Economy Section :: Page 64

• Creativity keeps contractors afloat

  By Brooke BryanMarch 12, 2009

  Illustrating how money circulates through small economies, area contractors can often be found downtown on early weekday mornings and around the lunch hour. When local property owners support local contractors, the contractors in turn support downtown merchants, whether it’s a few extra parts from the hardware store or lunch from the deli.

  Amidst a national economic recession that has led to job loss, lower housing values and less-accessible consumer credit, all contractors surveyed in recent interviews were looking at creative ways to stay afloat. While many felt Yellow Springs is spared of the gravest economic fallout, each has encountered economic ripples in some aspect of their business.

• Merchants wait out downturn

  By Lauren HeatonMarch 5, 2009

  In a village that has seen five retail shops close in the last six months, it is no small feat to keep a business thriving, especially during a recession. A sampling of business owners interviewed last week agreed for the most part that trade has been slow this whole past year, and some have been hit by 10 to 25 percent losses over the past few months.

• ‘News’ wins state awards

  By YS News StaffFebruary 26, 2009

  At the recent annual Osman Hooper contest for weekly newspapers, the Yellow Springs News won first place in editorials, features and original columns, along with awards in advertising, special editions and in-depth reporting.

• Film feast: Little Art, eateries unite

  By Susan GartnerFebruary 12, 2009

  

  “We’re in a highly competitive industry that’s changing,” said Little Art Theatre owner Jenny Cowperthwaite in a recent interview. “Fewer people are seeing movies in theaters. It’s not just independent theaters like the Little Art that are experiencing declining attendance. It’s industry-wide.”

• Barr project goes super green

  By Lauren Heaton

  The look of the senior apartment building that Friends Health Care Association proposes to build on the Barr property hasn’t changed much since Village Council approved the preliminary plans early last summer.

• Epic’s final chapter, 35 years on

  By Diane Chiddister

  In recent weeks many villagers have stopped in to tell Epic Book Shop owner Gail Lichtenfels how sorry they are that her Dayton Street shop is closing. They appreciate the quiet, peaceful space she created with her meditative music, comfortable sofas and local art, people say.

• Center for arts strides ahead

  By Lauren HeatonJanuary 29, 2009

  The many hands involved in the effort to build a Yellow Springs Center for the Arts have been busy lately and are preparing to roll out a string of announcements about their plans to dust off and shine up the arts efforts in the village.

• Shuman workshop generates potential business initiatives

  By Diane ChiddisterJanuary 22, 2009

  These were a few of the possible new business opportunities that came out of “Going Local,” a weekend workshop with economist Michael Shuman. About 200 people attended a standing-room-only keynote talk last Friday night at the Glen Helen building, and 70 villagers took part in the workshop on Saturday and Sunday.

• Young’s Jersey Dairy— Celebrating 140 years on the farm

  By Lauren HeatonJanuary 15, 2009

  

  Since the surge of the digital age made last year’s computer nearly obsolete, it seems that everything has changed. But the love of the farmstead has not. When the Young brothers realized that in the 1960s, it was a short jump to figuring out how to transform their historic farmstead into a business that would survive the ages.

• Economic health gets a local focus

  By Diane ChiddisterJanuary 8, 2009

  Organizers of an upcoming economic development workshop with nationally-known economist Michael Shuman hope that the event sparks, as well as specific actions, new thinking about the best ways to create a sustainable local economy.