Scarsdale Business Alliance Holds Annual Meeting

The Scarsdale Business Alliance, now almost two years old, held their annual meeting at Great Stuff on Thursday January 30. Marcy Berman Goldstein, co-President welcomed the group and updated the membership on the past activities of the SBA and plans for the coming year.
See her remarks below:

Welcome to our first Annual Membership Meeting. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Marcy Berman-Goldstein and I am co-President of the SBA. I would like to introduce Melissa DiFabio, SBA Executive Assistant and Program Director as well as my co-President, Ken Giddon.

I would like to thank Great Stuff for hosting us this evening, Zachys for donating the wine, and DeCiccos and Standing Room Only for the food and water. We would also like to thank SBA photographer, Mark Jessamy, for being here as always!

As many of you know, the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce became defunct in 2016, and The Acceleration Project had been acting as the default Chamber in the interim. The Scarsdale Business Alliance incorporated in April 2018, under the guidance of TAP, with the short term goal of continuing the Annual Summer Sidewalk Sale.

A Board of Directors was formed, with like-minded individuals, dedicated to the Village of Scarsdale and its local businesses. Our long term goals were for the SBA to serve as a unified voice of the Scarsdale business community and a liaison to the Village government, manage and direct 3-4 community events annually, host 3-4 Meet & Greet networking events throughout the year, and provide an interactive website and social media presence to promote and unite our SBA members.

We currently have 16 voting board members serving a two-year term, a Village Trustee Liaison and 2 liaisons from The Acceleration Project.

Over the past two years, the Scarsdale Business Alliance (SBA) has built a dynamic organization of approximately 80 merchants and non-retail service providers. We have brick-and-mortar members in Scarsdale Village, Garth Road, Scarsdale Avenue, Depot Place, Central Avenue, Golden Horseshoe, and Colonial Village, and well as home-based businesses and businesses outside 10583. The SBA has several committees that members are encouraged to join, including membership, public relations, events and government relations. Our goal is to engage and sustain our current members as well as continue to grow our membership.

Last year, in addition to the annual summer sidewalk sale, we held two new successful community events: The Health, Beauty & Wellness Fair in the spring with over 700 attendees, and Scarsdale Music Festival in September with over 3000 attendees. Work is under way for both of these events this year which we anticipate to be even more successful than last. The Scarsdale Business Alliance is not able to support itself and run on membership dues alone. Sponsorship funding and money raised at our community events is critical for our operational expenses.

In addition to these community events, the SBA is committed to continuing the Shop and Dine the ‘Dale initiatives started by TAP.

The SBA board of directors has been working closely and collaboratively with Village officials and property owners to address the current vacancy issues we are facing. In addition we have also been working with TAP and the Scarsdale Forum to help improve Scarsdale and create a vibrant downtown center.

Some recent updates to share:

4ever Crystals - Glass Blown Store opened in the former Imagine Candy space at the end of October
Akai Lounge will open this year in the former Langes space
The Shade Store will be opening in the Candy N Cards space in March
New Hair Salon will be opening in the former Trio Salon location on Christie Place

Our social media presence continues to grow, with approximately 1450 local followers, and good engagement. Melissa DiFabio has been diligently working to help promote SBA members on Instagram and Facebook. Please make sure to respond to her requests for content to ensure all members are promoted equally. In addition, make sure to tag @scarsdalebusiness in your posts so she is able to repost in our story feed. An eblast was sent with more details about leveraging your social media advertising benefits.

We hope you will take the opportunity this evening to network and get to know our board of directors, SBA members and prospective members.