The City of Fremont and the Fremont Chamber of Commerce are co-hosting a workshop:

How a Marketing Strategy Can Make You Money
Wednesday, March 31
7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Fremont City Hall, City Council Chambers
3300 Capitol Avenue, Building A

The cost is $20.00 in advance or $25.00 at the door. (Groups of ten or more people who are members of a business association will receive a discount; contact the City's Melissa Valle via email or at 510-284-4028.) A continental breakfast and refreshments will be provided.

Register for the workshop by contacting the East Bay Small Business Development Center at 510-208-0410 or visit their website.

The City of Fremont provides a variety of programs, services, and dedicated staff to help establish and expand your business. Through the Taking Care of Business program, we will promote the City's efforts to retain and expand existing Fremont businesses through the following opportunities:

- Welcome and Appreciation Programs
- Corporate Site Visits
- Business Workshops and Seminars
- City-wide Business Marketing and Promotion
- Business Resources and Publications
- Business Websites
- One-Stop Development Center
- Environmental Services

Fremont offers a business-friendly environment and actively supports the development of a strong, diverse, and vibrant business community. As your dreams grow, so should your business. Let us help make a success story out of you!

A brochure will soon be available free of charge with more information about our business retention and expansion programs. To obtain a copy, please contact the Office of Economic Development via email or at 510-284-4020.

On February 3, the City Council approved the selection of co-developers Capitol Avenue Partners, LLC (Sunhill Development) and Blake Hunt Ventures for the Capitol Avenue/Downtown retail development project. This new retail area, to be situated next to the traditional crossroads of Fremont (at Fremont Boulevard and Mowry Avenue), is envisioned to be a thriving pedestrian friendly Main Street retail center.

The Fremont Chamber of Commerce will feature the Mayor's State of the City Address during its Public Policy Forum luncheon on Friday, April 2, from 11:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Fremont Marriott Hotel. The Mayor will address the many challenges and opportunities facing Fremont. To purchase tickets, please contact the Fremont Chamber of Commerce via their website or at 510-795-2244.

The City's Office of Housing and Redevelopment offers a Commercial Rehabilitation Loan Program to businesses within the three Redevelopment project areas of Centerville, Irvington, and Niles. It provides low interest loans to assist property owners interested in reconstructing or rehabilitating their property to address seismic retrofitting, code compliance, and new use improvements.

Currently underway is the design of a new feature of this program called the Façade Improvement Grants Program. The proposed program aims to improve the appearance of storefronts in the three Redevelopment project areas, thus contributing to a more attractive shopping experience for both shoppers and retailers. The revised program is tentatively scheduled to be presented to the Redevelopment Agency Board sometime in April.

For more information about these programs, please contact Special Assistant Eva Terrazas via email or at 510-494-4531.

The remodel of Minerva's restaurant in Centerville is scheduled for completion in April. Just under $300,000 in improvements will provide an updated façade, additional square footage, and parking lot improvements. This project followed closely on the heels of nearly $400,000 in improvements to the Alice Miller Building on Fremont Boulevard and Peralta Avenue. Both projects benefited from the Redevelopment Agency's low interest Commercial Loan Program.

Negotiations continue with Charter Development for a new mixed-use commercial/residential center on the Centerville Unified Site (located on Fremont Boulevard near Thornton Avenue). A Work Session is tentatively scheduled before the Redevelopment Agency Board on April 20 to review the latest proposal. For more information on this project, please contact Redevelopment Project Manager Jennifer Andersen via email or at 510-494-4518. If you have recommendations or leads regarding possible retail tenants for the site, please contact Charter Properties' James Tong at 925-463-1666.

How do you attract customers and keep them coming back to your restaurant and retail establishment? Simple- create a retail marketing strategy. Here are some highly effective and low cost retail marketing strategies:

- Personal Marketing: Promote the benefit of your product or service to the customer and don't forget to let them know about newly arrived merchandise.
- Expertise Marketing: Identify your store's area of expertise and carry it through on all your marketing efforts. Customers have so many choices that you want to identify what you do that makes you and your store uniquely special and better than the competition.
- Success Driven Marketing: Being passionate means caring about your customers and letting them know that you care. Try writing five handwritten thank you notes every day to your customers. Include information about promotional events such as a book signing or special sale.
- Relationship Marketing: Build relationships with your customers by obtaining testimonials and referrals. Ask customers for their opinions on your products and services, and ask for referrals by giving them some of your business cards to distribute.

Although running a newspaper advertisement can be a costly endeavor, it can also be extremely effective. Here are few pointers on newspaper advertising effectiveness:

Do
- Target your audience. People between the ages of 35 and 65 tend to read the paper, so if you're selling carpet, instead of saying "Wall-to-Wall Carpet for $399" say "Soundproof your Teenagers Room for $399."
- Use pictures whenever possible. It's much easier than trying to read text and pictures get your message across quicker.
- Sell emotion. Use headlines to convey the emotional boost that customers will get from shopping at your store, and remember to be brief, compelling, and to the point.

Do Not
- Do not place ads in a haphazard or spontaneous manner. The name of the game is consistency and frequency; constant exposure is necessary to get your message across.
- Do not make assumptions. Make sure your ad tells who you are and what merchandise you are selling.

The world's largest gathering for the biotechnology industry is heading to San Francisco this summer. BIO 2004, the annual international convention for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, anticipates over 25,000 attendees from more than 1,000 biotech firms in 33 nations. This year's convention, titled "San Francisco...Where it all began," is June 6 through 9 at the Moscone Convention Center. Register

- The Second Annual Ohlone Biotechnology Symposium will be held Wednesday, March 24 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. All interested students, citizens, and biotech companies are invited to attend and learn how biotechnology evolves from research and development to manufacturing. Biotech companies are also invited to display information about their firms and products. Over 100 people attended last year's event. For more information, please contact Ohlone College's Dr. Ron Quinta via email.

- Abgenix, a Fremont-based biopharmaceutical company, is hosting one of the largest local job fairs to date for biotechnology manufacturing and quality assurance/ control:

Saturday, March 27
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Abgenix Corporate Headquarters
6701 Kaiser Drive, Fremont

For more information, please contact Ami Knoefler, Abgenix, at 510-284-6350 or Melanie Norall, WeissCom Partners, at 415-362-5018 ext. 4.