East Somerville Main Streets (ESMS)
held its second annual meeting at the neighborhood eatery amidst a
roomful of small business owners, residents and elected officials. The
positive energy that came from teamwork amongst the many volunteers
that comprise the group (ESMS Executive Director Carrie Dancy often
says she is the only paid staffer) was palpable amongst much applause
and shouts of a lot of good work done in East Somerville-the
"forgotten" part of the city-over the past two years.

Gatherers learned about revitalization efforts in East Somerville that spanned ESMS and city-wide initiatives.

"For
a long time, people thought about this area as a pass-through, and we
are now just starting to capitalize on all of our assets" said Mayor
Joseph Curtatone.

For example, the funding has come in to
rebuild the East Somerville Community School (a bout of applause
erupted here), Curtatone said. The owners of Stop & Shop in
Somerville have approached the city to build a hotel by Harris Park.
Over at Assembly Square, IKEA will finally have a home there and the
foundation is already in the ground, he said.

The Assembly Square project will be the greatest example of "smart" development in the region, Curtatone said.

Washington
Street will be repaved "one way or another," Curtatone said, before he
was drowned out by another round of applause. Additionally, 14 other
streets will be repaved this spring.

In essence, East Somerville will get the extra attention that it so deserves, he said.

Dorie
Clark, the ESMS vice president announced some exciting projects planned
for 2009. ESMS' main priority is to beautify the neighborhoods, she
said. Last fall, city officials held a gathering at Sullivan Square to
discuss ways to convert the sad, "no man's land" there to an inviting T
Station that residents want (more applause).

Enchanting murals
like the display along Mystic Avenue are planned for East Somerville.
ESMS is working with the Somerville Arts Council on a particular
project right now, which will soon be announced, Clark said. "We are a
neighborhood of many artists," she said.

ESMS has been looking
into guidelines to unify storefronts. For example, studies have shown
that erecting grates and bars on windows sends out a negative message
about the safety of a neighborhood, Clark said. "So we encourage all
businesses to take down the grates," she said, amidst another bout of
applause.

Clark stressed that many ESMS initiatives require
help from residents. Visit www.eastsomervillemainstreets.org to sign up
to volunteer. For example, ESMS will stage "outreach days," which
entails erecting a tent with information and inviting volunteers to
talk to people walking through the neighborhood about the neat stuff
going on in East Somerville.

A new ESMS committee-the "East
Somerville Cafe Recruitment Committee"-will commence working on getting
a Bloc 11 or Sherman Cafe-style cafe in their neighborhood, Clark said.
The committee is looking for others to join the effort.

Other ESMS efforts for 2009 including the following:

o A neighborhood cleanup on May 9, in conjunction with the city-wide clean-up

o To continue the International Movie Nights this September

o To continue the "Lights of Broadway" holiday contest

o The "First Tuesdays!" monthly neighborhood gathering, starting with a wine tasting at Sullivan Square Liquors on April 7

o Establish an East Somerville site during Somerville Open Studios at the Cross Street Senior Center

ESMS
will hold a fund raiser in November to pay for these initiatives, with
Jimmy Tingle serving as the headline performance, Clark said.

Ben
Grossman, who leads Green Marketing Solutions for the East
Somerville-based Grossman Marketing Group, delivered the keynote
address. He talked about how Max Grossman founded the company in
1910-fulfilling a dream to own a company when he was selling envelopes
out of a pushcart. His innovation to create a more secure pay envelope
that immigrants in Boston used to send money back home led to the
Massachusetts Envelope Company (which later became the Grossman
Marketing Group).

This same kind of entrepreneurship exists
amongst the students at the local colleges-such as MIT and Harvard-who
the city of Somerville should encourage and foster. Grossman suggested
a "student incubator" effort where local businesses would donate money
to start-ups based in the city.

"Our company is lucky to be
close to schools like Harvard and Tufts, but we want to encourage the
students to stay here," he said. "We want them to think of Somerville
rather than Route 128."

Grossman encourages people to contact him about this proposal via www.grossmanmarketing.com.

Entrepreneurship
is how the city can rise out of the recession, he continued. "So that
we can capture the potential," he said. "We are positioned to do so.
After all, business growth is critical to support the tax base and to
create new jobs."

For Somerville to grow, it's also important to
invest in teaching children in the public schools the importance of
technology and innovation, Grossman said.

Susan Fontano, the
ESMS president, was also quick to highlight that making East Somerville
a better place to live is up to the residents.

"We had a great
year, thanks to volunteers and residents," she said. "It's a great team
spirit, and Somerville, in general, is known for that."