Daily Record Financial News &
Friday, November 27, 2015
Vol. 103, No. 010 • One Section
35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Something sweet coming Downtown
The sign in the window at 209 N. Laura St. hints at the bakery on the way. Its storefront and Facebook page say “really, really sweet things are coming soon.” By yearend, sisters Helga Langthon and Pilar Langton hope to open a brownie bakery in the Elks Building Downtown at Hemming Park. Mocha Misk’i will bake traditional brownies as well as those made in the shapes of alphabet letters and corporate logos. Think “thank you” or “welcome” spelled out in brownies. In addition, Pilar Langton will bake and sell her PilArt specialty cakes and cookies there. She has been operating that business from home for almost six years.
Pilar Langton runs a business related to a brownie bakery. Helga Langthon does not. For almost eight years, she has owned and operated SoHo Network Solutions, which sells crime-scene investigation products. “That’s very different from a brownie shop,” she noted. The name comes from their native Colombia. Mocha comes from their native coffee mixed with chocolate, while Misk’i means “sweet” in the native
Enjoy the holidays Downtown
tongue of the Ingas, an indigenous community in the southwestern part of Colombia. Also, the logo includes colors of the rainbow, which the sisters said are celebrated by the Inga people to thank Mother Earth for her gifts. The colors represent life, joy, happiness, communication, hope and imagination. They said their parents taught them and their four other sisters the value of family “and how to put our hearts and creative minds into everything we do.” The sisters’ market is Downtown patrons with a sweet tooth as well as companies, organizations and individuals who want to give brownies as gifts. Mathis
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Photo by Karen Brune Mathis
Sisters plan brownie bakery at Elks Building
Sisters Helga Langthon and Pilar Langton intend to open the Mocha Misk’i Brownie Shop at 209 N. Laura St.
Getting ready to serve those in need
Annual festivities scheduled through New Year’s Eve Celebrating the holiday season Downtown has been a tradition for decades. About 50 years ago, the urban core was the location for department stores and specialty shops and Hemming Park was where Santa Claus arrived each year. The holiday season officially begins Friday with a longstanding tradition along the banks of the St. Johns River. By the time the season wraps up after New Year’s Day, some new Downtown festivities will have debuted. When the Rouse Co. opened the Jacksonville Landing in June 1987, the first major promotion planned for the new riverfront retail center was lighting a Christmas tree in the courtyard, followed by a fireworks display. The tradition continues at 7 p.m. today with the 29th annual Christmas on the River Tree Lighting Ceremony. A full slate of entertainment will be presented, highlighted by flipping the switch to illuminate 78,000 LED lights and more than 100 ornaments on the 56-foot tree in the courtyard. Unity Plaza along Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn is starting another tradition today with its inaugural Jacksonville Holiday Extravaganza. Beginning at 4 p.m., carolers and a bluegrass Christmas band will perform as horse-drawn carriages circle the plaza. The Florida Ballet will present at 4:30 p.m. selections from “The Nutcracker,” Santa Claus will arrive at 5 p.m. and a tree lighting is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Also adding to the holiday mood, the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus is debuting “Downtown Dazzle: An Illumination Celebration” at 6 p.m. today at 225 E. Duval St. Holidays
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Photo by Bobby King
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Vimalakshi Archer works the line preparing breakfast plates Thursday at the Clara White Mission. Volunteers served several hundred homeless people, veterans and low-income families at the mission at 613 W. Ashley St. See Page A-4 for more photos.
Learning to grow business over lunch
By Kevin Hogencamp Contributing Writer
Polished Properties owner Peggy Collins says her new Atlantic Beach business, which specializes in providing cleaning and maintenance services for builders’ model homes, is motivated by her fanaticism with spotlessness. And entrepreneurship. That’s why Collins continually seeks out learning opportunities, including through the Northeast Florida Builders Association’s free lunch-and-learn seminars for members. NEFBA serves the construction trade and associated industries in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties.
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“When you step into your own business, you need to wear many hats and take in all the information you can,” Collins said after attending a lunch-and-learn event about online marketing hosted by Web.com. The twice-monthly seminars are conducted by NEFBA associate members, such as Web.com, whose primary business is not directly tied to the building and construction trade. “I learned quite a bit at the Web.com seminar,” Collins said. “We learned how to register domain names and protect them. This can be valuable to protect against opportunists buying your name and selling it back to you at an inflated price. It pays to stay on top of the payments for the domain name.”
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The seminars draw as many as 30 people and help fulfill NEFBA’s mission of providing educational opportunities for members, said Corey Deal, the association’s executive officer. The organization’s other primary under- Deal takings are advocacy, networking and community service. “When the industry and the association were in survival mode, we had stopped doing as much education. Now that the association is healthy again and growNEFBA continued on Page A-2
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