I hope you’re all enjoying a brief respite from all of the rain. Here are some important updates from the board meeting this morning. Sorry this is kind of long, but trust me when I say this is the “short” version I will also post this on the CPNBA web site later this weekend.

Upcoming Events
CPNBA will be participating in several events in the coming weeks, and we currently have a business education event scheduled. More info about each event listed below can be found on the CPNBA web site (http://www.cpnba.org).

• Berwyn Day – 9/10, 12pm-4pm – Stop by the table for at least 30 minutes to promote your business Or just stop by to say hi, and check out some of the CPNBA handouts.
• Social Media Workshop – 9/12, 8pm-9pm
• First Look Fair – 9/14-9/15, 10am-3pm – UPDATE: I was told that if it’s raining on Wednesday, they will cancel for the day, and if it’s still raining on Thursday, they will move the event indoors. Also I will have a survey for students to get feedback from them on their purchasing habits and preferences, and get their email addresses so they can be notified about upcoming promotions.  If you’d like to promote your business at this event, we’re asking for at least 2 hours of your time to help with the table.
• Buy Local Challenge – 10/15-22
• College Park Day – 10/22, 1pm-5pm – They are still accepting applications for tables, and local businesses are encouraged to apply. If you’d like to promote your business at the CPNBA table, we’re asking for 30 minutes of your time to volunteer at the table.

If you know of additional events that you think CPNBA should attend, please let me know and I’ll see if we can get a table. Also if you have an idea for a networking, promotional, or educational event, please let me know.

Buy Local Challenge
I will send a separate e-mail about this next week, or if you want to stop by the CPNBA table at Berwyn Day tomorrow, I’ll be happy to explain it to you. We are making every effort to keep the costs as low as possible, and right now it looks like it will cost each business about $10 for materials (possibly less), maybe $10-25 for the prizes, and then whatever the cost of any discount you offer during the challenge might be. The challenge will be October 15-22, which means it will start during UMCP’s homecoming weekend, and end on College Park Day.

Membership and Dues
We agreed that member businesses shall be local, independent businesses located in College Park. The criteria for membership will be:

• The business will have private, worker, community or cooperative ownership.
• At least 50% locally-owned, with “local” defined as the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area
• Decision-making authority is vested in the local owners and not subject to conditions dictated remotely.
• The business has no more than 10 outlets, with those outlets limited to the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area

Also please note that for the time being I have removed all of the businesses listed on the participating businesses page of the web site, except for those that have explicitly given me permission to list them on that page, including permission to use their logo. If you’d like to be listed on that page, please just send me an e-mail with the logo you want on there, and a statement saying, “Please put this logo on the CPNBA web site” (or something like that). Also you’ll need to meet the membership criteria to be listed. Once we start accepting membership applications and dues, the participating businesses page will be replaced with a member directory.

I will send more information about memberships next week, including the benefits and dues, and a “community supporter” for individuals.

Committees
The board would like to establish several standing committees. If you are interested in being a part of one of these committees, please let me know.

• Outreach
• Education
• Political Action
• Events
• Membership
• Fundraising

Committees will be open to both business members and community supporters.

October Board Meeting
The October board meeting will be at Pongos Interactive, 7309 Baltimore Avenue, Suite 119 at 10am on October 7th. If you are eligible for a business membership, and would like to be on the board of directors, please let me know so I can add you to the board mailing list for further discussion about the bylaws and some other topics. I have attached a copy of the board member expectations for anybody that’s interested.