From its headquarters on Crease Street, Usiloquy Dance Designs stages preformances, educational outreach, lectures & demonstrations of Bharatanatyam Dance. The group’s artistic director, Shaily Dadiala, lives in Fishtown, and is looking for ways to better connect her art and her neighbrohood.
If your interested in hosting a Bharatanatyam demonstration at your venue during First Friday, or any other community event, contact Shaily!
A friendly reminder to the denizens of Frankford Ave;
Beginning the week of June 21st, and continuing for 5 months, Frankford Ave. streetscape improvements will be installed. During the project Frankford Ave will remain open to traffic in both directions at all times, however there will be rolling closures of the parking lanes. Work will begin on the eastern side of Frankford at Palmer St. and continue north to York St. After the eastern side of Frankford is completed, work will begin on the western side at York St. and continue south to Palmer St. Please take this opportunity to prepare for the short term inconvenience, and feel free to contact Sarah or Henry at NKCDC with any questions or concerns.
Wednesday June 2nd at 6pm the Fishtown Area Business Association will meet at Third Federal Bank (2326 E York St). All Fishtown Area buisiness owners are invited to attend. We will be discussing board nominations and elections. There will also be a speaker from Health-care for America Now!, Marc Stier, who will talk about how the changes in health-care laws will effect your business.
For more information contact FABA Secretary Mary Friehofner at fabasecretary@aol.com
At the end of January, the City of Philadelphia announced that $27 million in federal funds have been allocated towards programs for small businesses. One of these programs is particularly relevant to businesses as PECO prepares to remove the rate increase cap in 2011, impacting the energy bills of people throughout the city. The GreenWorks Small Business Energy Efficiency Rebate was devised to prepare businesses for these future changes.
The purpose of this program, according to the City’s Commerce Department, is to encourage businesses and commercial property owners to improve the energy efficiency of their operations by investing in structural retrofits and energy efficiency processes or equipment. The program reimburses owners of commercial buildings and businesses who make energy efficiency improvements up to 50% of the costs of these improvements. The maximum rebate amount per applicant is $10,000. All projects must meet two criteria. First, businesses or commercial properties must prove that the improvements made to the building will result in a 20% reduction in annual energy consumption. Secondly, funds used must result in a payback period of no more than 10 years. Typical projects include HVAC, lighting, energy management control systems, windows and insulation, commercial equipment or major appliances, water heating systems, electric motors and in some cases, renewable energy projects. More details are outlined after the jump.
When Renee Fuchs came to Philadelphia from her native Hatboro, she thought she was coming to follow a lucrative career in Human Resources for a local non-profit. Now, years later, as she stands on the verge of opening her very own vegan bakery and cafe, it looks like she made a wrong turn somewhere. But that ‘wrong turn’ has taken her straight to Fishtown, and into a community hungry for even more healthy food and tasty coffee.
All during her tenure at the non-profit, Renee had had side projects as an outlet for her creative energy, even selling homemade doggy treats out of her home. She started making vegan food when her brother was diagnosed with Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, making it impossible for him to digest most traditional baked goods.
Her discovery of a store for rent in Fishtown was what made her decide to make her interest in vegan baked goods into a job. Renee says she was looking for a place “with open-minded people”, and settled on Fishtown over Center City. She says its up-and-coming feel and artistic presence made it seem like a neighborhood that would be more accepting to the concept of a vegan cafe.
Although Renee won’t be baking the food at Bella Sera, it will be provided by a well-regarded regional bakery, Vegan Treats, out of Bethlehem. Renee doesn’t want to push away non-vegan customers, and believes that Vegan Treats makes pastries so good, they’re virtually indistinguishable from non-vegan baked goods.
Renee wants her cafe to be focused on providing healthy, delicious food without harming the environment or exploiting workers in other countries. In that spirit, all the plates at the cafe will be biodegradable, and all the coffee will be Fair Trade. So come out and support the latest addition to the Ave. Renee held her grand opening last Sunday to huge crowd, and is looking forward to more successes to come in the future. Visit their website at www.bellaseracafe.com for more information.
Located at: 2146 E. Susquehanna Ave
