Amid preparations for all of our spring and summer events, our office is consumed with all the details—aside from keeping up with everyday matters. We always have time, however, to celebrate new businesses on The Ave and help plant the seeds that will make them grow.

We’ve had two recent ribbon cuttings, one for a business and one for a non-profit, that will add, in their own individual ways, to the variety of the health of the business climate on The Ave.

The first, on May 2, was for the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center (HWRC) at 818 E. Landis Avenue, which has recently opened its doors. It is part of PRAC of Southern NJ. At this location, they will help to facilitate professional development to increase the employability of Hispanic women. They assist women with ESL classes, job readiness, resume building, computer skills and more. HWRC may be reached at 856-213-6693.

The second, on May 6 at 942 E. Landis Avenue was the ANIW Shop, specializing in the sale of jewelry. In addition, they will make their space available for rent to pop-up shops in an effort to support other small business entrepreneurs who want to “test the waters” of retail. Call Framary Williams for more information at 856-305-9223 or visit (www.aniwshop.com).

We’ve continued to see many more businesses open in our downtown district, and are hoping to schedule more ribbon cuttings to celebrate their openings. If you haven’t taken a ride downtown lately to discover all that Landis Avenue has to offer, be sure to come check us out.

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Our Cruise Down Memory Lane event is coming soon. Be sure to block out the date, as you won’t want to miss seeing a mile long of nearly 1,000 cars on June 10. Following this great event will be our Run The Ave 5K race held downtown on June 25. More to come in future columns on these.

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For more information on Main Street Vineland’s initiatives, programs, and activities, call our office at 856-794-8653, visit our exciting website—theave.biz—or check us out on Facebook. You can also e-mail me at rswanson@vinelandcity.org.