Central Park NC Annual Gathering Oct 29th

Our Annual Gathering is less than a month away. We are scurrying around here inside our old textile mill building trying to transform manufacturing space into a party place. Oops, it's not just a party, but it's not a meeting either. We've started calling it our Annual Gathering instead of Annual Meeting this year, let's keep the bullet points to a minimum. We will have food, drink and live music and a keynote address by Michael Shuman, the author of The Small Mart Revolution. Michael Shuman will also present an afternoon workshop on how small communities and locally owned businesses can grow a healthy and dynamic economy, followed by a question & answer and discussion session. $15 Central Park Stewards/ $25 general public.

Though there is no registration fee for evening event; RSVP is required for both events. Please register at www.centralparknc.org or by calling

(910) 428-9001.

For Central Park NC Annual Gathering sponsorship opportunities, please contact Beth Throneburg via e-mail at beth@centralparknc.org or by calling (910) 428-9001.

Workshop with Michael Shuman 2:00-4:30 pm

Registration is required

Tour of STARworks businesses 4:30-5:30 pm

Central Park NC Annual Gathering 5:30-8:00 pm

Tax credits and Incentives for green upgrades available through Comfort South

Need a new heating and cooling system for your home or business? There has never been a better time to buy a geothermal system from Comfort South! There are renewable energy tax credits available to individuals and businesses through the state of North Carolina equaling 35% of the cost new energy efficient equipment. There are also green building incentives and a sales tax holiday for Energy Star rated equipment. There are federal incentives too. For more details on any or all of these programs, click here to read all about it on the Comfort South website. Get valuable tax credits while reducing your energy costs and your carbon footprint, that's good for the bottom line of any business or family!

Michael Shuman to speak at STARworks Annual Meeting.

We at STARworks are pleased to announce that Michael Shuman has agreed to be the speaker for our Annual Meeting on October 29th. Michael Shuman is vice president for Enterprise Development for the Training and Development Corporation (TDC) of Bucksport, Maine. A noted economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, Shuman is widely recognized for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalization as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies in an era of big-box chains. He has authored, coauthored, and edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (Free Press, 1998). The Small-Mart Revolution was just awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers’ Association. Mr. Shuman will also be leading a pre-Annual Meeting workshop (space limited, pre-registration required) the afternoon of the Annual Meeting. Save the date!

Central Park NC and STARworks on UNC TV North Carolina Now

Central Park NC and STARworks were recently featured on UNC TV's program, North Carolina Now. Click here to see it! The piece features STARworks movers and shakers including Kenneth Cagle, Takuro Shibata and Eddie Bernard, not to mention the visionary herself Nancy Gottovi explaining exactly what it is we do here. If for some reason the link does not work, go to http://www.unctv.org/ncnow/features/august_09_01.html, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on "play video" next to Central Park NC. Enjoy!