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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. FEBRUARY 25, 2009 - PAGE 5B
Top Downtown Issue: Parking
By Mark Beardsley
Following a two-hour “town
hall meeting’' last Thursday,
the Commerce Downtown
Development Authority
found that parking is still an
issue in Commerce.
That was not a stunning
development. Parking has
been an issue since Broad
and Elm Streets were paved
and lined.
Four times as many peo
ple identified parking issues
as any of the other almost
70 ideas suggested by about
60 participants.
Parking was also the top
issue three years ago when
the DDA held its last town
hall meeting. Since then,
the city has enjoyed mod
est accomplishments aimed
at alleviating problems —
re-striping and repairing
potholes, adding some
lighting and enlarging the
parking lot across from the
civic center — but parking
remains a problem in the
eyes of the public.
Of the “votes’’ cast for
projects suggested earlier,
creating and enforcing a
parking ordinance got 22.
Other parking-related safe
ty issues — from lights in
parking lots, better signage,
cleaning up parking lots and
slowing down traffic in the
downtown so people can
get out of parking spots —
generated another 15 votes.
The next-highest issue,
with nine votes, was advertis
ing to attract Tanger Outlet
shoppers into Commerce.
Identifying problems is
the easy part. What’s next?
“The (DDA) board will
be discussing the results of
the meeting at Wednesday’s
(Feb. 25) board meeting,’’
said Hasco Craver, the
DDA’s executive direc
tor. “Hopefully, we will put
together a half-day retreat
in the next 30 to 60 days
and make it (implementing
the suggestions) a para
mount portion of our plan
of work.’’
Each town hall meeting
participant was given four
“votes’’ to cast for prior
ity projects. Other projects
and the number of “votes’’
received include:
• advertising at Banks
Crossing, 9
•the creation of a bike/
walking trail in the down
town, 9
• sidewalk seating for
cafes or restaurants, 8
• gateway signage for city
entrances, 8
•repair of the retaining
wall on the railroad right of
way near City Tire, 6
•recruitment of a “high-
end’’ restaurant, 5
•creation of a historic
preservation ordinance, 5
• nighttime business
hours in the downtown,
recruitment of a jewelry
repair shop, recruitment of
a shoe repair shop, location
of an art studio downtown,
a “shop local’’ referral sys
tem among merchants, a
location of a meat market
downtown, increased use of
cooperative advertisement,
increased volunteerism,
creation of a recycling pro
gram, and enforcement of
the downtown speed limits,
four votes apiece.
Downtown Development Authority member Clark
Hill addresses participants in the DDA’s town hall
meeting last Thursday.
Today’s Business Woman - Smart, Savvy, Successful
Smart, Savvy, Successful...
Today’s Business Woman
In this area, local woman are raising the bar and having a major impact
on the business community. It's estimated that nearly half of
locally-owned small businesses here are owned or majority-
owned by women.
Over the past twelve years, businesses fully women—
owned, or majority-owned by women, grew at
nearly twice the rate of all firms across the coun-
In this edition of The Commerce News, sev
eral local business women took the time to
share with our readers a little bit about
themselves and their companies. Some of
these are home-based businesses, some are
retail and others are service-oriented. A
broad look at these companies shows the
impact and contributions that women in
business have made in our communities.
In fact, interesting things are happening in the world of
women entrepreneurs nation-wide. They are now the
dominant force in small business ownership, and are suc
ceeding in industries that were once closed to them.
Angie Allen Hooper
Vice President, United Community Bank
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Angie Allen Hooper, Vice President of United Community Bank
has been in the financial services industry for over 26 years
and has seen a lot of changes throughout. Her ability to
accept and deal with the changes has impacted her success
tremendously. She is truly innovative and creative when
helping customers overcome their daily financial obstacles.
Her United co-workers and the variety of customers really make the job unique and
keeps it interesting everyday. Angie is happy that United Community Bank hires people
who "genuinely care about their customers and their financial needs."
COMMERCE I 2025 Homer Rd. I 706-423-9300
Lobby Hours
Mon.-Fri.: 9:00 am-5:00 pm
Sat.: 9:00 am-Noon
Drive-Thru Hours
Mon. - Fri.: 8:30 am-5:00pm
Sat.: 8:30am-Noon
United
l UNITE °l Community Bank.
The Bank That SERVICE Built.'
Proudly serving our customers for 58 years, with 27 locally managed banks in over 100 locations in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Copyright ©2009 United Community Bank MemberFDIC \ UCbi.COm
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T-Shirt USA
Paige opened her embroidery shop in 2008.
Successful business people are very focused,
disciplined, have high energy, are enthusiastic, are
not afraid of long hours, develop good networking
skills, and are good people persons. Paige is that
person.
What makes T-Shirt USA unique is our FAST
turnaround time, which generally is 2 or 3 days or
sooner. We can embroider basically anything a
needle will pierce. If you have a thought or idea we
can embroider it.
At T-Shirt USA we appreciate our customers, their
needs and their wants. We are driven by wanting to
respond to these needs in an innovative, creative
and efficient manner.
Visit our website at www.T-ShirtUSA.com for more
information and samples of our work.
Wktua
dery & Cus
1814 N. Broad Street, Commerce, GA
706-335-2350
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 12 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. • Saturday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Closed Sunday and Thursday
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Kim Bost
Your Local Pharmacist
After graduating from U.G.A. College of Pharmacy in
1988 with a BS degree in pharmacy Kim decided to
pursue her Pharmacy D degree in 2001, graduating
again in 2004.
Kim and her husband Zeb own two independent
pharmacies. Homer Drug Co. is located in Homer
and Tiger Town Pharmacy is in Commerce. They
bought Homer Drug Co. in 2004 and opened Tiger
Town Pharmacy in October 2005.
Our pharmacies are unique because we are
independent pharmacies that specialize in providing
exceptional customer service. We get to know our
customers and treat them like family. We will go
above and beyond for our patients. We also offer
special services you won't find in chain pharmacies,
such as prescription compounding, diabetic shoes and
diabetes education classes.
I feel like I am successful because I
have an extremely strong supportive
network of family, friends and an
exceptional staff that works tirelessly
to offer the very best customer
service.
1939 HOMER RO. • COMMERCE, GEORGIA
706 3394)099 • tigertownpharmacv@alltel.nat
V
Homer
DRtfG Co
1 Est. 19771
1228 Historic Homer Hwy. • Homer, GA 30547
Phone (706) 677-3223 • Email: homerdrug@alltel.net
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Connie West
ABC Pawn & jewelry
Melanie opened Simply Serene Day Spa in downtown Commerce this year. She is a
licensed Esthetician and offers customized skin care solutions, body treatments, waxing,
microderm and massage.
By appt.
Simply Serene is unique and special
because Melanie is dedicated to total client
relaxation and dealing with different skin
issues. She also carries Eminence organic
products.
Melanie is a successful business woman
because of the concern she has for her
clients' needs and desires. She also is a
hardworker and has a very supporting family.
706-713-1771
or 706-335-6407
32 Pine St.
Commerce, GA
(across from Post Office)
Connie has been in business for 20 years
providing people with 3 great locations.
Af ABC Pawn every day is different! They
sell new and previously owned jewelry,
firearms and other items. They buy, sell,
trade and loan money on items of value.
Connie also provides year-round
lay-a-ways.
Connie has been a successful business
woman because she takes one day at a
time and one customer at a time. She
strives to care for all needs and wants of
every person regardless of the circum
stance, race, gender or age. She also
strives everyday to keep her priorities in
order - God first.
ABC PAWN & JEWELRY
9-5 Mon., Tties., Thurs. & Fri., 9-2 Saturday
1924 N. Broad Street
Commerce, GA 30529
706-335-3808
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