We’ve recently picked up several company bikes, encouraging employees to ride any time to meetings, meals, or simply take an afternoon ride. The bikes are cutting down on the need for our automobiles during the day which makes Grow and the Earth happy. Customizing the bikes was a joy, too, with Republic’s 3D bike shop—a perfect marriage of digital and customized manufacturing technology.

With the addition of the new bikes, it also makes it easier for our employees to turn to public transportation to get to and from work each day. So much so, that we’ve adopted a new transportation program. We now pay our employees to come to work by any means except a car—be that on Norfolk’s new light rail, bus systems, carpooling, biking or walking. The money we would normally spend on a parking pass is refunded to the employee on each paycheck. Everyone wins. So far, about a third of our employees are taking advantage of these alternate forms of transportation.

We’re currently working with city leaders to improve the viability of public transportation systems, increase bikeability throughout Norfolk, and encourage a bike share program. Speaking of which… HRT, how about a viable and cost-appropriate solution for small businesses to take advantage of GoPasses?

A|E Artist Award Announcement

Along with our friends at AltDaily.com, Downtown Norfolk Council, and re:Vision Norfolk, we brought back Art | Everywhere for a second successful year this spring. Empty storefront windows in Downtown Norfolk were transformed by art, and the community came together to celebrate Downtown’s color, culture, support of the arts, and most importantly, its potential.

Opening night brought out all walks of life with street performers of all sorts, DJs spinning in balconies, and a live comedy show.  Even Godzilla made an appearance!  The art and fun lasted for over two months and closed with a night of giant puppet shows, freaks on the streets, and a good ol’ fashioned party!

View all photos and find out more about Art | Everywhere here.

Every Wednesday at 10AM EST we participate in FWA’s FWAwebTV, where we stream live from our office for an hour. Two weeks ago, we were honored to have River James play a fantastic set in front of us and a few special guests. If you missed it, you can listen to the full performance below. Enjoy!

Thanks to the hundreds of friends and family who celebrated our housewarming with us.  We’ve posted some photos from the event to our Facebook page…

View the full set. Photos by Howard Tarpey.

Thanks, too, to those who gave generously towards Five Points Farm Market.  With bar proceeds and the sale of our donated, limited-edition t-shirts, we raised over $2,300 for our good friends at Five Points.

We’ll have you all over again soon.

Sorry, it’s been a while… to say we’ve been busy would be an understatement at best.

Since the beginning of the year, not only have we been cranking away on some of the biggest projects to date (more on those later), but we’ve also been in the midst of the renovation and historic restoration of our new home, 427 Granby St.

At nearly a hundred years old and abandoned for the past several years, we’ve restored the building to its original 1917 beauty and historic charm—with some modern additions like a partial green roof, a bleacher seating presentation area, and a green screen studio.  Read more about the building’s history “after the jump.”

We’ll be posting a more complete view of the renovation in the coming weeks, but we’d love to have you come visit. We’re having a housewarming party on Friday, November 5th. If you’d like an invitation, drop us a note at info@thisisgrow.com.

Not to be forgotten, we’re excited about our return to Downtown Norfolk and look forward to helping steer its continued renaissance.  More soon!

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