Richard J. Alley

Daily news story for The Memphis Daily News

Oct. 26, 2012

DeNeuville Learning Center. KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools. Shelby County Books from Birth. WriteMemphis.

These are some of the nine recipients of this year’s GiVE 365 grants. GiVE 365 is an initiative of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis whose members pledge a dollar per day per year, and are encouraged to vote on what causes that money will go. This year’s theme was “Eyes on the Prize: Organizations helping students graduate from high school or college,” and 11 finalists were asked to give three-minute presentations in front of voting members.

“Each of these organizations defines what that looks like a little differently,” Melissa Wolowicz, vice president of grants and initiatives said of this year’s theme. “DeNeuville is working with women on their GEDs, Hatilloo (Theatre) wants to teach students a skill set related to the theater and the arts that will give them something to help earn money while they’re getting their education.”

The total grant amount was $50,394 with individual amounts ranging from $3,200 to $7,500.

These are amounts that can make a difference for the respective organizations and in the lives of those they seek to help … (read more)

Metro centerpiece for The Commercial Appeal

Nov. 23, 2011

While visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday, Joel Seligstein stopped by White Station Middle School to speak to more than 100 students about his job at a company they all “like.”

Seligstein has been a software engineer for Facebook in Palo Alto, Calif., since 2007.

His talk to the 13- and 14-year-olds was arranged through his cousin, Rachel Seligstein, an eighth-grader at the school, and Jennifer Brenneman, her CLUE teacher.

“You have a young guy, 26 years old, living the dream with Facebook as an engineer, and he got started in the science and math fields, so I wanted (the students) to see the relevance to what they’re currently studying,” Brenneman said.

Seligstein said the means to getting where he is, at a desk 30 feet from company founder Mark Zuckerberg in a corporation that feeds its employees three meals a day and provides pool tables, basketball courts and all the video game time a middle school student could dream of, was to “keep pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone and trying new things.

“Any idea that you have, move fast and make it a reality; try it, and if it doesn’t work, try something else.” … (read more)

Spot news story for The Memphis Daily News

Feb. 18, 2011

Earlier this week, Ducks Unlimited hosted the Sportsmen’s Summit for Clean Water, a think tank of national organizations brought together to look at grassroots conservation and communication efforts in their various communities and ways to effectively enforce the Clean Water Act of 1972.

About 70 leaders from five organizations – Ducks Unlimited, the National Wildlife Federation, the Izaak Walton League of America, Trout Unlimited and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership – came from as far away as Colorado and Florida. The groups collectively represent several million members.

“We’ve been working for several years to re-establish the intent of Congress that was laid out in 1972,” said Scott Yaich, director of conservation operations for Ducks Unlimited. “Their full intent was that the Clean Water Act be used to protect and conserve wetlands and things like intermittent streams, recognizing that all these waters are connected to navigable waters where the longtime federal interest had been back to the 1800s.”

The groups involved in the summit have been working to restore protection to wetlands that have been affected by Supreme Court decisions in recent years … (read more)

Spot news story for The Memphis Daily News

(with Eric Smith)

July 15, 2010

Jim’s Place East – a Memphis tradition since its founding nearly 90 years ago – is opening a location at Poplar Avenue and Perkins Road, having signed a 10-year lease for the 5,900-square-foot space that recently housed Harold’s women’s boutique.

The restaurant, a popular site for events such as wedding receptions, parties, business meetings and intimate dinners, has operated at 5560 Shelby Oaks Drive since 1976.

The move is a relocation from Shelby Oaks, yet the current location will remain open until the doors open this fall at 518 Perkins Road Extended.

“We want people with special memories to know that we’ll continue to operate the current location and that people should come back and visit,” said Sam Taras, son of co-owner, Dimitri Taras … (read more)

Spot news story for The Memphis Daily News

July 13, 2010

Community Capital and Architecture Inc. have teamed up again, this time to build Community Capital’s new headquarters at 1708 Monroe Ave. between South Belvedere Boulevard and South Evergreen Street.

Located just behind Outdoors Inc. and half a block from Idlewild Presbyterian Church, the area is zoned commercial, although the new office space of Community Capital is designed to look like homes in the area and will keep the integrity and feel of the Midtown neighborhood.

“It’s primarily commercial use in there, but many of the buildings are converted residential structures, so in talking to OPD (the city-county Office of Planning and Development), they felt that going into that area with an office-type building would be inappropriate and they asked us to design a building that would be more residential in appearance, so that’s what we did,” said David Schuermann, lead architect on the project and co-owner of Architecture Inc.

Community Capital, whose president is Archie Willis III, is a boutique firm offering real estate financing, development prospectus packages, financial and affordable housing advising to municipalities and private companies alike. The firm also develops real estate … (read more)

Spot business news for The Commercial Appeal

May 22, 2010

Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corp. kicked off its partnership with one of America’s leading vision benefits companies, Davis Vision of Plainview, N.Y., to provide eye screenings to the homeless and underserved of Memphis.

“The Focus on America program targets children and adults underinsured or not insured at all,” said Laura Dyer of Davis Vision. “This is not a one-time thing. This is the kickoff of a partnership that will provide glasses on a monthly basis.”

Those who failed eye exams were either given vouchers for reduced-cost eyeglasses from any local retailers who work with Davis Vision, or free glasses in cases of homelessness. An average pair of glasses, according to George Yanoshik Jr. of Davis Vision, is $293.

“If you can’t see, it’s hard to fill out a job application or find your way out in the community,” said Baptist Memorial Healthcare president and CEO Stephen Reynolds … (read more)

Spot news story for The Memphis Daily News

May 21, 2010

The walls of a cinderblock city school classroom in East Memphis are hung with posters of John Coltrane, King Oliver, Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday and a 78-inch interactive whiteboard called an ActivBoard.

In a medium whose foundation is built on the bar chords of the blues and sound of the sax, technology has been introduced to engage children and introduce them to those a world away in Ken Greene’s music class.

Greene, music teacher and choir director at Ridgeway Middle School, recently demonstrated how technology is used to teach students and connect with other programs.

“Do you mind if we jam with you?” Greene asked his counterpart from Weyanoke Elementary School in Fairfax, Va … (read more)

Spot news reporting for The Memphis Daily News

May 14, 2010

Expo encourages job seekers to adapt — even when discouraged

“They aren’t making buggy whips anymore.”

That’s what Tom Wilson, career counselor for careerhands.com, tells people who have lost or left jobs and are looking for something else in the workplace.

He then brings it around to the 21st century: “They aren’t making electric typewriters anymore, either.”

The message he conveyed at Thursday’s Second Annual Opportunity Expo at The Pink Palace Museum was one conveyed throughout the day-long event’s seminars and by speakers and company representatives on hand to talk to job seekers about potential opportunities.

OppCity.com, a job-listing site for the Memphis area currently attracting 250,000 hits a week from all over the country, put on the expo, which was sponsored by the local Talent Trust Foundation … (read more)

Business news story for The Commercial Appeal

April 10, 2010

Is a financial system dominated by giant banking institutions good for business?

Dr. Paul Merski says that’s a question that deserves an answer, and he plans to offer his insights next week in Memphis.

The Rhodes Chapter of the Financial Management Association and the Department of Economics and Business will host Merski’s lecture, “Financial and Economic Outlook: A View from Washington,” on Wednesday.

Merski is the senior vice president and chief economist for the Independent Community Bankers of America, an organization representing 5,000 community banks of all sizes throughout the United States.

“I’ll be looking at where we’ve come from in the past few years with the large financial crisis and the meltdown in the financial sector largely caused by the too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks,” Merski said recently by phone from his office in Washington … (read more)

New small business profile for The Daily News

February 26, 2010

Seven months after leaving the advertising agency that bore his name, Doug Carpenter has quietly hung out the shingle for his new venture, Doug Carpenter & Associates.

Devoted to advertising, public relations and consulting, Carpenter used social media to get the word out.

“My coming out was in the form of an e-mail to my database and a Facebook page,” he said. “And the response has been overwhelming.”

Carpenter in July sold his interest in the advertising firm carpenter | sullivan | sossaman – now known as CS2 – to fellow managing principal Brian Sullivan … (read more)