The owners and operators of Bustleton Avenue businesses have organized, according to Sandi King of the city’s Commerce Department. And the goal of the new group, its president said, is to help its members prosper, grow and, most important, stay in Philly.
The Bustleton Business Association formed in May, said its president, Diana Pivenshteyn. Its almost 50 members have elected officers and meet on the second Tuesday of every month.
Members are drawn from businesses that operate in and around Bustleton Avenue, from Somerton to Cottman Avenue, Pivenshteyn said, and currently include retailers, attorneys, doctors, dentists and “anybody who’s on Bustleton,” she said.
Those members will be meeting next at Uzbekistan, 12012 Bustleton Ave., at 6 p.m. on Sept. 9, she said. Prospective members should keep the date in mind. A website is under construction, Pivenshteyn said. Email can be sent to impresaphilly@gmail.com. Pivenshteyn credits King for helping the organization form.
“It’s the Commerce Department that brought us together,” she said.
Still, it wasn’t an easy sell to get members, she said, especially since some local business operators claim they get a hard time from the city. A lot of paperwork and red tape is involved with getting a business started in the city and following all the rules that limit what businesses can do, Pivenshteyn said. Some said they would call the city and get no response.
Some local businesses have fled to Bucks County, she said. “We want to bring them back. … We want business owners to know they have help,” she said.
There are city programs to help developers, she said, and Philly’s “Jump Start” that gives new businesses tax breaks for a couple of years.
But sometimes, it’s just assistance with some mundane, but annoying, problems that businesses need.
She gave an example of one business owner who had a problem with the city’s sign regulations and was not getting much satisfaction from municipal government. The association found the right person and got the business owner answers to his questions.
“Without the association,” Pivenshteyn said, “that problem wouldn’t have been solved.” ••
