WRAP’s 2017 St. Patrick’s Day SoberRide campaign is scheduled to run from 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 17th (St. Patrick’s Day) until 4:00 a.m. Saturday, March 18, 2017.

WRAP’s SoberRide program is one of the nation’s most successful free safe rides programs for would-be impaired drivers. However, prevention is essential for keeping our highways safe during high-risk holidays. If your business needs an alcohol awareness presentation, WRAP’s Safe And Vital Employees (SAVE) program is available free of cost to you. This 45-minute, customized presentation will inform employees about the physical, economic and legal consequences of impaired driving.

Visit www.soberride.com for additional details.

Please be safe during this holiday.

AMPBID will be distributing SoberRide cards and posters the week of St. Patrick's Day. If you wish to recieve extra cards or posters or would like to get them early, please contact Brian Barrie at 202-536-9515

The 2017 CSA SEASON is rapidly approaching! And so is the Early Bird deadline - April 11.

As we are about to enter the 2017 farm season, we hope you will want to be a part of our CSA, visit our farm to see where your food is grown, and be a part of the voices speaking out to preserve healthily grown local food and cherish access to the wonders our earth produces.

WHY A CSA

The intent of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is to partner with the farmer by providing a cash flow to enable the farmer to purchase seeds, hire staff, prepare equipment, plant, nurture and harvest.  All of this happens months before the farmer can begin to get income from the sale of produce.  The pre-purchase of membership gives the farmer a good sense of how much of our yield is needed for the CSA, which is critical to a smooth operation. In exchange, the members receives a weekly, fresh picked yield.

The CSA will start the first week in June.

• Again we'll have 4 sessions - June-July; August-September;  October; and November.
• You can sign up for the entire season or by session. Either way, you need to pay before each session begins.  So we encourage you to plan accordingly.
• You will get a reminder about two weeks before the beginning of each session, so you should have plenty of time to get your payment to us.

Membership Fee

We are not changing the prices from the last two year even though our costs have risen across the board on seeds, equipment, salaries, etc!  Please check the Membership Form for the prices.

Early Bird

If you start off with the early bird price, we will honor that throughout the season if we get your payment before each session begins.  If not, then the regular price will apply for that session.

Pro-rating

If you know before you pay that you won't be picking up on particular dates, pro-rate your amount and make sure you write on your form the dates you will not pick up.  That is essential for our weekly counts.  The Membership Form lists the fees.

Credit

We do not give cash refunds.  As is our practice, if you let us know in enough time you will not be picking up that week, we will give you credit towards the next session.  Enough time means, before Monday for the Tuesday pickups and before Friday for Saturday pickups.

• If you just forget to pick one week, we donate your share to a good cause.
• Obviously, emergency situations are different so please let us know and we will make adjustments.  The best reason we've had for not picking up was, "I'm so sorry, I went into labor Saturday morning".

Below are explanations of how we work and disclosures so hopefully, there won’t be confusion during the season about credit, pickup hours and details for the individual market pickups, etc.

How we operate weekly

To understand why we need to know the numbers each week, here is how we operate.

• We call the farm the day before each pick up.  So we call in early (before 8am) Monday mornings for our Tuesday CSA and early Friday morning for our Saturday CSAs.  The staff first pick for the CSA. Then the staff picks for our markets and wholesale.  So, if we don't have the correct number, we either don't have enough for the CSA, or we have extra that could have been used at our markets for sale.  That is why it is so important we have the correct number.

Pick up hours

• We encourage you to try to pick up as soon as possible especially when it is really hot.  We keep what we can in water or on ice, and we mist, but the heat can be brutal, as you know, so the sooner you can get your produce in the frig or inside, the better it will keep for the week.
• If you need to be late, please let us know (for market pickups, we can't stay longer than it takes up to pack up).  And for Takoma Park pickups, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO TAKE YOUR NAME TAG SO WE KNOW YOU HAVE PICKED UP.
• The best way to contact us on pick up days is by phone.  301 587-1739 (home) or 240 505-6281 or 6282 (cells).  On market days, we rarely have time to check email so phone calls are best.
• If someone else will be picking up, even with their good intentions, they often forget, so please give us their contact information.

SATURDAY PICK UP:

Adams Morgan market CSA pickups start around 9:00am until about 1:00pm.  The sooner we can pack up and leave, the sooner we can bring the CSA to the Takoma Park pickup!  You can call 240 505-6282, 6281 or 717 491-6842.

Don't hesitate to ask us questions.  Check out our web site ( www.lickingcreekbendfarm.com ), which we are in the process of updating with wonderful new pictures and information.

If I've forgotten anything, we'll be sending around a second notice in late March.

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW for the Sunday, May 21 FARM VISIT. You should plan to leave this area by 9:15am to arrive by 11:30am.  Remember it's a veggie pot luck to share.  Bring your own plates, utensils and cups and a bathing suit and towel.  Read the CSA quotes for some comments on past farm visits.  It's well worth the trip!  We will provide directions to the farm closer to the date.  Our directions are a bit better than Mapquest, but you can try using those.  The address is 928 Donahoe Lane, Needmore, PA  17238.

We are excited about the new season.  Thanks for your support.

Michael, Esther, Charmaine and Justin

Licking Creek Bend Farm

Is your business eligible for capital improvement grants, tax rebates, flexible loans, wage reimbursements, or other financial incentives from the Government of the District of Columbia or community lenders?

On March 23, learn about the incentives and resources available for businesses that are opening in, relocating, or expanding to Washington, DC. From the Great Streets program to the Qualified High Tech Companies (QHTC) incentive package, the District provides an array of benefits established to help reduce the cost of doing business.

Join the Washington DC Economic Partnership and our distinguished panel of speakers to discuss available incentives, eligibility criteria, and how to access these local initiatives.

**Veteran discount available. Contact Erica Moore for more information.

Thursday, March 23, 2017
Network: 9 to 9:30AM
Learn: 9:30 to 11AM
Wash. DC Economic Partnership
1495 F St NW
Washington, DC 20004

Featured Speakers:

JAMILA BRAITHWAITE
Capital One
Senior Banker, Business Banking Group

OSWALDO ACOSTA
Latino Economic Development Corporation
Director of Small Business Services

JEREMY CULLIMORE

Washington Area Community Investment Fund
Director of Communications & Outreach

Register Today

Read more about ICCC’s regional and national impact in the 2016 Impact Report .

Call for Small Business and Economic Development Nominations

Each year the DC Chamber of Commerce honors the success of small businesses who have contributed to the business and economic growth of our community. The event gathers local politicians, corporations, civic leaders and successful businesses to celebrate the small business owner.

Interested in nominating a small business, business person or young entrepreneur? Learn more . (Nomination Deadline: March 15, 2017)

Make plans to join them on Tuesday, May 9 for this annual celebration and stay posted for event updates.

3/29 Webinar: Addressing Today's Safety and Security Threats

On March 29, please join the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and Johnson Controls for a webinar on how to keep your business and community safe and resilient. You will learn practical steps to take before a crime occurs to reduce your vulnerability and keep your employees safe. The webinar will identify top security threats and actions you can take now to help you mitigate your risk.

According to the FBI’s most recent data, there were almost 8 million property crime offenses in the United States in 2015. And, according to Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) estimates, roughly 2 million employees per year are affected by some form of workplace violence.

Don’t wait until after an incident occurs to think about the safety and security of your organization. Take action now by joining us for the webinar, Addressing Today’s Safety and Security Threats on March 29.

Register here today

Attend ABRA Orientation Training March 30, 2017

New and existing ABC licensees are invited to attend ABRA’s Orientation Training from 2-4 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, 2017 to learn about:

• District ABC laws and regulations (including recent changes to the law),
• Tips for working effectively with the community,
• Settlement Agreements,
• Expectations of licensees,
• Best practices, and
• Noise abatement and sound management.

Contact ABRA Community Resource Officer Sarah Fashbaugh by Friday, March 24, 2017 to register: (202) 397-3971

Attendance for this class is strongly recommended for new license holders. Training is free of charge. Requests for interpreters may be made; however, they must be submitted by the registration deadline.

Training Location

2000 14th St., NW
Suite 400 South, 4th Floor
Washington, DC 20009

- www.abra.dc.gov -