NA First newsletter.

(submitted)

First, we want to welcome two new board members for New Albany First. Ann Streckfus (Earthly Goods.com) and Katrina Jones (Antiques Attic) have both agreed to work with us on the board of directors. We want to thank both for joining us as we continue to grow and improve.

We also want to thank Stacie Bale (Earth Friends Cafe) for her help and work on the board of New Albany First. We're sad that she isn't working with us on the board anymore, but know that she'll remain an advocate for our mission. We look forward to continuing to work with her in the future.

Lots of things happening around the area over the next few weeks starting with this weekend. Of course, this Friday and Saturday, we're pleased to bring Jeff Milchen to New Albany. Both events will be held on the 2nd floor at the River City Winery. Friday night's talk will be on the importance of localism and will include a Q & A with Jeff. We'll get started at 7 p.m.; the doors will open upstairs at 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jeff will present his workshop "Strength in Numbers" which is a look at the organizing of local businesses. The workshop will begin at 10 a.m. Coffee, drinks and pastries will be available.

If you're planning on attending the workshop Saturday morning, we encourage you to try and come Friday night as well as the two work in conjunction. We split the two on purpose to give business owners a chance to attend at least Friday evening. In the past, we noticed that some events like this were being held too early for local business owners to attend and wanted to make sure we gave them the opportunity to hear Jeff speak.

This is a big event for us and we hope that a good number of our fellow business owners and community members will attend.

We certainly want to thank our primary sponsors for the evening, River City Winery and Destinations Booksellers, as well as our supporting NA First members: EarthlyGoods.com, Mind's Eye Creative, Antiques Attic, New Albanian Brewing Company, and Gahan Architectural Veneer and Panel. Thanks to all of you for making this possible.

There are some other great events being sponsored by New Albany First members on that same evening. From our friends at the Carnegie Center:

"Check out everything you can do in New Albany on the evening of Friday October 28 - all within two blocks.

*Opening Reception for "Powering Creativity: Air, Fuel, Heat", 6:00-8:00 pm at the Carnegie Center, presented with Ohio Valley Creative Energy

*Deinstallation Celebration for "Brew History: All Bottled Up", 6:00-8:00 pm, New Albanian Brewing Company Bank Street Brewhouse, across Bank St. from the Carnegie Center

*Unveiling of NABC's IX – Ninth Anniversary Ale, an Imperial Smoked Chocolate Port Barrel Stout, in honor of their 9th anniversary of brewing

*New book "Sculpture and Design With Recycled Glass" available, featuring "Brew History: All Bottled Up". For sale courtesy of Destinations Booksellers, which is celebrating 7 years in New Albany in October 2011

*Presentation and Discussion on Localism and Independent Businesses, 7:00 pm, River City Winery, 321 Pearl St.

*After Party in the NABC Parking Lot, Featuring Music by Toledo Bend (courtesy of The Dandy Lion) 8:00 pm"

It should be a great night in New Albany!

Our friends at the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA) will also be hosting Jeff on Thursday evening, Oct. 27th at 5:30 for a discussion entitled "Job Creation: Myth vs. Fact" to be held at Interactive Media Labs, 124 North 1st St., Louisville. Afterwards, a members-only reception will take place. New Albany First members will be welcome to attend that reception.

LIBA has been very generous in their help (and advice) to us over the past few months. We're talking about ways to partner up in the future not the least of which is the upcoming AMIBA International Conference next spring. We thank them for the support they've shown us thus far.

Finally, the second of our 'be local' seminar series will take place on Tuesday, November 15th at Destinations Booksellers starting at 7 p.m. Scheduled panelists include Todd Antz of Keg Liquors and Blayr Bernard of the Small Business Development Center. Make plans to come and join in the conversation as we learn more about one of New Albany's newest businesses and how the SBDC can help prospective business owners achieve their dream.

More info will be on the way, but New Albany First will be hosting the 3rd annual Read-a-thon at Destinations Booksellers during Holiday Fest this year. We'll be raising money for the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter. If you'd like to participate either by sponsoring a reader or reading yourself (it's fun, I swear!) then let us know.

We hope to have our website up and running soon so that you'll be able to find all of our members listed in the database and keep up with events. It looks like it's going to be a very cool website and we can't wait to unveil it.

Speaking of those events, please help us spread the word about Jeff Milchen's visit. We're asking for RSVP's although they aren't necessary. We've had contact with groups from both Indianapolis and a Cincinnati suburb who are interested in coming as well, plus Bloomington and some folks from Louisville who have expressed interest. As great as that is, we truly want this to "be local" with a great turnout of New Albany residents. You can help us achieve that.