HELPING COMMUNITIES

Article fom the San Francisco Bay Guardian
May 4th, 2010
by Caitlin Donohue

SFBG


"Keith Goldstein and Everest win 2 major awards in San Francisco" In May 2010, Keith was awarded the San Francisco Bay Guardian Small Business Advocate 2010. That same week, Everest was awarded Small Business of the Year 2010 ( over 25 employees) by the San Francisco Small Business Network, which represents 19,000 businesses in SF


SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCATE AWARD - KEITH GOLDSTEIN

  "Money spent in a small business ? far, far more of it stays here in the neighborhood than with a chain store," says Keith Goldstein, president of the Potrero Hill Association of Merchants and Businesses.
   A Potrero Hill resident since 1974, and owner of Everest Waterproofing and Restoration, Inc., Goldstein has spent the last six years with the merchant's association promoting a sense of community in the inclined blocks of Potrero.

   He's overseen the growth of the Potrero Hill Festival from what he calls "a small affair" to a yearly event that's "great for residents and businesses," and also serves on the Eastern Neighborhood Advisory Committee, where he works on issues, like new transit plans, that affect local businesses.

   Somehow he has found the time to start SEEDS (www.nepalseeds.org), a group that provides infrastructure and health support to underserved Tibetan villages, and is involved in Food Runners (www.foodrunners.org) , an organization that links homeless shelters to food sources.

The superlative community member incorporates the 'buy local' mentality into every aspect of his life, even placing the administration of the health care plan for his 50 employees into the hands of a fellow Potrero Hill Merchant's Association member. "It's all richly rewarding," Goldstein says of his hands-on role in his neighborhood's economic viability. "I like to walk around the hill and be able to chat with my neighbors about quality of life issues." (Caitlin Donohue)

KEITH GOLDSTEIN
Potrero Dogpatch Merchants Association
1459 18th St., SF.
(415) 779-4107
http://pdma-sf.org/