Evan Vitale Consulting: Trenton Business Week: Mayor announces awards for small businesses, events … – The Times, Trenton

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Trenton Business Week: Mayor announces awards for small businesses, events … – The Times, Trenton – NJ.com

Latest post from Evan Vitale Consulting -

TRENTON — Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson announced on Thursday eight business owners and leaders who will be awarded Small Business and Creative Marketing Awards as part of the city’s 21st annual Trenton Business Week, which starts Monday.

The city and surrounding area will play host to seminars and workshops on how to grow, expand, relocate or start a business in Trenton next week.

Jackson said Trenton is currently home to 1,869 businesses and 23,872 employees, with an annual average payroll of $1.2 billion.

“Most of this business is composed of small companies with less than 10 employees or medium companies with just under 140 employees,” Jackson said. “That’s what makes up our economy. The city of Trenton has long had a great history of growing businesses and many of them serve markets beyond Trenton.”

At a Trenton Business Week kickoff on Monday, Small Business Awards will be presented to:

Crest Paper Products CEO Francis DiManno, “Small Business of the Year”

New Jersey Business & Industry Association, “Most Improved Appearance”

Jireh Restaurant owner Mario Xiloj, “Most Successful New Business”

Photos by Don president Don Addison, “Trenton Business Ambassador”

“Independent and family-owned businesses are the ones that put donation cans on the counter and signs on the fences at Little League fields.” Addison said, as business leaders mingled throughout Jackson’s office. “They’re there for us all of the time. They’re the anchor and backbone of our community”

Addison said the city’s economic future would likely come from “millennials,” who he said would rather live and work in the city than own a car and try to commute. And if they work outside the city, they can turn use Trenton stops on the Amtrak, NJ Transit or River Line to get there and back.

“We are a perfect position here in the city of Trenton, with a revitalized foundation of government and a great position between New York and Philadelphia with a hub of transportation,” Addison said. “All we have to do is build upon it.”

In a news release, NJBIA president Michele Siekerka said the organization received the city’s award for opening its new headquarters on West Lafayette Street last year after redeveloping a small parking lot into a four-story office building.

“In deciding where to locate our building, it was very important that the organization stay in the city where we have been for decades,” Siekerka said. “Reinvesting in the redevelopment of the capital city was at the forefront of our minds.”

In addition, the city awarded four Creative Marketing Awards to organizations whose efforts attracted thousands of people to the city:

Latarsha Burke and Candice Fredericks, for the Trenton African-American Festival

Joseph Kuzemka, for the Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market and Capital City Food Truck Battle

Scott Miller, for the Trenton Pork Roll Festival

Guatemalan Merchants Association president Estuardo Arriola, for the Latin Cultural Parade and Festival

Awards will be presented at a kickoff breakfast at the Wyndham Garden Trenton on Monday.

Some of the workshops and seminars during Trenton Business Week include topics such as, “Do You Know What Your Business is Worth,” “Social Media — Choosing, Setting Up and Optimizing,” “What’s in Your Business Toolbox,” and various networking events.

For more information and a listing of all Trenton Business Week events and workshops, visit trentonbusinessweek.com

Mike Davis may be reached at mdavis@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @byMikeDavis. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Source