Posted by hermanwong on August 11, 2008
Eat my wall
A vertical urban farm will seed community farming in a graffiti-scarred L.A. neighborhood.
By Herman Wong
August 8, 2008: 9:54 AM EDT
(Fortune Small Business) — George Irwin builds green structures for a living, but his latest project aspires to rebuild lives. This summer, Irwin is donating a vertical urban farm for residents of Los Angeles’ graffiti-scarred Central City East.
“Think of it as another way to make a community garden,” says Irwin, 39, a landscaper by training.
He’s installing four massive garden walls – a total of 750 square feet – in and around the neighborhood, including one in a high school yard and another at a local housing project. Each six-by 30-foot wall consists of 45 four-inch-deep, soil-bearing, irrigated vertical trays. Community farmers will be able to grow anything from strawberries to cherry tomatoes and melons.
Irwin estimates that each wall will generate as much as 400 pounds of produce a season. He envisions entrepreneurs opening “wall-side stands” and local youth getting work skills installing and maintaining the vertical gardens of L.A.’s Skid Row.
Posted in Business, Environmentalism and Low Income Neighborhoods, Published Work | Tagged: Central City East, George Irwin, green wall, Los Angeles, Skid Row, urban farm | Leave a Comment »
Posted by hermanwong on August 2, 2008
Fireworks sales blast off – but costs also soar
Heading into their biggest weekend of the year, fireworks producers are struggling to stay profitable in the face of sharply higher fuel and materials costs.
By Herman Wong
July 1, 2008: 11:54 AM EDT
(Fortune Small Business) — As Fourth of July fireworks light cities across the United States, the companies that orchestrate the epic productions face an uncertain future.
As in so many other industries, the cost of procuring materials and transporting goods has been rising precipitously. Add in shipment problems with China, where most fireworks come from, and the result is a rocky start to 2008.
“It’s probably been the most difficult six months in the fireworks industry,” said Greg Smith, national program director at the American Pyrotechnics Association (APA), an industry trade group based in Bethesda, Md. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Business, Published Work | Tagged: American Pyrotechnics Association, APA, China, display fireworks, fireworks, Fourth of July, Grucci, Independence Day, Melrose Pyrotechnics, Pyro Shows, Pyrotechnico, rising prices, Rozzi, Washington DC, Western Enterprises, Zambelli | Leave a Comment »
