Last month, we hosted the first ever Veteran Business Expo of Georgia in partnership with the National Veteran Supplier Diversity Coalition, a Roswell-based nonprofit. Nearly 200 veteran businesses attended and got to connect with 30 corporate purchasing professionals from companies like Lockheed Martin, Southern Company, and Synovus.
To learn more, visit nvsdc.org.
Summer Sippin’ Roswell returns to celebrate the creative craft beverage-making skills of Roswell restaurants, cafés, breweries, and coffee shops from June 1 to July 31, 2019. This year’s competition includes 46 participants from around the city, all of which have created and will launch a unique alcoholic or non-alcoholic specialty drink not already featured on their menus.
During the two-month event, patrons are invited to rate each sip they try. At the end of the event, based on the drink ratings, one alcoholic and one non-alcoholic drink will both be crowned “The Best Sip in Roswell 2019” in their respective categories.
New this year, patrons will be able to submit their drink ratings through both the Summer Sippin’ app and the Summer Sippin’ website. Each user account will be synced and work seamlessly between the two platforms, allowing patrons to view an updated list of the sips they’ve tried and rated in either location.
In its fourth year, Summer Sippin’ is one of the industry support programs created by Roswell Inc, the economic and business development organization for the City of Roswell.
“Summer is one of our favorite times of the year because we get to celebrate and promote the creativity and innovation of our food and beverage businesses through Summer Sippin’.” said Steve Stroud, executive director of Roswell Inc. “This event not only supports our hospitality industry, which is one of Roswell’s largest, it also positions us as a destination for other restaurant and craft beverage entrepreneurs.”
Participating restaurants for 2019 include:1920 Tavern, American Pasta Factory, Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, The Big Ketch Canton Street, Bistro VG, Brookwood Grill, C&S Chowder House, Chipper’s Club, Crazy Love Coffeehouse, Deep Roots Wine Market, Fellows, The Fickle Pickle, Flama Pizza Co., Foundation Social Eatery, Fresco Cantina Grille, From the Earth Brewing Company, The Gaslight, Gate City Brewing Company, Gracious Plenty Bakery & Breakfast, the grub gastropub, Gypsy Rose Music, HOLA! Taqueria & Bar, Hugo’s Oyster Bar, Ippolito’s Neighborhood Italian, Land of a Thousand Hills, Local on North, Lucky’s Burger & Brew, Marlow’s Tavern, The Mill Kitchen & Bar, Monkey 68, Monterrey Roswell, NOCA, Osteria Mattone, Pinkies Up Beer & Wine, Plum Café, PURE taqueria, Scooter’s Coffee, Sublime Tree, Sugar Shack in the Back, Table & Main, Tap & Six, Taqueria Tsunami, The Whiskey Project, Variant Brewing Company, Vin25, and Zest.
The full lineup of participating restaurants, drinks, descriptions and photos can be found at SummerSippin.com and on the Summer Sippin’ App, which is available in the Apple and Google Play stores.
Make sure to follow Summer Sippin’ on Facebook at @SummerSippinRoswell and Twitter and Instagram at @SummerSippin and use #SummerSippin2019.
Summer Sippin’ Roswell is sponsored by Gas South.
Canton Place Development LLC recently announced its partnership with Mainsail Lodging & Development LLC as co-developer for Historic Roswell’s new 125-room boutique hotel. Specializing in creating luxury hotel projects as distinctive as their locales, Mainsail is well known for its concepting, vision and innovative design. The Tampa-based hospitality company’s regional focus includes Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean, with other developments currently underway in Atlanta and Macon, GA.
“We are beyond excited to bring the expertise of Mainsail president, Joe Collier, and his team into the fold as our lead partner on the hotel’s development,” said Kevin Bryant, co-founder of Roswell-based Canton Place Development. “Their reputation and success as one of the hottest developers of boutique, lifestyle-branded hotels and resorts is exactly the right fit for the Historic Roswell project. They are good people, visionary developers, and experiential hospitality experts.”
“We approach each project as a rare opportunity to create one-of-a-kind experiences for guests and locals alike,” said Joe Collier, president of Mainsail Lodging & Development. “Uncovering what is unique to Roswell and bringing new life to this already thriving area and iconic destination while respecting its historic heritage is our goal.”
In the first quarter of 2019, Canton Place Development also closed on two land parcels that include the Wells Fargo bank, which will be home to the hotel as well as a newly-renovated iteration of the bank, and 26 Webb Street, which will house boutique retail and office space. The company released new design elevations for the corner of Magnolia Street and Mimosa Boulevard that include the redevelopment of the Wells Fargo bank currently on site.
Content courtesy of Full Tilt Consulting.
5/4 Meadery is set to become the newest addition to Roswell’s growing craft beverage industry since signing an 1,800-square-foot lease at 23B Oak Street in Roswell, Georgia.
Once open, the meadery will manufacture and sell a variety of unfiltered, still to sparkling meads and ciders with dry, semi-sweet, or sweet variations—both with and without fruits and spices. The meadery space, located in the back of the same building occupied by Tap & Six and The Whiskey Project, will house both production facilities along with a public-facing storefront for tastings and direct-to-consumer sales.
Mead is a unique alcoholic beverage made from honey that predates both wine and beer. To honor the ancient origins of the drink, 5/4 Meadery will be using traditional processes for both its meads and ciders in addition to using natural, locally sourced ingredients.
Starting this business has been a labor of love, innovation, and creativity for the owner, who came up with the name for the meadery during the initial testing phase of the company’s first meads.
“5/4 is a time signature in music, one with an unusual number of beats in a measure,” said Sean Walcek, owner of 5/4 Meadery. “Believe it or not, first tastings of our experimental dry mead recipe elicited delightful comparisons with creative music innovators. It didn’t take much deliberation to accept a name that incorporated the 5/4 signature written into many original and exciting compositions.”
According to the American Mead Makers Association, mead presently enjoys the same status that craft beer experienced a few decades ago, with strong growth that includes a 42% increase in mead makers who increased their gross revenues by 85% from 2014-2015.
“Mead’s growth in popularity makes this meadery a welcome and exciting addition to Roswell’s craft beverage industry,” said Steve Stroud, executive director of Roswell Inc. “We were honored to work with Sean and all those involved to help bring this project to Roswell, and we look forward to the way it will continue to strengthen Roswell’s economy and our city’s identity as a destination for craft beverage entrepreneurs.”
“We cannot wait to share our passion for meads and ciders with the community,” said Walcek. “Our hope is to establish ourselves as a premier maker of inventive mead and original fruit fermentations, and along the way, help cultivate a deeper awareness of, appreciation for, and love of meads and ciders in our community.”
As of this month, construction is complete and signage is up for all four new tenants in the new 9,000-square-foot outparcel development in the Roswell Corners shopping center on the corner of Highway 92 and Hardscrabble Road—where the Target and Fresh Market are located.
Deka Lash, an upscale eyelash extension studio, has officially opened its doors to the public.
The three remaining tenants—Five Guys, 1,000 Degree Pizza, and Sirius Day Spa—should all be open within the next 60 days.
The outparcel development has been under construction since summer of 2018.
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.
Check out Mayor Lori Henry’s presentation below along with a photo gallery from the event.
We are excited to announce the release of our 2018 Annual Report, which provides an overview of the work and impact that our organization has on the community.
“This year’s report is filled with success stories of the work we’ve done together to help foster a robust and healthy economic climate in Roswell,” said Steve Stroud, executive director of Roswell Inc. “We are proud to share this report with the community and look forward to another year ahead.”
