24 THE QUEENS COURIER • DECEMBER 8, 2016 FOR BREAKING N EWS VISIT www.qns.com Leaders in Flushing look to make local businesses better for shoppers & employees DOUGLASTON/LITTLE NECK Aerial view of Long Island wetlands in 1951. Collection of the Douglaston and Little Neck Historical Society. The Queens Memory Program is making its return to Northeast Queens. We will be hosted by the Friends of the Douglaston/ Little Neck Community Library and the Douglaston and Little Neck Historical Society for a community history event! Share your memories of Queens and get your family photos digitized for free. The Queens Memory team will scan your photographs, postcards and other memorabilia and save them to a thumb drive that you can take home. Bring your materials and stories and expect to learn something new about your neighborhood! Light refreshments provided by the Friends of the Douglaston/Little Neck Library. Seating is limited; first-come, first-served. ADMISSION IS FREE. QUEENS MEMORY PROGRAM RETURNS TO DOUGLASTON AND LITTLE NECK The Queens Memory Program team migration story sharing session at the Flushing Library, summer of 2016. The Douglaston Club, a private country club, circa 1920-1940. Collection of the Archives at Queens Library. Thursday, December 8 | 4 pm DOUGLASTON-LITTLE NECK 249-01 Northern Boulevard | 718-225-8414 LIRR | Q12, N20, N21 QueensLibrary.org Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library system. 4992-9/16 Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Yanping Nora Soong JOYS OF BEEKEEPING DOUGLASTON/LITTLE NECK Please join Ruth Harrigan, longtime Douglaston resident and member of the Douglaston Garden Club, who will lecture on the joys of beekeeping and the importance of our little apian friends in the global environment. She will also conduct a honeytasting demonstration. Light refreshments will be served. Seating is limited, first-come, first-served. adults Thursday, December 15 6 pm LECTURE AND HONEY-TASTING DEMONSTRATION DOUGLASTON/LITTLE NECK 249-01 Northern Boulevard 718-225-8414 Train: LIRR Q12 N20 N21 QueensLibrary.org Queens Library is an independent, not-for-profit corporation and is not affiliated with any other library system. This event is sponsored by the Friends of the Douglaston/Little Neck Community Library in conjunction with the Douglaston Garden Club. Participants are welcome to sample the food prepared; Queens Library is not responsible for allergic reactions or illnesses as a result of participation. 5189-9/16 BY SUZANNE MONTEVERDI smonteverdi@qns.com @smont76 A sector known for its distinct restaurants, bakeries and small businesses, the greater Flushing area continues to grow as one of the most dynamic and culturally diverse economic centers in the “World’s Borough.” Between 2000 and 2009, the number of businesses in Flushing grew by 37.6 percent, compared to 5.7 percent in the rest of the city. However, community leaders say there is room for improvement regarding business conduct and practices. The Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce — an organization which aims to encourage economic growth, inclusive diversity and shared prosperity in Flushing — held the fi rst meeting of its “Blue Ribbon Panel” on Nov. 30. Entrepreneurs, civic leaders and elected offi cials spoke out about the need to raise business standards in the bustling district and discussed how to improve the area’s business environment. Attendees discussed matters of workers’ rights, maintaining quality of products and services, customer service improvements and corporate responsibility to neighbor and community. Worries regarding crosscultural communication in the area were also raised at the panel, with participants citing a lack of Englishlanguage signage and diffi culty interacting with other store managers and workers in the area as ongoing concerns. In response, the chamber has begun marketing initiatives designed to address storefront signage readability in collaboration with business owners. The chamber is also working with Monroe College and the Queens Library to get the word out to the business community about English language programs being offered. “Property owners have great responsibility to improve, maintain and protect the appearance of their businesses and our shared environment,” said Peter Tu, executive director of the Flushing Chinese Business Association. Other ideas presented at the panel to improve business relations in the area included developing protocol and policies for small business owners who wish to increase cultural inclusion, distributing manuals explaining how to treat customers with respect and creating resources for businesses interested in hiring English-speaking employees or displaying English language marketing materials. The chamber has already developed a “blue ribbon” initiative, which recognizes businesses with the highest standards by awarding them with special signage for their storefronts. “One of the motivations for creating our chamber was to address the need for better business practices in our community,” said John Choe, executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce. “We should not wait for the next business scandal to happen before taking action — whether it is a restaurant or an entire industry caught not paying its workers fairly — but fi nd ways to educate our business community and work with government to increase compliance with existing laws. And if those laws no longer make sense, work with our elected offi cials to change them.” “Flushing has a thriving and highly competitive business community that we must be sure is not left behind by our rapidly evolving economic climate,” Councilman Peter Koo said. “By working together with the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce, we seek to support and uplift our local businesses. The needs of our businesses are varied and in constant fl ux, but they often contain similar threads, which is why it is important that we come together to discuss how to raise standards across the board right here in Flushing.”
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