Tuning Up Downtown

What makes a successful downtown? Many downtowns are no longer the retail center of the community but are still the business center. Times have changed and many downtowns have failed to adapt. No matter where your downtown and your specific organization are on the success level, this workshop reviews all the important checklist items to help businesses, organizations and ultimately the entire downtown find their “niche”. Successful downtowns have many things in common as well as some differences. We will look at the best (and worst) practices in helping you identify specific steps you can take to improve your organization and your downtown. In this workshop we cover:

· Why we need to REVITALIZE and tune up regularly

· How to get the right LEADERSHIP and PARTNERS involved

· Establishing (or updating) our VISION and our PLAN

· FINANCIAL CHALLENGES and funding alternatives

· Best practices for a busy MIXED USE center of activity

· TRAFFIC and PARKING challenges and opportunities

· Dealing with INDEPENDENT MINDS and OPINIONS !

· AND INDIVIDUALLY, what YOU can do to be more successful

THE PRESENTER: Joe Constance has successfully bought and sold numerous downtown properties, run downtown businesses, served as multi year president of a merchants association, brought together new and key partners and financing options. He has also spent years researching the best practices of downtowns around the country and can back up personal opinions with documented facts and verifiable statistics on what works (and what doesn’t!)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Owners, community leaders, managers and key employees with responsibility and authority to make changes and move forward!

“The best way to predict the future is to create it” – Peter Drucker