Nicole's Commentary July 25th, 2007

I use the familiarity of the DiversePhilly businesses to add self-love and capability as character development for my children. We all know that children learn by what they experience so I use the internet to give them that experience. In the past, the businesses in the community created jobs for the neighborhood kids and were the leaders in the community. We have a whole generation of lost children killing and shooting each other because of lack of opportunity (high unemployment) while a new culture and a new business model is forming right under our noses on the internet. My children and this generation of children are growing up in the digital age – they are not going to search for a business using the phone book (nor access the internet from the computer). Our businesses must leverage technology to sustain ourselves. We have to learn the new generation customers, who were born in the digital age, and tailor our business to meet their needs. By growing relationships with this generation, we will in turn grow our business. We go to Mimmo’s because I went there as a child. That long standing relationship cannot be broken by Pizza Hut no matter how many commercials come on TV or coupons come in the newspaper. The key to our success is how we build and maintain relationships.