The 2012 Business Growth and Opportunity Meeting, Hosted by SBA on Friday, 7/27

Councilmember Felicia Moore and the U.S. SBA Office are hosting the 2012 Business Growth and Opportunity meeting Friday morning, July 27th.

Atlanta City Councilmember Felicia Moore, Invest Atlanta and the U.S. Small Business Administration will host the 2012 Business Growth and Opportunity Meeting in Council District 9 from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Friday, July 27, 2012 at Empire Distributors, located at 3755 Atlanta Industrial Parkway. This event is free and open to all business owners and potential entrepreneurs. Professionals will be on-hand to inform businesses of tax credits and small business incentives while doing business in Atlanta. Businesses will have an opportunity to receive useful information regarding programs to support the diverse needs of small business owners. Every year the U.S. Small Business Administration and its nationwide network of resource partners …

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Romance Spells Big Business For Southwest Atlanta Flower Shops

For many small businesses, Valentine's Day has a big impact on the bottom line.

  Marie Williams, owner of Marie’s Florist & Garden, plans to have her two coolers stocked with roses in preparation for Valentine’s Day. Like many florists, she is bracing for a holiday that means big business. The small store in southwest Atlanta is decorated with Valentine’s Day balloons and banners, white teddy bears and baskets of goodies. Williams took a break over the weekend to talk about how the holiday matters for small business people. Q. How much of your annual business do you do around the Valentine's Day holiday? A. About 30 percent. Q. Are red roses really the most popular flowers for Valentine's Day? A. Yes. Most people just get a dozen red roses, but some will also get a teddy, white or pink bears. But mostly it’s just …

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Will You Shop Locally for Christmas This Year?

Georgians are part of a national movement to keep holiday cash at home.

“Look, Charlie, let's face it. We all know that Christmas is a big commercial racket. It's run by a big eastern syndicate, you know.” – Lucy van Pelt to Charlie Brown in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Americans have worried about losing the true meaning of Christmas since at least 1965, when Charlie Brown lamented the holiday’s commercialization in a Peanuts special. This year, there’s a movement afoot to bring Christmas closer to home. An apparently anonymous essay circulating on the Web has drawn the attention of people in Georgia. It calls for buying local services as gifts instead of products manufactured in foreign countries: You see, Christmas is no longer about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city…

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Get Out Weekend Planner

Get Out! Your Weekend Plans Are Here

The Thanksgiving holiday is here and the weekend is around the bend. No plans for your family and friends? Not to worry, Cascade Patch has you covered.

1) Home for the Holiday's @ Score's: When/Where: Score's Sports Bar, 3607 N. Dessert Dr., East Point, Friday 10 p.m - 5 a.m. The Event: This Friday after you have had your turkey or hen leftovers and watch enough football come to the brand new Score's Sports Bar for Home for the Holidays event. This is a network mixer for the grownfolks at the former Cracker Barrel off of Camp Creek Pwy and I-285 in East point. Come and meet others who are home for the holiday as DJ Toomp livens up scene till the early morning. Be ready to network and socialize; party and jam; and finally relax and chil at your new neighborhood spot. Though this is a mixer, please remember the homeless and hungry by bringing clothing items and/or can goods for Hosea Feed …

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Janita Poe

11:00 am on Thursday, November 24, 2011

Whole Foods... I mean, uh... I'm cooking dinner for the family tonight. Happy Thanksgiving!!!   more ›

Know Before You Go

Beautiful Scores "86;" Dream Wings "93" in Inspections

Patch rounds up some more health inspection scores for Cascade restaurants.

Here are some recent restaurant health inspection scores performed by the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness for establishments in our community: Atlanta Dream Wings 1980 Delowe Drive 7/31/11: July 21, 2011 Score: 93 Bankhead Fish 1651 Bankhead Highway Date: 9/16/11 Score: 96 Beautiful Restaurant 2260 Cascade Road Date: 7/28/11 Score: 86 New Dragon 2841 Greenbriar Parkway Date: 10/5/11 Score: 91 T's Fish & More 2841 Greenbriar Parkway Date: 10/5/11 Score: 96

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Know Before You Go

J.R. Crickets Receives "91" in October Inspection

A Cascade Patch inspection of some of latest health inspections for area restaurants has found relatively good scores for these five restaurants.

Community-based and African-American owned J.R. Crickets Lounge in the heart of Cascade Village earned an inspection score of 91 on Oct. 5, according to recent restaurant health inspections performed by the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness for establishments in our community. Scores are from one to 100 with A=90-100 B=80-89 C=70-79 U=69 or less. Here are scores for five restaurants recently inspected in southwest Atlanta. Boston Fish Supreme 4517 Campbellton Road Date: Sept. 20 Score: 77 Golden Kitchen 2084 Campbellton Road Date: Sept. 20 Score: 90 J.R. Crickets Lounge 2348 Cascade Road Date: Oct. 5 Score: 91 Wendy's 3041 Headland Drive Date: Sept. 22 Score: 88 Wings R Us 2091 Campbellton Road Date: Sept. 21 Score: 90

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Cascade Entrepreneur of the Week

Entrepreneur of the Week: Kim Tumey, Broker to the Stars

For a living, Kim Tumey negotiates deals, movie roles and other assignments for celebrities. Though she stays busy, Tumey always makes time to feed the homeless through her charity Hotdogs for the Homeless.

Kim Tumey was running late. She was expected at an awards ceremony with Omar Benson Miller who finally tracked her down at Woodruff Park. The CSI: Miami actor watched her in amazement. Tumey, known as "The Celebrity Broker," makes her living negotiating endorsement deals, movie roles, casting calls and commercials for celebrities. But here she was, standing in the middle of the park, feeding the homeless. After getting over his shock, Miller realized why. “Oh my God, I didn’t know it was this bad,” Miller said. Then he joined in, buying hamburgers and fries from McDonald’s after Tumey and her friends had run out of food. Last Thanksgiving, Miller fed thousands of homeless people in California—and Tumey was happy she helped inspire that. …

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Kimathi Lewis

9:59 am on Wednesday, October 26, 2011

You're welcome Kim and thank you for your time and patience.   more ›

(Updated) And the Atlanta Business League Super Tuesday Winners Are....

Congratulations to Pat Lottier—this year's ABL Businesswoman of the Year—and all winners at the 27th Annual Atlanta Business League Super Tuesday awards luncheon and conference.

Congratulations to Pat Lottier—this year's ABL Businesswoman of the Year—all winners at the 27th Annual Atlanta Business League (ABL) Super Tuesday awards luncheon and conference. In addition to Lottier, according to ABL President and CEO Leona Barr-Davenport, the other winners were: The Atlanta Business League is the city's oldest advocacy organization for African-American businesses. The organization's Super Tuesday awards luncheon and conference was 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 4, at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, 265 Peachtree Center Ave. Super Tuesday is designed to empower business entrepreneurs and professionals at all levels from throughout the metropolitan Atlanta community. Workshops at this year's conference included: "Staying Cash …

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Cascade Entrepreneur of the Week

Entrepreneur of the Week: Home Style Foods Reaches Beyond U.S. Borders

For more than a decade, Home Style Foods have provided its loyal customers with quality smoked sausages. Now it plans to diversify and expand beyond U.S. soil.

David Martin wanted a product he could sell. After working years as a corporate and real estate attorney, Martin chose to bite into the multi-billion dollar meat market. “I wanted to have a product, practicing law you are the product,” said Martin, a former resident of southwest Atlanta and member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, across from Peyton Forest Elementary. “My interest was more in developing, marketing and sales than law.” Now the president and CEO of Home Style Foods L.L.C. wants to take that product international, and he’s starting with Brazil. The processor and distributor of turkey, pork and chicken smoked sausages as well as turkey sausage patties, the company has been in business since the mid-1990s as Shumake Sausage. …

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Cascade Entrepreneur of the Week

JJ's Ribs on Campbellton: You Will Wait (and Come Back)

For almost three decades JJ's Rib Shack has been the place to go for tasty rib tips, even if customers have to wait in line for an hour or more to be served.

Old and gray, there is nothing seemingly special about the shabby little shack tucked off Campbellton Road. It’s only furnishings are throwaway church benches and two bleached-brown tables. It’s décor: celebrity pictures plastered on walls and a lightly stacked magazine rack in one corner on the restaurant’s marred black concrete floor. On Monday and Tuesday afternoons, hardly any traffic clutters the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, which stands beside a gas station and a string of other small businesses. But that changed on Wednesday when this grey shack with seemingly little to offer opens its doors, bringing in a steady flow of traffic from in and around Georgia and even neighboring states. These patrons come seeking JJ’s Rib Shack…

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Glen McDaniel

1:34 am on Saturday, September 17, 2011

The BBQ is pretty good. But I am not sure it's worth the wait and terrible customer service. I like character (some of the best restaurants/bars are holes in the wall), but I dont consider poor service "character."   more ›