Austin Independent Business Alliance economic development program will breathe new life into multicultural area - American Independent Business Alliance AMIBA

June 23, 2006

Vendors hope event will draw crowd

Businesses start Fourth Fridays, promote East Austin

Jihae Min/The Daily Texan

Business and arts will come together to promote East Austin as the Austin Independent Business Alliance and local non-profit group DiverseArts prepare to launch the first of several street markets Friday on four blocks of East 11th Street.

The monthly "East End Fourth Fridays!" event is planned to bring together local businesses, collectively marketing their goods and services to the public, while also providing a venue for local arts and crafts people to network with each other and engage directly with potential customers.

It will also celebrate the "cultural heritage and historical identity of Austin's East End - the soul in the heart of the city," said Harold McMillan, founder and director of DiverseArts.

Using a cultural event as a magnet for attracting people to East Austin brought the two organizations together, McMillan said. When cultural events are happening in a commercial district, right next door to a for-profit business, those retail businesses usually benefit economically from cultural activities, turning people on to local vendors like art institutions, music venues and night clubs, he said.

"Ultimately, we're hoping that would spur sales and provide some economic development activity to the people who are doing business in the neighborhood," McMillan said.

Twenty local business owners organized the alliance in 2002 to grow and protect businesses in Austin. It now works with more than 300 local businesses, said Melissa Miller, development director for the alliance.

The organization has focused on encouraging locally-owned businesses in Austin and educating customers on their importance, Miller said. Local businesses contribute to the local economy because their headquarters are in Austin, unlike those of national retailers, she said. Other alliance businesses host similar monthly events, such as First Thursdays on South Congress Avenue and Third Thursdays on Guadalupe Street.

"Local businesses are incredibly popular and people in Austin really support local businesses," Miller said. "Local businesses cannot survive without support from the community because they don't have the same resources and ability like national businesses."

The Fourth Fridays events provide a showcase for locally owned independent businesses, said Claudia Tumbs, the co-owner of Gene's New Orleans Style Poboys and Deli with her husband, Gene Tumbs, on East 11th Street.

"In New York, they have Soho district and Harlem," she said. "Each area has their own culture and their own style, and you can find that right here in East Austin. We have a wealth of culture from Anglo, Hispanic and African-Americans. We have been revitalized, and we want the whole city to see it."

The first Fourth Friday street market will be held on 11th Street between Branch and Navasota Streets today from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Fair Use Notice
This site occasionally reprints copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of issues and to highlight the accomplishments of our affiliates. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is available without profit. For more information go to: www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.