The Frankford Business and Professional Association had a GREAT general meeting this morning! We welcomed two guest speakers, Iola Harper of InGoodCompany LLC and George Van Note from the City’s Health Department.

Iola, who runs classes and workshops on small business marketing, gave a wonderful presentation on the basics of marketing your business on a budget. Topics included how to target your ad campaign to a specific group of consumers as well as how to tap into resources that are readily available, such as social media and news outlets.  You can visit her online at igcphilly.com.

George Van Note, Program Manager at the city’s Office of Food Protection, focsued on food safety for special events open to the public.  He discussed what types of licenses are needed from the City when planning a special event, as well as the methods and requirements for safely serving food at special events.

We hope you’ll be able to join us at our next meeting, June 20th at 8:30a at Frankford Aria Hospital (4900 Frankford Ave), where we will hear from the Tobacco Control Project and The Business Center.

The Frankford Business & Professional Association is starting off 2012 right! Not only is our membership drive off to a strong start, but our first meeting of the year was a huge success! Donna O’Brien of Beautiful Blooms Events (www.beautifulblooms.com) spoke to us about how to go about being a good business neighbor, and the best ways to grow a business based out of your home in to one featured in magazines and newspapers. She even explained why she chose to move her business from the suburbs back in to the City! And Andrea Mannino of the City’s Revenue Department broke down two new pieces of municipal business tax legislation, “Jump Start Philly” and the Green/Sanchez Business Privilege Tax Reform legislation, both of which will greatly benefit small businesses in Philadelphia and are set to take effect over the next two to three years. Our speakers embodied a mix of firsthand business expertise with practical information about City government that both the Business Association and the Frankford Community Development Corporation try to bring to Frankford’s commercial enterprises and residents.

And the Business Association’s busy 2012 is just getting started! Our next meeting will be held on April 17th from 8:30a to 10:00a at Frankford ARIA Hospital, in the 2nd Floor Conference Rooms. Retail consultant Iola Harper will be speaking, as will a representative from the City’s Health Department. We’ve got some other tricks up our sleeves as well! Join us on March 29th from 4:30p to 7:30p at Globe Dye Works for a meeting and greet – and stay tuned for future announcements and updates. We promise you won’t be disappointed by some of the speakers we’ve got booked for the year!

Interested in becoming a member of the Association? Contact Michelle Feldman at 215-743-6580 or mfeldman.fcdc@gmail.com. Our annual membership fee is only $60 – well worth the benefits of joining! Check out our website, www.frankfordbpa.org, for more info.

Donna O’Brien (Beautiful Blooms), Diane Richardson (Business Association President), Andrea Mannino (City of Philadelphia’s Revenue Department), and Jojy Varghese (Office of State Representative Tony Payton, Jr.)

I’m posting the Frankford Business and Professional Association 2011 Year End Report for the benefit of our readers who might be interested in joining and attending their monthly meetings.  There is a listing of some of the speakers at this year’s meetings.  I know that this group has become more active in the last year and we hope that it continues to grow.

You can read the report here in pdf format.

We bet you’ve passed Irqaa’s Cafe at 4663 Frankford Avenue a million times, but that shop is home to a lot more than good, home cooked food. Nafisah Lewis, owner and chef, is quite the entrepreneur: she caters and sews, but most importantly she is a world class candle maker. She started making candles five years ago, after she and her sister-in-law attended a flea market and struck up a conversation with a woman selling her own home made candles. “I can do this,” Nafisah thought. Her first forays in to candle making were, in her own words, a disaster, but she soon mastered the science and art of the craft.

Today, Nafisah makes candles of all scents, colors and sizes for as low as five dollars. Scents include fruit slice, banana nut bread, lavender, and cranberry. But if her standard candles are not what you’re looking for, she’ll work with you to create a scent to call your own. As she puts it, “What I love about making candles is the response I get from my customers, seeing them smile and hearing them say, ‘Oh your candles are just the best!’ That’s when you know you have a good product. I’ve been told my candles are better than Yankee Candles!”

Nafisah has lived in Frankford for thirty years, and she and her husband opened Irqaa Cafe thirteen years ago. She loves the restaurant, but loves being busy and multi-tasking even more. She’s always looking to expand upon her business efforts, and satisfy her increasingly large customer base.

So stop in Irqaa’s (open Monday through Thursday from 8:00a to 5:00p, and from 8:30a to 6:00p on Fridays and Saturdays), eat some of Nafisah’s famous blueberry pancakes, and then ask her to make you a blueberry pancake scented candle! We guarantee she can do it. Or, if you can’t make it in to the shop, give her a call at 267-738-4529 and check out her new website, www.justgoodscents.webs.com.

Nafisah Lewis

This past weekend the Frankford CDC & the Mural Arts program teamed up to petition the neighborhood and film Frankford residents telling their stories, to help inspire the murals that are coming to Frankford. It was a great day – as you can see from the pictures below! We’ll be filming again on Tuesday, November 15th, from 2:00p to 6:00p at the CDC’s offices, 4900 Griscom Street. 

Remember that date because it’s a busy day in Frankford: the CDC will also be celebrating America Recycles Day, so stop by to be filmed AND get a blue recycling bin! And if you thought that wasn’t enough, the Frankford Business & Professional Association will be meeting from 12:00n to 2:00p at Northeast Treatment Centers (4625 Frankford Ave) that day.  Come listen to a representative from Beautiful Blooms in the Piazza talk about being a good business neighbor and building a supportive business community. Lunch will be provided.
 
We hope you’re as excited as we are about how much is going on in Frankford!