Did you know? November 30th is Small Business Saturday! It’s the perfect opportunity to show support for small businesses in our community — businesses that play a critical role in bolstering Knoxville’s economy. Why is our support so critical? 67 cents of every dollar spent at a local business stays in our local community.
Doing our small part, fellow Council-member Gwen McKenzie and I have partnered on a series of lunch mobs to help local businesses along Sutherland Avenue during the closure of Hollywood Road. The closure will last for several months as improvements to Hollywood Road get underway and as the Flats at Pond Gap, an affordable workforce housing development, is built. During the consideration of this project by City Council, the neighborhood expressed legitimate concerns about traffic safety and potential flooding. In order to address those concerns, Hollywood Road will be raised to improve line of sight for drivers, 1,000 feet of new or replacement sidewalks will be installed, a crosswalk will be installed to improve walkability, and critical steps will be taken to address localized flooding in the area. The road improvements and addition of 102 units of affordable workforce housing will be beneficial in the long term, but we are working to minimize any potential impact on local businesses along Sutherland during construction.
Gwen and I were pleased to host our first lunch mob last Thursday, November 21 at El Charro. The event was well attended and we appreciate the support of neighbors from Sutherland Heights, Westwood, Pond Gap, Forest Heights, and Sequoyah Hills who joined us. The entire community is invited to our next lunch mob on Monday, December 16th from Noon-1pm at Dead End BBQ located at 3621 Sutherland Ave.
Please join us in supporting our local small businesses and merchants along the Sutherland Avenue corridor.
Andrew Roberto 