"Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday To Us..."

I love birthdays. Not so much because of cakes and well wishes and presents (although those are all great, too*) - but because of the opportunity to reflect on time that's passed, on the lessons learned, on the way we've grown. To celebrate accomplishments and make plans for the future.

I can't believe that a year has passed since we officially incorporated the Mile High Business Alliance. I have so much more compassion for entrepreneurs and business owners than I ever thought possible. It takes so much to take an idea, a vision, a plan - and create something viable, living and real.

In the last twelve months, we've accomplished a lot together. We've published 40,000 walking guides for five Denver neighborhoods, featuring 342 one-of-a-kind businesses. We renewed the Inventing Business Series as a forum for dialogue about business and community. We facilitated marketing workshops specifically aimed at businesses with small budgets and a lot of passion. We built and launched the first interactive business directory to feature truly local businesses - 430,000 of them. (wow!) We started the ball rolling for a fun Colorado Local First media campaign that connects us to our local businesses. We've created partnerships with inspiring organizations and companies that love our local businesses as much as we do. We've done all of this with very little resources and a small (but mighty) staff. Yay, us!

What's Next
We have some audacious goals for the next twelve months, and there are lots of ways you can get involved. Here are just a few of them:

• Continual additions of business information and feature enhancements to the local business directory. Spread the love by posting reviews of your favorite local businesses.
• Expansion of Colorado Local First media campaign to include window decals, store posters, counter cards; spread the word of local first through additional media outlets such as radio, billboards, etc. Become an underwriter for the campaign and help get the word out!
• Colorado Local First membership card as a benefit for individuals, where businesses can offer whatever promotions they desire to attract new business
• The 2nd holiday season “Buy Local Week” to draw retail spending to local businesses and the development of Neighborhood Gift Cards
• Expansion of business development trainings and workshops for marketing and financial management
• Strengthen partnerships with other non-profit organizations and merchant associations to bring together the resources available for local businesses. Let us know of resources we can share!
• Public policy development; especially focused on impacting purchasing policies at State and municipal levels to account for tax revenue impact in cost analysis

We want your ideas, feedback and partnership (and we have much more fun when you're around). So consider this your invitation: Please, join us - in building an alliance of amazing, locally-owned businesses who are working together to build communities we love. Become a member now as a business or individual and work with us to build better community through better business.

And now, to my favorite part about birthdays: the gifts.

Acknowledgments
None of this could have been accomplished without the contributions, work, dedication and support of the following people to whom I offer my gratitude:

• Arthur Brock, Co-Founder and board member, for the countless hours (and I mean countless) spent in making the business alliance a reality, and for all the times he's reassured me that we can make this happen
• Neil Strandberg, Board President, for his fearless leadership, his confidence in us, and willingness to ask really good questions
• Anne Richardson and Mike Vallano, graphic design geniuses, for the hundreds of hours and creative talent dedicated to the Colorado Local First campaign and Local Flavor Guides, and for their bold partnership in the face of the unknown
• Sarah Wells, Heidi Baltzer, Tim Martinez and Matt Chasansky, founding members of the board, who have each taken a stand for local businesses
• Sarah Marden, Membership Coordinator, for her dedication, humor and commitment
• Amy Krok, for her crazy enthusiasm
• Rachelle Macur, Eva Saviano and Michael Marshall, MHBA Interns, for their contributions and willingness to challenge themselves
• Glenda Walden, Nancy Peterson, Adrienne Anderson and Jim Ruberto, for their personal support and for volunteering around events and special projects
• The Founding Members of the business alliance: The Tattered Cover, Twist & Shout, Geek Gene, Local Flavor Marketing Group, Meininger's, Mike's Camera, Cafe Europa, 5 Green Boxes and Community Banks of Colorado - for their investment in building a viable organization and healthier local economy. You are the foundation of the business alliance.
• The City of Denver's Office of Economic Development, Founding Sponsors, for their promotion, time and support
• Denoak Realty, IndyInk, St. Charles Town Company, The Hornet, Great Divide Brewery, METROMODE Magazine, The D Note and The Onion for being sponsors of the Local Flavor Guides and Colorado Local First campaign
• The Digital Frontier, for their extraordinary print work and excellent customer service
• The National BALLE organization - for your leadership and resources; but most importantly, for challenging me to prove that Denver is working to build a local, living economy.
• And, finally, to all the members of the Mile High Business Alliance - thank you for your participation, your commitment, and most importantly, for the hard work you do every day to provide goods and services to our community, for spaces we love to be in, and jobs for our neighbors. You aren't thanked often enough for the grueling work it is to be in business, and for all of you who do it with passion and love.

The business alliance is less about local first campaigns and marketing workshops - and more about building solid relationships that matter. It's about working together to build a community we love to live in. Thank you (yes, YOU) for providing me with the opportunity to get to know you more, and work on something I am so passionate about.

With heartfelt gratitude and excitement for the coming year,

~Mickki


* Feel free to bring us a little birthday cake. You have no idea how happy we'd be to have cake.