Please vote for me and help me bring our factory home to Arkansas!

[BlueToTheBone]

Although the Lounge isn't my first forum to visit everyday, I hope you all will help me with something really important. It only takes a minute on your facebook account. I recently entered a contest sponsored by Chase and Google to win a grant for $250,000. This would allow us to bring our factory back to the US.

You may not know about our company, so here are some of the details. My partner and I have been in business together for about 28 years. He is a really fab artist and designer. One of his mediums is holographic foils and this where our company comes in. Our website is www.TheRainbowMakers.com and we design and manufacture our own products. We sell all over the world. One of our butterfly mobiles hangs at the top tea house on Mt. Everest and one of our 3-D mobiles hangs in the NASA weather station at the south pole. Our mobiles have been in dozens of movies, the latest is The Great Gatsby in the ball room scene.

So anyway, about 8 years ago, we moved our manufacturing off shore because of my mother's illness. I wanted to spend more time with her and 4 years ago we moved to Arkansas. Our little town, Eureka Springs, is a wonderful tourist town, but there is little else for employment. When we had our factory in Willits, CA, we employed between 30 and 40 people. I think we could do that again. But, of course there is no way we can do it without financial help. This grant would make it possible. All I need are 250 votes by November 15. Right now we only need 235 more! Would you please help?

Voting takes place through your facebook account. Here https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/34894 is our voting page. If you get to some weird place. Our zip code is 72632 and our name is The Rainbow makers.

Thanks for your help. Please tell your friends. Time is very short and we need you!

[BlueToTheBone]

1. What? No one cares?

This could mean 30-50 jobs in my little village. That would be a BIG F*ING DEAL! Help me out!
It's easy, go here, vote!
https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/34894

[Bryn]

2. Done!

Sounds good. I live in Arkansas, too. I suggest that you post to "Arkansas" group here on DU.

[Bryn]

3. Ooops!

I just went over to Arkansas group and found you had already done that. Good luck. I hope you bring back your factory.

[Autumn]

4. I did it earlier today. Good luck, have you posted this in GD?

You should.

[BlueToTheBone]

5. Is it okay to do that?

I hesitate to be too pushy. But we are at 36 votes right now. I guess the only thing that can happen is that the post will get locked.

[Autumn]

10. I don't see why it would get locked.

[BlueToTheBone]

11. somehow we don't seem as

friendly as we used to be and this site is important to me. But I did post and went to bed last night with 38 votes and got up this morning to 45. Only 205 to go! We still have 15 days and I think it we might make it!

[Autumn]

16. Bringing back a factory and jobs seems like a post that

would be well recieved in GD.

[B Calm]

12. With the jury system in DU, lol

[Maraya1969]

6. I thought they would be more expensive from the way they look. Would they be a good

baby gift for a mobile and how exactly does it create light, (dumb it down for me please)

Oh and I voted for you!

[BlueToTheBone]

8. Thanks for the vote

The mobiles actually reflect light. The material is created by a laser cutting grooves in an embossing plate. There are more than 100,000 grooves per square inch. What actually happens is that the colors that you see are refractions of light waves or photons. This creates full spectrum color which touches us on a deep cellular level.

The mobiles are great for baby rooms, hospital rooms, meditaters (great for focusing attention). Then of course the birding world loves these because the full spectrum color attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. But the other part of the material is flashing light and most birds are distracted and don't fly into windows where the mobiles are hung. I have one customer who has racing pigeons and the windsocks keep the hawks away.

We try to make our products very affordable and we ship right away.

[Demo_Chris]

7. If you only need that few votes, you could probably walk around town and get them in a few hours...

Try standing outside the local walmart or equivalent maybe. In any case I voted.

Good luck!

[BlueToTheBone]

9. Thanks and yes, we are going

do personal contacting in town. We plan on trying that this weekend. But, I have to get votes everywhere. SO thanks for yours, if you have facebook friends, would you ask them to vote as well?
https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/34894

[B Calm]

13. Done

I hope you'll pay a livable wage!

[Tom_Foolery]

14. Done...

Good luck.

[Caretha]

15. Good luck to you!

I voted and love your rainbows!

[KamaAina]

17. Wouldn't the Arkansas economic development commission be able to help?

Or even Carroll County's, if it has one, and if it cares about anything but Tyson? (I spent several summers growing up in Eureka and before that in Berryville, and thus know the area quite well.) Red states always say that they're all about the jobs.

Also, Berryville might be better suited to a fairly large (for the area) industrial shop than Eureka.

[BlueToTheBone]

18. I was roundly ignored by the AEDC

I thought they might be about the jobs but in LR right now they're busy making the government so small it will fit in our vaginas.

I know what you mean about Berryville, but I don't want to drive that far everyday to go to work. Besides, we'll have a shop in the factory and the highway in Eureka would be better suited. And, we're not really that industrial. We only have a couple of die cutting machines and the rest is people making things.

I'm hopeful that we have a chance to make this happen. But we still need 197 votes to even be seen by the judges. Please tell your friends. Here's the link https://www.missionmainstreetgrants.com/business/detail/34894

[KamaAina]

19. Try your state reps

I'm sure they're repukes, but still, they ARE supposed to be advancing the interests of their district.

[BlueToTheBone]

20. Mine is so red, he might be a fire truck

and his nickname at the capital is Bullet Bob. He won't return my calls and he has no office. The State rep in Washington county is a democrat and although he told me he would see who I should speak to, never called me back and never took any more of my calls. So, I think that is not the way the universe is pointing me.