.  They also can be the most devastatingly impactful on your psyche if things go in directions they don’t approve of.  Accept this money carefully. 

Debt financing requires putting up collateral equal in value to the money provided, and having the ability to service the debt by making regular payments of principal and interest.  Definite strings here, as there’s ALWAYS collateral involved.

Equity financing: The equity investor is looking for a significant return on investment in a reasonable period of time. According to the SBA, fewer than half of small start-up businesses make it past five years.  This means getting an Angel (invests their own money) or a VC (invests someone else’s money) to invest in you is convincing them that you’re a safe bet to not only survive, but that you’re very likely to make LOTS of money.  Not only that but they’ll want you to either go public or be sold in some reasonable time frame.  Why?  Because their equity investment is in your private company’s stock, which is not convertible to cash without doing that!  Remember, their WIIFM is to build wealth, not collect paper stock certificates. 

Which brings us back to those “free money” Grants.  There are actually some Grants available for start-up businesses, but they’re not really free, and the money is not without strings.

The ONLY grants available for starting a business at the Federal level are those of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.  The WIIFM of the Federal Agency providing the money is that you solve a technology problem in an area that they identify which is pertinent to their Research and Development mission.  Then they get “use rights” or a “royalty-free license” to what you develop.  SBIR is intensely competitive, with only approximately 10% of the applications being funded.  If you’re selected, you can get over $1M for these projects (over 2-3 years).  You’re audited on how you spend the money, so it’s not, by any means, “free”.  And they may require you to publish the results and share in the title to any patents you may file.  Lots of strings.   But the SBIR strings are manageable (with special protections for your ownership rights), as there’s no debt to service, and they don’t own a piece of you as would an equity investor.  This small business program is not small potatoes, as close to $2.5 billion of projects are funded annually by eleven major Federal Agencies. 

So, let’s summarize.  Financing your start-up business will not be easy.  The high failure rate of small start-up businesses makes it risky for any investor. 

Equity investors may take a chance on a proven entrepreneur who has a pre-revenue business idea, but they’re generally risk averse for anything other than a scalable big-marketplace sure-bet business model that can produce an exit with high ROI in a short timeframe.   

Debt financing means putting at risk personal property that the bank really doesn’t want to own.  They’re also risk averse, and may be very difficult to sign up, even if you’re willing to service the debt. 

Grant financing is a very attractive option for technology companies who can respond to a Government need. 

So beware of offers to lead you to “Free Money” for starting a business, especially for a fee.  Don’t be taken in by hucksters.  There is no free lunch.

And watch out for the strings no matter what financing you take.  Always be aware of the WIIFMs, and manage those expectations.

The City of Falls City is working with RDG Planning & Design, a recognized leader in assisting communities, on preparing a Downtown Plan. An important part of our process is to talk informally with people who know Falls City best and are willing to share their opinions and insights with us. We would like to invite you to explore the Falls City workshop that will be held  on November 10, 11 and 12th at the Main Street Office, 1705 Stone Street. This three day session will give the community an opportunity to participate in the planning of downtown Falls City.  RDG will work on the plan with your input and you will see the changes on site.  Your participation at this workshop is vital to helping us understand the downtown and its potential, enabling us to create a plan that is specifically tailored to the needs of Falls City. We know that you will find the workshop to be stimulating and useful. Again, the time is:

November 10, 11 and 12th at the Main Street Office, 1705 Stone StreetIf you have any questions about this project, please contact Cassey Whalen (fcchamber@sentco.net) at 245-4228.

Thank you for your help. We know that you will find the planning process to be exciting and we appreciate your willingness to work with us to think about the future of Falls City.