10 Thursday, march 6, 2008 Local Economy The carrboro ciTizen

n Provides Information Support to Shoppers of Long-Term Care Insurance,Including Assistance with Five Major Decisions Needed for QuoteEstimates

n Is Appointed With Well Known and Respected Long-Term CareInsurance Carriers.

n Both Jim and his Spouse Own Long-Term Care Insurance Policies.Therefore, he Truly Believes in the Importance of This Kind ofProtection.

n Area Resident for 26 Years.

n Actively involved in Local Fundraising Events to Support ChildhoodCancer Research and Support Services.

n Member of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce.

James E. CaseyLong-Term CareInsurance ProfessionalE-MaIL: JCasey@CaseyInsuranceServices.Com

caseyinsuranceservices.com

Peck and Artisans 933-8485

204 W. Main St.CarrboroFOR RENT

1000 SQ. FT.OFFICE SPACE

The Corner STorelo C a l ly- o w n e d b u S i n e S S b e aT

emilybuehler

208WestmainStreet,Carrboro9199673433

OpenTues-Fri10Am-530PmHSat10-5

I first visited Balloons andTunes when I heard that theirballoonswere“environmentallyfriendly.”OwnerPatGaravagliaconfirmed this: Contrary topopular belief, latex balloonsare not a type of plastic but abiodegradable material madefrom the sap of rubber trees.Thetreesare“milked” for sap,not cut down. Colored withvegetable dye and salt water,these balloons “break downfasterthananoakleaf.”

OnaUNCfootballweekend,Pat and her staff are hiddenbehindcloudsofCarolinablueand white balloon bunches.They specialize in balloons forall occasions, and they deliverballoons as well as gifts andcakes. They’ll even decorate

for events. (Their websitehas pictures of some of theirdesigns.) They also rent outreusable helium tanks; smallertanks go to the landfill afterbeingusedonce.

Balloons are not the onlythingBalloonsandTuneshastooffer.Thesmallstoreispackedwith party hats and favors,platesandnapkins,confettianddecorations, birthday candles,cards,stuffedanimals,wrappingpaper and bags, and old-fartteeshirts.Whiletherearesome“characters” represented, likeThomas the Tank Engine andCurious George, there isn’t anoverabundance of televisionpromotionintheitems.

The highlight of my firstvisit was without a doubt thediscoveryofDuckonBike.Thewind-up toy of a goggle-eyed,brightly painted duck on, youguessedit,abike,caughtmyeyeandmademe smile.But seeingDuckonBikeinactionwassheerdelight:Hemakesawidecircle,legspedalingfuriously,propellorspinningatophishead.

This gift has no point butto make someone laugh, whichit’s done several times for me.SinceIfoundDuckonBike,he’sbeenabirthdaypresent,acheer-uppresent and even aweddingpresent (“Here’s a gift symbolicof your undying love...”), andmet with great enjoyment eachtime.Andhe’sonly tendollars.He’swaitingforyou.

WLOCAL CLASSIFIEDS WORK!W

WWITH FREE WEB LISTING!WPLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED ONLINE TODAYAT WWW.CARRBOROCITIZEN.COM/CLASSIFIEDS

by Katie SpencerCarrboro Commons Writer

Freelance web designer BrianRussell’svisiontocreatea sharedworkplaceforfreelancersandoth-ercreativetypesismovingtowardaconcreteCarrbororeality.

Theideatoopenwhathecalledasharedofficespacewithacoffeeshop atmosphere was first men-tionedpubliclynearlyayearago.RussellsaidJamesHarris,directorofeconomicandcommunityde-velopment in Carrboro, encour-agedhimtomakeithappen.

The concept lies somewherebetweenawireless-equippedcof-feeshopandthegeneric,cubicle-cladoffice.Russellsaidtheneedforthistypeofspaceisgeneratedbypeoplewhohavebeendrivenawayfromthetypicalofficeen-vironmentbutwhoareunhappyworkingaloneathome.

“There is a productivity andcreativityboostthatcomesfromgoing to a different place,” hesaid.

TheplacewillbecalledCar-rboro Creative Coworking andwillconsistofworkstations,con-ference rooms and, of course, acoffeebar.Russellsaidheiscloseto nailing down a location butwouldn’tsaywhere.

“Icantellyouit’sintheheartofdowntownCarrboroandithasagoodparkingsituation,”hesaid.

Russell said the large number

offreelancers intheareaandthewalkableenvironmentmadeCar-rboroagoodareafortheventure.

RussellisanITguruformerlyemployedbytheUNCSchoolofJournalismandMassCommuni-cation who was instrumental inthestartupoftheCarrboro Com-mons.OriginallyfromRichmond,Va.,hehasbeenintheareasince2001.

Theconcept isnotcompletelynew. Russell said these types ofspacesstartedintheSanFranciscoBay area andhavebeenpoppingupallover.

CodyMarxBailey,asoftwaredeveloper, helped found one oftheseplacesintheBryan-CollegeStationareaofTexas. It is calledtheTheCreativeSpaceandopenedin August. Bailey said foundingmembersweresurprisedbyitssuc-cess,givenitslocationinwhathecalledaconservativecollegetownthatwasnotrichinculture.

“Ithinkifitcouldworkhere,itcouldworkmostanywhere,”Bai-leysaid.

RussellisgoingtogiveCarrboroatry,andsofarhehasseenagooddealofinterestintheproject.Heiskeepingabout40peopleupdatedon the project via an email list.About60peoplehave respondedtoanonlinesurveythataskswhattheywouldwantinaco-workingvenue. Among those interestedareRaleigh andDurhamprofes-sionals,andRussellsaidhehopes

to eventuallyopen franchisesthroughout theTriangle.

Russell’smarketing re-search, con-ducted throughsurveys andinterviews, hasshown thatmostpeoplejustwantacomfort-able workspace,a reliable In-ternet connec-tion and somegoodcoffee.Hehas developeda multi-tiered system to accom-modate full-time, part-time andwalk-inusers.Full-timememberswill have permanent desk spaceand automatic use of conferencerooms,aswellastechsupportandsomeadministrativeservices.

Russellsaidhehopestofundtheprojectthroughthetown’sre-volvingloanprogram,whichhasbeen loaning money to small-businessstartupssincethe1980s.AsofOctober2007,58percentof those startupshave stayed inbusiness,accordingtoapostbyCarrboro Alderman JacquelynGist on the blog OrangePoli-tics.org. Some businesses, suchas Weaver Street Market, Cat’sCradleandMilltown,havesincebecomeCarrborolandmarks.

The next steps are finalizingtheleaseandcompletingtheap-plicationprocesswiththeboardof aldermen, Russell said. Hesaidit’shardtosayexactlyhowlongtheprocesswilltake.

Bailey said his workspace inBryan has been a success thatnotonlyfacilitatedindependentcreativeworkbutalsostimulatednewventuresbyconnectinglike-mindedpeople.

“The creative space providedthekindlingand somefiresgotstarted,”hesaid.

Katie Spencer is a UNC-CH student writing for the Carrboro Commons, the bi-weekly online lab newspaper for Carrboro produced by Jock Lauterer’s Community Journalism class.

Carrboro’s Creative Coworking in the works

PhoTo by KaTie SPenCerFreelance web designer brian russell’s vision to create a shared workplace for freelancers and other creative types is moving toward a concrete carrboro reality.

inbriefSchoolkidsclosing

Schoolkids Records on EastFranklin Street will close forbusinessattheendofMarch.

The store,whichhas a sisterstoreinRaleigh,hasbeenlocat-edinChapelHillformorethan30years.

NewhealthCFOJohn Lewis has been ap-

pointed chief financial officerforUNCHealthCare.Hesuc-ceeds W. Alan Stewart. Lewishas served as CFO and seniorvice president at UNC Hospi-talssinceOctober2005.Hewillbegin work as CFO of UNCHealthCareonMarch31.

AnativeofNewYork,Lewisearnedabachelor’sdegree fromBrownUniversityandanMBAinhealth care systemsmanage-mentfromDukeUniversity.

NewsubdivisionTheChapelHillTownCouncil

approvedanapplicationforapro-posedsubdivisionon24.4acresontheeastsideofSmithLevelRoad,southofDogwoodAcres.

The proposed subdivision,whichwillbecalledtheEstatesat Oxford, includes four resi-dential lotswith access fromaproposedcul-de-sacoffWood-wardWay.

Itwasapprovedonthecon-ditionthatsprinklersbeputinthenewhomes,sincefiretruckresponse time to the area islonger.

eCONOmyFrom page 1

Of the 419 transactions inthe fourth quarter of 2006, 43werenewsingle-familydetachedhomes. The average price was$500,814. In 2007, the totalnumberoftransactionsdroppedto363 and thenumberofnewsingle-family homes rose to 46.The sale price for those homesdroppedto$364,565.

Another look at the marketcompiled by the Chapel HillBoard of Realtors also showeda distinct change in the fourthquarter, with the homes sittingonthemarketlongerandpricesadjustinglower.

ThoughOrangeCounty,par-ticularlythetraditionalbuoyantreal estate market in CarrboroandChapelHill,issmallenoughthat its statistics tend to swingmore wildly, the fourth quar-terresultsputsomenumbersto

what realtors were experiencingontheground.

“The last few months havebeennoticeablydifferent,”MarkZimmerman,ownerofRe/MaxWinning Edge and vice presi-dentoftheboardofrealtorssaid.There’s no question that, sincethe fourth quarter, the markethas slowed. But keep in mind,headded,“thatwe’recomingoffprettyhistorichighs.”

Zimmermansaidit’shardtosay what’s ahead for the mar-

ket,but thatheandotherswillkeepacloseeyeonthenextfewmonths.

“The big clue will be whathappensduringthespring,tradi-tionally selling season,”he said.“Thatwillbeagoodbarometerintermsofourmarket.”

Next week: Sellers and realtors may be feeling the pinch, but mid-sized local homebuilding companies are taking the biggest hit in the slowdown.