August 24, 2009 - (Fayetteville, AR) Being a small business owner carries with it the privilege of community involvement.  From March 31 thru April 4th 2009, I had the opportunity to participate in the first Fayetteville Forward Summit.  Various members of the community representing families, students, local businesses (including J29 Online Business Solutions), neighborhoods and every other facet of life in our city came together to express our love for Fayetteville and plan together how we can make this an even better place to live, work and play.  As a result of this summit I accepted the role of group leader for the Citizen Empowerment and Volunteers council which in concert with the Mayor's Office works to "grow engaged citizens" by strengthening communication networks between various city and community entities; (2) connecting groups according to resources and needs (i.e. agencies to volunteers, growing neighborhoods and neighborhood associations, bridging the gap between different age groups) and (3) promoting and valuing diversity at all levels across our community.  The Citizen Empowerment and Volunteers Group meets monthly and updates on our activities can be found on http://fayettevilleforward.accessfayetteville.org/index.html as well as our Facebook page.