I am feeling run down today. What is it about having to stay home to work that wears you out? I know…. at least I have work – at least for now. I am grateful we were able to go remote quickly to protect our team’s health and still serve our clients. Just today, today feels heavy. So I was trying to think of some way to spread cheer. I started here at home by calling Sweet Joy’s Cakes and Desserts for some Cabin Fever Relief. #lovelocal
Sweet Joy’s is a family business. Their website says they cook from the heart and believe in quality when it comes to decorating and flavoring their foods. Check out their website to see some amazing creations.
The Cabin Fever Relief kit they delivered to our house brought smiles to the faces of my girls. It was just what we needed to bounce back a little from all the heavy that is these days. I feel good about supporting a locally owned small business and the girls are feeling good about having sweet treats to enjoy. I hope you will all give Sweet Joy’s a call or connect with Sweet Joy’s on Facebook to get some relief for yourself!
I love my local community and it is breaking my heart to see what is happening to small local businesses! The #lovelocal challenge I launched last week ends on March 31st as a chance to support the local businesses that make our community. To enter the contest, write online reviews, for each review you write AND then tag in the comments section on Facebook (Gaines Group Architects page) for the contest post, enters you for a chance to win. Enter MANY times.
Online reviews are huge for locally owned businesses. Your endorsement allows them to grow their business, improve their SEO, and maximize their marketing efforts. Your written endorsement encourages others to support these local businesses. Please write from the heart why you support local each business. If I missed a business that should be added, let me know. Write a lot of reviews and tag them on my Facebook page – I want you to enter this contest many many times.
We love our small business clients like Harmony Square Dairy Queen. Here is a link to the project portfolio. We were honored to work on this project to help transform the standard Dairy Queen design into a site specific energy-efficient solution for local owners. The general building layout is very similar to the standard. The systems, insulation, lighting, and solar pv all make this building unique.
When working with a “standard” corporate design you are limited in what changes can be made. The local owners of this restaurant were determined to build the most energy-efficient and durable structure possible. They included solar PV on the roof, high performance insulation, natural daylighting into the core space, and reduced the water usage of the facility.
We love working with small local businesses to make sure their buildings reflect their business culture. We can work with your budget, schedule, and goals to develop the right solution for you and your business.
I started a #lovelocal challenge yesterday on my facebook page HERE. It is simple and easy to enter and you can enter multiple times. All you have to do is follow these steps:
Find the post pinned to the top of the page outlining the contest
Write online reviews for local Harrisonburg companies – there is a list on blog posts HERE and HERE. If I missed someone, write them a review and I will add them.
I will take one entry for every review you write and put your name in a big bucket. I will draw a winner on March 31st for a $50 gift card to Local Chop and Grill (donated by Beck Builders)
Why is this important? Writing reviews boost the SEO of local companies. As we emerge from this economic disaster companies need strong SEO to be found when there is a web search. You can write reviews on google or Facebook or one of many other platforms. Houzz is another good option for those in the building industry.
We met some wonderful folks that purchased a house in Fort Valley. The views were incredible, but it lacked a rear deck. They gave us a call and presented the challenge: they wanted a rear deck, but did not want to obstruct their views with columns.
We visited the site and evaluated the conditions. Since we did not know the existing footing situation under the existing house we needed to be creative with supporting the new structure. We also wanted to add a deck across the entire rear of the home – with as few columns as possible. So we developed a strategy to create a walkway along the edge of the house to connect two modest sized decks – preserving the light into the main room of the basement and the views out of all the windows.
We love our small business clients like Weiler Orthodontics and Invisalign. HERE is a link to the project portfolio. We were invited into this design project along with Herr and Company. The goal was to modernize the existing aesthetics ofWeiler Orthodontics and Invisalign. The existing interior finishes were dated and did not reflect the innovative, fun, and relaxing culture Dr. Weiler had created. It was time for a facelift.
We worked hard on coordinating how to make the changes to best reflect the business Dr. Weiler had created. His aesthetic goals were a balance of kid friendly, sophisticated, and functional. His goal of making each patient feel special and welcome were key components of the design plan.
We worked hard to figure out the right balance to keep noise down to make the space as low stress as possible for patients. Learning how the Weiler team worked and understanding the function of the space was critical for our design.
We love working with small local businesses to make sure their buildings reflect their business culture. We have worked with many that have had tight budgets, deadlines, and needed to stay open during construction. It is a challenge to get all the parts in the right place to make it a successful project, but we know how to navigate through the challenge.
