News

Tips for Turbulent Times
February 2nd, 2009

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From Downtown Idea Exchange . . .
Help local businesses face turbulent times
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In the current economy, the goals of many (if not most)
downtown businesses have turned to surviving. What
can downtown organizations do to support local businesses
during these challenging times?

Three key things, according to Todd Barman, a program
officer with the National Trust Main Street Center:

* Stay the course.
* Help businesses keep pace with the market.
* Monitor and report on economic performance.

In an article in the February 1 issue of "Downtown Idea
Exchange," Barman notes that his first piece of advice is
that downtowns must stay the course. That's particularly
true for communities that have been implementing an
effective downtown revitalization program. "Subtle course
corrections may be necessary, but not whole new
directions," he says.

One of the reasons for that is that by and large,
downtown programs operate in districts that have long
had economies slower than they should be. That was the
need that brought them into being, "and so we have a
lot of experience in working in slow economies and
reversing those trends," he says.

Downtown development strategies and approaches that
were designed when downtown was not growing or even
declining in relation to the surrounding regional economy
are just as applicable during this current bad time for the
national economy.