News

From Sir with Love, a new custom gift and stationery store, will officially open its doors in Roswell on March 19. Located on Atlanta Street on the east side of Roswell’s historic town square, in the building previously occupied by Salvage Bee, the shop will offer unique, high-quality gifts and stationery services for weddings, corporate clients, and individuals.

The shop’s owner, Sirmantha Ellison, began her business in 2011 out of a love and passion for creating elegant and tasteful gifts and memories. What began as a small studio called Paper Parfait quickly grew over the years, causing Ellison to rebrand to From Sir with Love and begin looking for a brick and mortar space for her business last year.  

With Roswell ranking number two in the State of Georgia for wedding destinations, Ellison strategically chose to open her business in Roswell, knowing it would be the perfect market for her product. She also knew the city’s strong culture for supporting small businesses.

“I’ve always admired Roswell’s Southern hospitality and friendliness, which made it the perfect place to set up a shop for my curated and personalized pieces,” said Sirmantha Ellison, owner of From Sir With Love. “Every city needs an organization like Roswell Inc. From helping me navigate city hall to making necessary business connections, Roswell Inc was my biggest cheerleader and played a vital role in opening my storefront.”

“Small businesses like From Sir with Love are the core of Roswell’s entrepreneurial culture,” said Debra Ewing, business development coordinator at Roswell Inc. “At Roswell Inc, we enjoy helping small businesses get off the ground, and it was an absolute honor to work alongside Sirmantha throughout this process. We are thrilled to have her join Roswell’s thriving business community.”

For more information about From Sir With Love, visit fromsirwithlove.com.

As of this month, two of Roswell Village Shopping Center’s new tenants, Ross Dress for Less and Marshalls, have officially opened their doors to the public. Crunch Fitness is currently under construction and actively accepting memberships pending its opening this summer. Starbucks, one of the other announced tenants in the shopping center, is also under construction with an anticipated opening at the end of 2019.

Located on the corner of Alpharetta Highway and Holcomb Bridge Road, the Roswell Village Shopping Center is owned by Sterling Organization. The 149,261-square-foot center has been undergoing redevelopment since April 2018.

Our team has been working with Sterling Organization throughout this process, from helping to recruit tenants to assisting with navigating city hall for signage and permitting, and we will continue to partner with them as they finalize tenants and finish the project.  

For more information about the development, visit sterlingorganization.com/properties/181.

The National Veteran Supplier Diversity Coalition, in partnership with Roswell Inc, will host the first ever Veteran Business Expo of Georgia at the Country Club of Roswell on Tuesday, April 30. This one-day event will bring together veteran-owned business owners and entrepreneurs and corporate purchasing professionals for a reverse tradeshow and matchmaking event.

This innovative tradeshow model is unique within the industry and will serve the needs of veteran business professionals as well as the local, regional, and national companies looking to work with and hire veteran-owned businesses.

The expo will feature networking opportunities, in-depth, one-on-one matchmaking activities between veteran-owned businesses and corporate purchasing professionals, and an exhibit hall specifically tailored for small-to-medium veteran-owned businesses to share their products and services with large corporations looking to network and grow their supplier diversity program.

“The best way we can help veteran entrepreneurs is to give them access to as many opportunities as possible,” said Brent Moeller, director of outreach for NVSDC. “As veteran entrepreneurs, ourselves, we saw first-hand the problems with traditional trade shows and decided to create a new model based directly around the needs of veteran entrepreneurs—something affordable and exclusively veteran-focused that would provide access to an expansive network of private companies and government purchasing managers who are passionate about using veteran suppliers.”

Additionally, veterans interested in learning about opening a franchise will have opportunities to hear from and connect with professionals in the franchising industry.

“We are thrilled to be bringing this new, innovative, and much-needed event to our community in order to serve and support veterans and veteran-owned businesses here in Roswell and within the region,” said Steve Stroud, executive director of Roswell Inc. “We’ve been honored to work hand-in-hand with the NVSDC team and look forward to seeing the positive impact this event will have on fostering a vibrant business environment for our veterans.”

To date, the Veteran Expo of Georgia is sponsored by Lockheed Martin (Title Sponsor) and SAS Software (Partner Sponsor). As Title Sponsor, Lockheed Martin is also specifically sponsoring the one-on-one matchmaking activities.

Additional sponsors will be announced in the coming months, and sponsorship opportunities are still available for interested companies at multiple levels.

For more information about sponsorships, becoming an exhibitor, or registering to attend as a veteran-owned business, visit nvsdc.org/trade-show.

About National Veteran Supplier Diversity Coalition

The National Veteran Supplier Diversity Coalition (NVSDC) is a nonprofit that works to support veteran-owned businesses and any company seeking to increase its own commitment to veteran suppliers. NVSDC accomplishes this through recognizing corporate commitment to diverse suppliers, promotion of sourcing opportunities for vets, aiding companies in meeting their supplier diversity goals, providing start-up funding for veteran small businesses, and offering mentoring programs.

View or Download the Full 2018 Annual Report

👇 or take a peek at the highlights below first 👇

View or Download the Full 2018 Annual Report

Since 2017, four hotel projects—one boutique and three business class— have been announced for Roswell. Home 2 Suites by Hilton and Springhill Suites by Marriott were announced in July 2017, Element by Westin was announced in March 2018, and Canton Place Development announced the expansion of its boutique hotel and mixed-use project in September 2018.

So, where do these hotel projects currently stand since the news broke for each? We’d like to provide you with a quick project update for all four hotels.

Home 2 Suites and Springhill Suites, which are both located off Westside Parkway, broke ground in 2018 and are projected to finish construction by late 2019, early 2020. Combined, these two projects will bring 196 rooms to the city for business travelers.

Element by Westin, located between Home 2 Suites and Springhill Suites, has received its land disturbance permit (LPD) and will break ground by the end of 2018. Element will have 91 rooms, an outdoor pool, restaurant, full-service bar, and a 250+ capacity meeting space.

Once complete, these three business class hotels will bring an estimated 150+ new jobs and approximately $39 million in capital investment to Roswell, along with an estimated $598,000+ in annual revenue generation for the city.

Canton Place Development’s Boutique Hotel and mixed-use development, which is planned to open in Roswell’s Historic District, will include 125 rooms and a variety of unique, curated retail and restaurant space. This $88.2 million project is hoping to break ground by the end of 2018, with plans to be completed by the end of 2020. (This paragraph has been updated since it was originally published to reflect the correct number of hotel rooms as 125, not 192 as originally posted.)

Springhill Suites Site

Home2Suites Site

These project announcements have come within a year of the key findings we released from our hotel feasibility study in the spring of 2017, which was conducted by Atlanta-based hospitality research firm The Highland Group. The study indicated a strong demand for business class hotel options in Roswell, and this data has had a significant impact on Roswell’s recent growth in hotel presence, as it has helped our organization work with and secure each hotelier. Learn more about the study here.