Dear Business Owner,

Welcome to the Union Street Business Group. You are already a member just by having your business here.

A few years ago Jean Tinnea, Darryl Durden, Mike Cruz and I started the USBG as a way for businesses in the area to work together on making Union Street a vibrant and viable business district. Local graphic designer Sharon Durden designed the logo and image of the USBG. Many business owners here also live in the neighborhood and are committed to see the area thrive. If we work together sharing ideas and efforts, we can make Union street really special and lively place.

The original USBG was traditional and formal with a Board and regular meetings. This structure quickly lost steam as everyone has busy lives and commitments. Recently I was admiring the social networking website that CleanGreens Farm & Market had setup for their program. This inspired me to resurrect the USBG as a more open, egalitarian, and informal association.

We already had the domain name unionstreetbusiness.org, and the website was free to setup. The USBG is already recognized by the City of Seattle, the Seattle Police Department, the Central Area District Council and the Office of Economic Development, which gives us power as a group when speaking for our business district. The new USBG has no board or officers, everyone is an equal member. There are no dues or costs to membership except for the effort you would like to contribute. We can all pitch in our ideas and efforts as we are able. We can keep in touch and help each other out. We can have meetings if we want, and block parties, and work parties...... The more we can make happen the better our neighborhood will be for business and everyone who lives here.

Enclosed is a sticker you can use to display your membership in the Union Street Business Group. Please encourage anyone who would like to be involved to join our group. We are all in this together so let's help each other make things happen.

View my page on CleanGreens