A community leader and Bloomfield business owner with 20 years experience in education, management, sales, marketing, customer service and business development, Owens received an MS Ed from Duquesne University in Education/Instructional Technology and a B.S. from Clarion University in Business Administration/Marketing.
A member of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s Blue Ribbon Economic Development Committee, Owens also earned a Paralegal Certificate from Pennsylvania State University.
Since becoming executive director of the BDC in 2009, Owens has secured the organization’s 501(c)(3) status, prepared by-laws, raised $45,000 in grant funds, implemented Liberty Avenue streetscape improvements, and assisted with restructuring the Baum/Centre Initiative. Additional priorities for Owens include participating in the West Penn Community Partnership, collaborating with East End Partners and Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development on new funding opportunities, and convening developers and stakeholders to build a new senior living center.
Prior to becoming executive director of the BDC, Owens served as Mainstreet Manager for the Bloomfield Business Association (BBA), and adjunct faculty member with Robert Morris University’s School of Business. Among Owens’ accomplishments as Mainstreet Manager of the BBA are: developing a strategic Business District Action Plan, increasing membership by 15%, assisting local businesses with façade improvement grants, and receiving more than $200,000 in grant money for neighborhood development.
From 1991 to 2007, Owens was owner and operator of Bloomfield Jewelry located in the heart of the neighborhood at 4806 Liberty Avenue.
Posts by Karla: |
Thanks to all who attended our first community meeting sponsored by the Bloomfield Development Corporation. A special thanks to Senator Ferlo for hosting the meeting, and to West Penn Hospital for the use of their meeting facilities.
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On Friday, February 13, 2009, Children’s Hospital will be holding a community fair at the Oakland facility to introduce employees of the new Children’s Hospital to the surrounding business communities. The event is from noon to 3 p.m. I will be attending with representatives from the BBA with literature on Bloomfield. If anyone has any business cards, flyers, promotional pieces on your business, please let me know and I will make arrangements to pick them up and disburse them to the future Children’s Hospital employees. The expected attendance is 300.
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As of September 11, 2008, Pennsylvania’s new Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking in public places and workplaces.
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Bloomfield celebrated its 7th annual Little Italy Days on September 26, 27 and 28. Red and green tents lined Liberty Avenue where the sound of Italian Music and smell of delicious Italian Food were in abundance.
For three days, huge crowds descended on Bloomfield for the entertainment, food, bocce and games that are all part of this festival sponsored by the Bloomfield Business Association.
Thanks to all the businesses, residents, volunteers, and sponsors that made this event possible.
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On Tuesday, June 10, at the Townie Awards Gala hosted by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center in Gettysburg, PA, the Bloomfield Business Association won the first place award in the Special Events/Promotion Category for our Little Italy Days Festival. The Townie Awards are held annually to recognize those communities that have developed and implemented outstanding programming or events within their communities that contribute towards the overall mission of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, which is “to advance the sense of place, quality of life and economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s downtowns, traditional neighborhood business districts and nearby residential areas”. 2008 marks PDC’s eighteenth year honoring revitalization efforts and achievements.
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