The executive director of the Midtown Business Association will be stepping down to take a job with the City of San Diego. Elizabeth Studebaker took the helm art the Midtown Business Association at the beginning of last year. She was a constant presence in the neighborhood and at local events. Her most recent initiatives include a project to improve street lighting and the launch of the Midtown Farmers Market, which has drawn large crowds in its first two weeks. This is a quick update - we're working on a full story with more details now.  The full press release is below.  --- Press release:  Midtown Business Group Seeking New Executive Director Current Director Accepts Economic Deve

Avoid the dreaded long lines and crowds at retail chains this Black Friday and consider turning your attention to the local shops and vendors in town. In fact, you can even take a pledge to shop local this season, courtesy of the Keep Your Green on the Grid campaign, organized by the Midtown Business Association and the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. Furthermore, Sacramento365.com's Local Marketplace section always fills up this time of year with myriad craft fairs, holiday shopping bazaars, and the like, which are great ways to get out and interact face-to-face with the people who create the gifts you are buying. In addition to pledging to keep your green on the grid, here are some sh

Local professionals, business owners and others in the community will gather from 6 - 8 p.m. Thursday for the annual Midtown Mixer at the Hook and Ladder Manufacturing Co. space. The event is the first public look at restaurant, which is soon to be opened by the owners of The Golden Bear. Hosted by the Midtown Business Association, the event at 1630 S St. is free to members, and tickets are $5 for non-members. The admission price includes light appetizers and a no-host bar. Tickets can be bought in advance by clicking here, and eventgoers must RSVP.  Check the event Facebook page for more information.

A document began being circulated by a former Midtown businessman/resident a while back. I and others that had read it didn’t know what to make of it. As a written document it is rambling and at times hard to follow. Part persecuted whistle blower plea, part business plan pitch, with a lot of strong accusations. Right up front disclosure: I first came into contact with the author, Charles Ortner, when his company was hired to create a new sense of security and some peace with the neighborhood where I lived, following a shooting and armed robbery about the same time on the 2700 block of J Street. Things improved as long as the security was in place. Why does any of this have any relevance

The fatal shooting of a man walking near 28th and J streets in Midtown early Saturday morning has nearby residents concerned about a perceived connection between violence and the local bar scene, but Sutter District business owners say there is no cause for alarm. “Midtown is a safe district,” Midtown Business Association Executive Director Elizabeth Studebaker said Monday. “It’s not the kind of place where we’re accustomed to this kind of violence. It’s definitely not the norm for us.” The Sutter District is a popular destination and draws thousands of people each week, according to Studebaker. That concentration of people can create occasional problems, she said, but not unlike any oth

Midtown Business Association Executive Director Elizabeth Studebaker said she is hopeful that the organization will be able to renew its status as a property and business improvement district in July. That status comes at an annual cost to local property and business owners – totalling $633,000 for the district – that is similar to an added property tax. In return, the MBA provides numerous services, such as graffiti removal, trash cleanup, private security patrols and marketing. If the assessment renewal is not passed, those services will not be funded, and the MBA will revert to being a much smaller organization able to do minimal marketing and advocate for the district at City Council

Candidates for the Midtown Business Association's June 20 elections will need to be able to cast aside their own business goals and work together to make Midtown a better business environment as the organization goes through a transition, according to MBA staff and business owners alike. “We’re at this pivotal point in Midtown, and I’d like to see a focus on the greater good – a sustainable Midtown business environment,” said Kimio Bazett of The Golden Bear and the upcoming Hook & Ladder Manufacturing Co. Ten of the 25 Midtown Business Association Board of Directors seats are open to be filled by June 20, and only about seven incumbents are returning, meaning the organization will see ne

Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group members cautiously welcomed the new leader of the Midtown Business Association Monday evening at their monthly meeting and took the opportunity to express their frustrations with the organization. About 40 residents, business leaders and presenters attended the meeting – a high turnout, according to Bill Burgua, attendee. Elizabeth Studebaker, the new executive director of the Midtown Business Association, said her first focus is on trash removal, and that aggressive changes will be made. She also addressed concerns about the growing number of bars and restaurants in Midtown. “There’s a very strong perception that the neighborhood has been taken over

The Midtown Business Association kicked off the new year with a new executive director: Elizabeth Studebaker, who took over the position that has been vacant since Rob Kerth left in October. Studebaker, 33, officially took the helm of the MBA on Monday, with an operating budget of about $650,000 per year. Most recently, she spent almost five years as executive director for a similar organization in San Diego, the North Park Main Street Business Improvement District. The Sacramento Press caught up with Studebaker to ask her some questions about what she has in mind for Midtown. The Sacramento Press: What are your immediate goals for Midtown? Elizabeth Studebaker: My immediate major goals

Midtown’s Ride Your Own Way bicycle share program wrapped up its six-month trial period this week with an average of 20 bicycle rentals per week and plans to significantly expand it under a private company in 2012. “I think the bike share is a really great program to have in Midtown,” said Midtown Business Association Streetscape Program Manager Niki Fay. “It obviously gives people a way to get around businesses quicker and easier, and the environmental benefits are great.” The bicycle share program launched in June and provided two locations with six bicycles each that were rented to riders via automated systems. Similar programs are successful in cities such as Washington, D.C., Montre

The Midtown Business Association is inviting businesses to light up Midtown by transforming their store windows into a winter wonderland this season with an opportunity to win a $1,000 advertising grant from the MBA. This is the second year the MBA has hosted “Light Up Midtown” in the hope of opening the doors of local businesses to more customers this holiday season. “We wanted to find a way to dress up the district and be festive and let people feel very involved in it,” said Heather Philpott, MBA communications and events coordinator. “Businesses can take ownership of the project and get an opportunity to be a part of making the district look great,” Philpott said Wednesday, “and bes

Sacramento’s Ride Your Own Way bike share program suffered a setback when three bicycles were stolen earlier this month, but organizers said they are going forward with an updated system, and new bicycles will soon be ordered. “Someone stole a credit card and used that to check out the bikes,” said Midtown Business Association Executive Director Rob Kerth. “We’ve made some changes to how people have to validate the credit card, so we’ll be able to tell if it’s the right person.” The program, which launched June 11, allows bicycles to be rented from one of two kiosks in Midtown – one at the Priority Parking lot at 16th and I streets and one at the Priority Parking lot at 27th and J street

Paesanos Italian restaurant in Midtown is gearing up to celebrate 15 years in business with two weeks of specials starting Saturday and a hint to possible expansion to a third location. Director of Operations Dana Scarpulla said a new location is in the works – probably getting under way within a year – but she couldn’t comment further on the location. She added that business has continued to grow in the past five years. “We opened on April 18, 1996, and it’s been great,” Scarpulla said. “There wasn’t much on this corner back then, and we’ve seen Midtown really transition since.” The spot at 1806 Capitol Ave. had seen a string of restaurants come and go before Paesanos moved in. In the

Two years after opening its high-tech Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, Drexel University is celebrating the graduation of its first class of students. Thirty-five students will be honored this weekend at a celebration event that will precede a formal graduation in June. They have earned an MBA, MS-library & information science, or MS-information systems. “We are truly proud to have educated and mentored such an extraordinary group of working professionals,” said Carl “Tobey” Oxholm III, senior vice president of Drexel and dean of its Center for Graduate Studies. “These individuals showed how entrepreneurial they are when they enrolled with us. Now the region will see just how f

Midtown store owners are in a festive mood, decorating their windows to take part in the “Light up Midtown” contest. The contest is being held by the Midtown Business Association, and the first prize is $1,000 to be used toward advertising. “This is first year of contest,” said MBA spokeswoman Amber Schmaeling. “Basically it was just kind of a way for the MBA to rally up the Midtown businesses and do something fun for the holidays that could be a fun way for us to all participate in a friendly competition and decorate the district.” Schmaeling said more than 50 stores participated in the event. “I think it gave the shop owners a little bit of help to pull together as a team and create

The Sept. 12 shooting has some Sacramentans wondering if the Second Saturday Art Walk is going to go the way of K Street’s Thursday Night Market. According to Michael Picker, The Thursday Night Market was inspired by an event in San Louis Obispo and was intended to be a small-scale street fair people could stop by on their way home from work, but it grew to attract crowds far larger than anticipated as people went home first, picked up their families and then returned to the market. Picker, who was chief of staff for Mayor Joe Serna Jr. when Thursday Night Market was introduced, both the Thursday Night Market and Second Saturday Art Walk became victims of their own success. “Everybody p

A rock band steps onto a portable stage set up in the old Sacramento News and Review parking lot at 20th and J streets. They tune up and begin to play. This promotion marked beginning of the end of the traditional Second Saturday. Second Saturday was no longer going to be an art walk and about visiting art galleries. Second Saturday was going to be about bringing large numbers of young people to Midtown to stay after the event and continue partying and drinking in the Midtown bars and nightclubs. City officials and the Midtown Business Association (MBA) immediately tried to distance the Midtown Second Saturday Art Walk event and themselves from the unfortunate and preventable death of Vi

On Saturday, August 7, Midtown Sacramento played host to the Foursquare Pub Crawl. Organized by Sacramento's Midtown Business Association in order to promote the new Midtown brand, the event featured teams from a number of Midtown establishments. Team leaders were chosen because they were Foursquare Mayors of the participating locations. Foursquare is a dynamic new social networking application that allows users to know what business are close by, what establishments are trending based on the presence of other Foursquare users, see tips published by other users, and even see maps to help guide them to where they want to go. For businesses, Foursquare allows them to know who is visiting

  The River City Gators announced the signing of a contract with the Midtown Girls cheer and promotional service group.  Midtown Girls Founder and Director Erlynn Rose Holyfield was named Director of the Gator Girls dance squad. Due to confidentiality provisions, terms of the deal were not immediately available.  However, River City Gators Co-Owner Jason Kang said, "We welcome Erlynn and her squad to the River City Gators family.  We're excited about the new team and the upcoming season.  There are a lot of great improvements in the works.  We think the community will love the new dance team and all of the things we'll be announcing over the next few months." Kang continued, "This is an

At its June meeting, the Midtown Business Association board discussed parking policy in Midtown Sacramento, and how MBA should address the issue. At the May meeting, City Manager Gus Vina discussed a proposed tax on private parking lots to raise city revenue. Aaron Zeff, owner of Priority Parking, expressed concerns that this would force him to raise prices, and hopes to find other alternatives. MBA discussed hiring a consultant to address parking issues, but instead decided to work with other central city stakeholders, including the Downtown Partnership, neighborhood residents, state offices, hospitals, and the city of Sacramento, to work on a consolidated parking strategy. As a neighbor