A Graduate of the City Business Incubator Opens Sh...

I am pleased to report that Michelle Cobbin owner of the Christian Edwards Hair Salon has found a new home in space at the New Era Building located at 184 Currie Hall Parkway in Kent’s south end of town just north of SR 261, between Franklin Avenue and SR 43. 

 Michelle is a proud Kent business owner and now that she has opened up her new shop she is officially a graduate of the City’s Summit Street Business Incubator.

sNOw Parking Ban...

Although the Ground Hog’s winter weather prediction accuracy runs a measly 39% correct, apparently this is one year out of three that Phil might actually get it right.  Sadly Phil saw his shadow this week which means another 6 weeks of winter and sure enough here comes the snow.  

The local weather forecasters are calling for a chance of Kent getting as much as 5 to 10 inches out of that big storm that is moving up through the Mid Atlantic states and into the Ohio Valley.  It may turn out that the front stalls south of us but in case it continues moving north on it’s current track the City’s Public Service Director has put Kent residents on notice that we may be implementing a parking ban early Saturday morning (February 6th) so that the crews can have safe access to plow your street – which means word to the wise — find someplace other than the street to park your car tonight in order to be safe rather than sorry in the morning. 

Here’s the official notice:

Main Street Email News Blast...

I dropped in Jason’s Barbershop in downtown Kent this weekend and Jason told me that since moving to his new location in Acorn Alley he’s picked up over 100 new customers which meant they added a 4th barber to the rotation.  That’s good news. 

Jason also said that the new suishi shop, The Dancing Beta, is off the hook — meaning even non-suishi guys are lining up for a taste of that tempora.   It’s that good, and that’s good news.

Being the excellent barber that he is Jason was full of a lot of downtown news but he’s still got nothing on Mary Gilbert at Main Street Kent.  Here’s an email Blast that Mary sent out this week:

Don’t miss out on all the fun in Downtown Kent

Main Street Kent Annual Dinner & Awards – February 9^th at the Pufferbelly
Join us as we celebrate three years of Main Street Kent as we honor the great business owners, entrepreneurs and volunteers who have devoted many hours of hard work to help downtown Kent.  Special thanks to the Pufferbelly for allowing us to take over the restaurant for the night.  Dinner is $30 per person.  Silent Auction begins at 6:00 pm with Dinner and Presentation at 7:00 p.m.  RSVP by February 5^th to Mary Gilbert via e-mail(mary@mainstreetkent.org) or phone (330-677-8000).  Hope you can join us!

Dancing Beta is now open in Acorn Alley!
For those of you who have been waiting patiently, the Dancing Beta is now opens and features sushi.  For those of you who don’t eat sushi there also many other yummy menu items – chicken teriyaki, vegetable rolls, miso soup, tempura shrimp and tempura banana with Arctic Squirrel ice cream for dessert.  Visit their facebook page for more info.

Ray’s Place for Haiti Relief Benefit – February 8th
Monday, February 8th 5pm till 10pm, Ray’s Place (upstairs) 135 Franklin Ave. Kent, Ohio 44240   Tele # 330-673-2233 Ray’s Place employee’s will donate 100% of their tips and Ray’s will donate all their profits from food and drink sales to the American Red Cross for the Haiti Relief Fund.  Come, enjoy great food and drink and help in our efforts. Thank you very much.    The Place is Ray’s…..

Shows at the Kent Stage – February 4^th, February 6^th and many more
Missy Raines – A beloved figure in bluegrass and a pioneering force in acoustic music, Missy Raines’ adventurous musical spirit has always been her compass. Missy is now stepping out to make a longtime dream come true; creating a fusing of bluegrass virtuosity, jazz-tinged groove and a song-driven sensibility with a hot band. – Thursday, February 4^th at 8:00 p.m.

An Acoustic Cafe Evening With Erin McKeown, Carrie Rodriguez & Ben Sollee – Saturday, February 6 — 8:00 PM
Visit www.kentstage.org for tickets and other future shows

Rehab Vintage Valentine’s Day Sale
20% Off Sale from now until Valentine’s Day with Coupon.  Just print out this e-mail and bring it in to the store to get the discount. 

Free Live Music at the Water Street Tavern Every Friday Night
The Stella Artois Community Concert Series is held every Friday night from 7 pm – 10 pm.  Visit www.waterstreettavern.com for the full schedule.

Ice Carving Demonstration by Kent State University and Akron University students and faculty
-Hot Beverages and Chili served by Anthony’s Cafe
-Pastries available by Stahl’s Bakery

WHERE: Home Savings Plaza, corner of Water St. and Main St. in Downtown Kent

WHEN: Saturday, February 13, 1-4pm

 CONTACT: 330-673-4970
www.standingrock.net for updates

Seeing Straight...

In these tough economic times it’s more important than ever to stay on course.  Resources are too shallow and people are spread too thin to make up for lost time.  Staying on course assumes you have charted a course to follow in the first place and in the City’s case that course is our strategic plans. 

Trust me, we are not for want of strategic plans.  I’m talking file cabinets full of planning studies, visioning exercises, charrettes, vignettes, SWOT analysis, market assessments, priority lists, and action plans all in the name of strategic planning.  About a year ago I uploaded many of them on to this web site so that anyone interested could get a better handle on where the City is heading based on where we’ve been by reading through the body of planning work that this community has been engaged in for the last 20 years.  You can check the plans out by clicking here. 

Our focus over the last couple of years has been to translate those plans into a community to do list and actually get results from all the good planning work.  That’s why you see so much focus on things like new bike trails, the multi-modal project and downtown revitalization — those are things that have been on the to do list for literally 20 years which we figured was more than a long enough gestation, now it was the time to put the plans to work. 

I bring up the strategic plans because I think it’s important to understand the background behind the flurry of activity going on around the priority items these days.  We’re not out there acting in isolation — we’re busy implementing the items that this community has said are top priorities for 20 years.  

I understand that not everyone is going to read all of the source documents of the strategic plans so we’ve worked hard to distill the main issues down to critical strategic themes that we manage and measure progress towards.  For practical purposes we’ve created a strategic framework which we use to make sure we stay on track in our activities and accomplishments.  That’s the purpose of the Council Activity Reports and our Annual Strategic Report Card. 

These are good summary documents that provide a snapshot of what’s been going on at the ground level to achieve the communities goals.  It’s one thing for the staff to know how we’re doing but we think it’s just as important for members of the community to see how we’re doing which is why we’ve updated these information pieces that I’ve shared below. 

 2009 Strategic Update

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To help make it easier for everyone to have a sense of what we’re working on and what we’re trying to achieve we’ve put together a new Strategic Objectives Summary for 2010, here it is:  Click Here for the PDF or scroll down below to see page by page. 

Interesting Part of Crain Avenue Bridge Being Inst...

If SR 43 north of town is part of your daily commute you’re probably all too familiar with the new bridge construction that has been underway now for the last 4 to 5 months.  For the most part traffic has been only moderately impacted but it is such a busy intersection that even moderate impacts can back traffic up in a hurry. 

The good news is that because the intersection and the bridge were such a traffic bottleneck the City was eligible for a lot of state and federal bridge funding which we used to finance this new bridge.  The bad news is that until the new bridge is on-line the tough traffic is going to get a little tougher as motorists will have periodic lane restrictions and contractors digging in the right of way to contend with.   

At this point the building demolition has been completed and the utility companies have been busy relocating their lines.  Most of those plates and street cuts are the markings of where power and phone lines have been re-routed to accomodate the new bridge crossing.  With a little bit of good weather late in 2009 the bridge contractor was also able to get a fair amount of concrete abutments poured and work continues on retaining walls right now. 

On Tuesday, January 26 the contractor will be setting the pieces for the tunnel sections for the Hike and Bike Trail that will run below the new bridge. The tunnel is a fairly prominent piece of the project so I thought it warranted a little mention in the blog.  So in your travels around town you might want to try to drive by to see it.  

For reference purposes I’ve shown a part of the rendering for the new bridge so that you can see how the tunnel fits into the whole project.

Dancing Beta Opens in Acorn Alley...

The wait is over.  If you’re a raw fish person you’ve now got a place in Kent to eat to your heart’s delight or the extent of your stomach’s distension whichever comes first.  A couple of City staffers did their civic duty today and taste tested the suishi.  The report came back in flying colors.  

Any doubts on the popularity of a suishi menu was put to rest long before the new restaurant even opened.  Comments had been appearing on Main Street Kent’s web site with increasing regularity (and near hostility) wanting to know when the suishi restaurant was going to open.  And even today there was a line out the door at various times as devotees of suisha made the pilgrammage to this new Kent mecca. 

I haven’t had a chance to meet the owner yet but the Record Courier had posted some great information about his new business a couple of months back and I thought it was worth re-printing here for those curious about Kent’s newest business.  Enjoy!

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Record Courier Article by David Dix, September 27, 2009

Dancing Beta, a Japanese sushi bar, will soon open in Acorn Alley, the exciting pedestrian thoroughfare that businessman and philanthropist Ron Burbick has created as part of his Phoenix Block development on East Main Street.

At grand opening celebrations Friday evening, Ron, with his wife, Joan, and an assortment of Kent dignitaries looking on, cut the ribbon for Acorn Alley before a crowd of about 600 well-wishers.

If Friday’s results were any indication, that sushi bar is going to be a big draw for Acorn Alley. Paul Geldhof, owner and operator of Dancing Beta, came prepared to serve 700 and was completely out of sushi 30 minutes before the party’s end.

“My first 400 servings were gone within 20 minutes,” Paul said.

All of the foods served up by the food outlets on Acorn Alley at Friday’s grand opening were free. Nevertheless, Paul said he was surprised and pleased to see sushi “going like hot cakes.”

A Portage County native who attended schools in Kent and Rootstown, graduating from Rootstown High School, Paul Geldhof is a graduate of the Culinary Arts School of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He and his wife, Katie, who’s a professional graphic artist, will be hands-on at Dancing Beta, he said. Now in his mid-20s, Paul describes himself as having been in the restaurant industry since he was 15, when he started helping his parents manage the kitchen of the Stowaway Pub at the intersection of Graham and Fishcreek roads in Stow.

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A Japanese specialty, sushi is vinegar rice served with various toppings, the best known of which is raw fish. It’s become fashionable among the well traveled set. More importantly for Dancing Beta, sushi is “in” with the college crowd, whose trade downtown Kent wants to attract.

Paul said his restaurant will have limited seating for up to about 24 people. That’s because sushi bars mostly cater to the carryout business. Kinds of sushi on the menu will be crab rolls, avocado rolls, California rolls and more. In addition to fish, nutritious vegetables are mixed into the rolls.

Paul said he decided on sushi because it was a food in which he excelled at the Culinary Arts School. “My father introduced me to sushi when I was about 7,” he said.

For now, he’ll serve soft drinks, soda and bottled water. He has applied for a beer and wine license. When it comes through, he’ll sell sake, which is a Japanese rice wine, and assorted beers and wines.

Paul said the addition of sushi will add to the cultural diversity of food in Kent, and I agree. Friday evening, his grandfather, Alex Geldhof and his wife, Liz, were on hand for the grand opening. Paul said he was pleased to see his grandfather and friends sampling the sushi.

“I knew it would go over with the younger crowd and was really pleased to see older people enjoying it, too,” he said.

Kent Music Scene...

One of the great things about music, besides its ability to get even the most unlikely of people shaking their tail feathers, is its ability to connect us.  Music is impartial to race, creed, political persuasion, gender or any other socio-economic-demographic boundaries that we try to draw around each other.  If a beat moves you or a lyric touches you, tag you’re in.  No other pre-conditions or entry fee is required. 

Music tastes vary, and there certainly appears to be generational gaps to musical preferences, but music is a body of work that seems to be built on the shoulders of the giants of each generation.  Sometimes musical evolution is gentle with new rifs or emphasis sprinkled in here and there reminiscent of Darwin’s theories but other times it’s more in line with Thomas Kuhn’s dissertation on the structure of revolutions with one movement (or generation in the case of music) rejecting convention and jumping ship to take a diametrically opposed position in a non-linear paradigm shift. 

By way of musical example I am reminded of the 1970s disco genre which ushered in the emergence of hard rock (which actually seems a bit soft by today’s rock standards) at the infamous disco demolition night at Comiskey Park in Chicago.  The scene turned a bit primeval with fans tearing up the field and burning records in what started out as a ballpark promotion but seemed to tap into a new generation’s distaste for the popular music scene that created an unruly melee.  I suspect the alcohol sales at the ball game contributed to the death of disco that night but it’s also a great example of Thomas Kuhn’s philosphy at work. 

Kent has a long history of a rich music scene and whether you choose to enjoy it or revolt against it, it is up to you thanks to places like Water Street Tavern who has announced another year of live music.   
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Here’s a note from Water Street Tavern Owner Mike Beder:

Business Savvy...

Not for profits are often not very business like in their management – which on the one hand is understandable given the unprofitability of their missions yet on the other it’s unfortunate because when times are tough people need them more than ever yet during those times their lack of financial savvy can make them their own worst enemy.  That being said there are a couple of outstanding examples of business minded non-profits in our area that think and strategize like a business but serve unmet community needs like a non profit. 

These guys are the best I’ve seen when it comes to blending the best of the business sector with the best of the public/non profit service sector:  Coleman Professional Services and Family and Community Services.   Under the leadership of Nelson Burns and Mark Frisone these agencies have defied conventional non profit thought and redefined how not for profits serve their customers.   

I admire not just what these agencies do but how they do it.  They are a credit to the public sector and they’re living examples of why you should never underestimate the power of a non profit engine fueled by market based tactics.  As a public manager myself I have spent much of my career studying how progressive cities have learned from folks like Nelson and Mark, to reinvent themselves by applying business principles to manage communities. 

Here in Kent we have taken steps to improve our market position, think strategically, strengthen our brand, and cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit.  We have established cost and performance metrics to calculate rate of return and optimize return on investment through sound valuation and capitalization strategies.  Employees are expected to demonstrate critical thinking to manage cash flow, expand operating margins, drive productivity and inspire innovation.

As our resources have been stretched, we’ve adopted on-demand, just-in-time production concepts to service delivery.  We have improved R&D capabilities – learning how to push and scale good ideas through the pipeline – overcoming barriers to entry and sustaining a competitive advantage. 

The business model has taught Kent how to think and act like a business – but business has but one mission:  to make a profit.  The City’s mission is a bit more complicated.  Businesses choose which markets to compete in and which customers to keep – while cities serve all equally.

The business doctrine proclaims the market king and reduces performance to a bottom line – but communities are more than profit and loss statements.  Business methods are great for evaluating means to ends but offer little for determining what ends – and communities are ends, not means.  We risk knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing when we live solely by the numbers. 

Community building is not an exercise in mathematics; it’s the story of people.  Kent may have a new business attitude but it will always act with the heart of a city.  The market is great at distribution of private goods but where does that leave the public good?  In the good hands of Kent city employees.

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Here’s a good example of tracking progress towards strategic goals that the National Main Street organization requires of each of it’s affiliates, including Main Street Kent, to submit quarterly summaries of business activities. 

Main Street Kent 4th Quarter Report

Update on 5 Guys Restaurant in Kent...

In a sign of the tough times even one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the country, 5 Guys Hamburger Restaurant, has had to delay the grand opening of their Kent store due to the challenges of securing the business loans necessary to transform the old Susans Coffee and Tea House into a new 5 Guys on SR 59 in Kent.  It turns out that even when you’ve got a solid well-proven business plan it’s still tough in today’s tight lending market to find the funds you need to get started.  

Originally the owners of the new 5 Guys in Kent planned be flipping burgers and serving fries in the Fall of 2009, then they pushed the date to January 2010, and now I’m hearing March 2010.  I’m guessing that March is still an ambituous goal but hopefully the City helped speed things up last week by approving a new business loan from our revolving loan fund. 

The City’s revolving loan fund is one of a number of tools we have available to fill gaps when good businesses need a little help.  As businesses pay the low interest loan back we are able to recycle the funds into new loans, like the one for 5 Guys.  

The exterior of the 5 Guys restaurant looks great, now I’m hoping they’ll have the cash they need to get the inside ready for business by early Spring.  5 Guys has an almost cult like following among hamburger connoisseurs and as soon as word spread of their intention to open in Kent I was getting a lot of excited testimonials so I’m sure the news of the financing will be as well-received as a one of their specialty burgers and a plate full of fries.

Shoveling Sidewalks Update...

Now that we are firmly entrenched in winter’s grasp, I thought it might be a good time to take a pulse on what’s happening on our sidewalks.  My anecdotal  non-scientific windshield survey seemed to indicate that sidewalk shoveling compliance is better this year than it’s been in recent years — hopefully that’s a result of all the public outreach efforts and newspaper coverage of City Council’s lengthy deliberations this summer about how to make our sidewalks safer for pedestrians — especially our pedestrians with special needs that rely on sidewalks for most of their transportation.

I wish I had a camera because there’s been some great images of shovelers, including 5 year old kids using beach shovels to help mom shovel the front sidewalk on a section of Crain Avenue.   And I’d have to say that those 5 year olds made a difference because their front walk has been cleared all winter long.  It seems that the neighborhood sidewalks where we live are better this year but the sidewalks on the main drags in front of commercial establishments are still not so good. 

I guess the lack of sidewalk attention in front of commercial establishments is a testament to the fact that we are a car based drive-thru economy because the owners/managers have certainly not made it easy for any foot bound traveler to visit their establishment.   I suppose you could argue that in the spirit of a free market economy they can choose not to clear sidewalks until a savvy competitor starts to dent their market share but the troubling part is that in the meantime I see folks trying to walk past their business to get their destination struggling to stay safe. 

As evident by the 6 hours of time spent in City Council deliberating sidewalk shoveling, this is a many faceted issue which I am not trying to solve here but I did want to provide an update on a couple of the changes that Council approved this year.  The City’s Public Service Director, Gene Roberts, has been driving the streets during the course of this winter to monitor not only street conditions but also sidewalk conditions, with a particular emphasis on intersections and the snow that the City plows may have pushed into the pedestrian right of way.

As a result of the Council discussions held this summer related to snow removal from sidewalks, Gene has worked with the City snow plow crews to change their plowing tactics that previously left piles of snow pushed from the street in the intersections and crosswalks. That change in practice does seem to be working as the problem appears less prevalent this year despite some relatively significant snow fall over the last couple of weeks.

However, short of physically scooping and off-loading the snow to other locations we will likely always have some areas where the snow plows have contributed to creating pedestrian challenges and it’s in those areas that Council authorized the use of a contractor to come in behind the City crews and clean the intersections for safe pedestrian access.

To that end, Gene has developed a log that he uses to list areas that he feels require contractor attention, which he then forwards to the contractor to execute. Gene generates the list based on three primary factors:

1 – quantity of snow based on City roadway snow removal efforts
2 – proximity to Kent City Schools
3 – State Routes where the presence of pedestrians is most likely

City crews take care of the some sidewalks but here’s a snapshot of the list that Gene sent the contractor this week: