"Event Night" Update

Thanks to everyone who's already offered us input on football weekends.

Here's an answer to a common question we're getting:

Yes, the city already allows businesses to close streets.

Businesses may fill out a special events permit and a street closure request. The street closure is approved by the CCA Board and then Council.

Our goal is to make sure downtown remains fun and welcoming to guests on football weekends.  That may mean businesses take extra steps to stay open late or host a street party and it may mean that our office makes sure there are plenty of trash cans and street sweepers available on those nights.

Anyone interested in applying for a special events permit should start here for information:http://gocolumbiamo.com/special-events.php

Seeking Input re: Football Weekends

We're currently putting together a proposal for the city that would allow us to treat home football games as events--the same way we'd treat an outdoor concert or festival.

Bars and restaurants could fence off a section of street directly in front of their business, serve alcohol within this fence, and have activities such as live music.  (Unfortunately, because so many game day tourists take Broadway into town, that may be a more difficult street to close.) We'd place extra trash containers and port-a-johns in appropriate locations to handle the larger crowds. Finally, we'd encourage retailers to stay open later at night to take advantage of the crowds and to add to the atmosphere of the evening.

The goal is to create a great pep-rally atmosphere that attracts more customers to District businesses and encourages them to stay longer. Expanding into the street would also allow bars and restaurants extra space to deal with game day crowds.

Help us draft this proposal by answering a few questions for us:

1) Would you be interested in closing a section of street and serving alcohol outside?
2) Instead of closing a street, would you use a patio or parking lot for music and/or outdoor bars?
3) Would you be willing to help us fund extra trash pick ups, port-a-johns or sidewalk bands?
4) If you're a merchant, would you be willing to stay open later on game day?

Please send your answers and any other input to cgartner@discoverthedistrict.com.

Thanks for the help!

Downtown Safety Summit Recommendations

Last night, the Downtown Safety Summit made the following recommendations:

• Maintain geographic policing of The District.

• Install public or private security cameras in areas of high crime, as determined by the police chief.

• Improve lighting in alleys by increasing the brightness of the existing lights or installing additional ones.

• Revise the panhandling ordinance to give businesses more room around their doors and a clearer path for customers entering the business.

• Require bar employees to pass a server training program, such as MU's S.M.A.R.T. Program.

• Designate certain weekends, especially sporting weekends, as "event nights." On such weekends, The District would be managed similar to a festival by adding trash cans, portable toilets and more.

• Improve nightime public transportation options.

• Install emergency call boxes in strategic areas. (Tentative--pending ongoing research).

(Read the full article in the Columbia Missourian at: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/03/25/downtown-stakeholders-discuss-safety-recommendations/)

The Safety Summit is looking for your input. Please send comments to the Chair of the Safety Summit, John Baker, at baker@fbc-columbia.org.

Small Business Leadership Seminar

Join Commerce Bank and the Small Business & Technology Development Centers for the second session in the 2010-2011 Small Business Leadership Series:

Understanding Cash Flow

Thursday, April 8, 2010, 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Columbia Country Club
2210 N. Country Club Drive (off Old Highway 63)

How do you identify key information on cash flow statements and be able to follow the path of cash as it travels through your company? We’ll discuss how to turn financial statements into useful management tools. We’ll take a close look at where cash comes from in a small business, where it’s used in day-to-day operations and how to identify and correct cash flow problems.

There is no charge, but you must register by calling 573/882-7096. Breakfast will be provided.

Downtown Safety Forum

This Thursday, March 25 at 5:30 pm, a Downtown Safety Forum will be held in the First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall. 

The forum is hosted by the Downtown Safety Summit, a group of District stakeholders representing retail, restaurants, bars, professionals, churches and more.  They've put together a list of downtown safety recommendations for Council and would first like to get everyone's input on the plan. 

We urge everyone to attend to learn more about these public safety options.

The First Baptist Church is located at 1112 E. Broadway. Fellowship Hall is located in the basement of the church. We recommend entering the church addition from the parking lot accessible from Waugh St.  The door to Fellowship Hall is located near the elevators.


Visit us at www.discoverthedistrict.com.

Business Recruitment Campaign

We're in the planning stages of a new campaign designed to attract new businesses to The District. The ads will feature current business owners who've taken risks, done something innovative or thought outside the box.


Interested in participating? Send us a paragraph describing why you're a business innovator and we'll select a handful of the best entries for our campaign.


Send your entry to cgartner@discoverthedistrict.com by March 31.

Roots 'n Blues Dates

The 4th Annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival will be held Friday & Saturday, October 1 & 2. There is no home football game that weekend.

Although the street closures and overall festival footprint are still in the works, the goal is to have essentially the same footprint as 2009.

Our office is working with festival organizers to pull in District businesses early on in the process so they can take advantage of the tens of thousands of people attending this event.

For more details, go to www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com.

Downtown Deliveries

Part of the charm of any downtown is the number of stores, restaurants and businesses located so close together, creating nearly round-the-clock activity. What this also means is that we need to do our best to accommodate the needs of delivery vehicles.

Whether you work for a delivery company, a distributor or a District merchant, here are some tips for making your job a little easier:

• Always use a marked vehicle for deliveries—parking enforcement has different rules for official delivery vehicles than they do for someone running in for a quick cup of coffee.
• Smaller trucks and vehicles are encouraged to use the east-west running public alleys for loading and unloading. This will get the truck out of traffic and closer to the back entrances of stores and restaurants.
• Larger delivery vehicles pull as far to the right of the street as possible for loading and unloading. Temporary double parking is allowed in this case, although make sure you remain close to the truck so you won't block cars from entering or leaving a metered spot.
• On Broadway, larger delivery trucks should park in the middle of the street, down the center divider.
• Loading and unloading should be done as quickly as possible. Parking and idling an engine for a long period of time is not only noisy for those in surrounding stores and restaurants but the exhaust fumes can wreak havoc on someone's sidewalk cafe business.
• If possible, try to avoid large deliveries during peak times—deliveries made during the morning and evening rush hours and during lunch time will tie up customer traffic unnecessarily.
• Even if you are loading and unloading, if you park in a metered spot you must pay the meter.
• The City no longer offers loading zones for businesses. (The few businesses with loading zones were granted them more than a decade ago.) The current delivery rules were designed so that all businesses could load and unload without monopolizing parking spaces best used by our customers.

Help Clean Up Columbia!

Saturday, April 24, 2010 is Cleanup Columbia Day! 

Click to register.

Click to let us know where you see trash.

What is Cleanup Columbia? 

Cleanup Columbia is a city-wide trash pick up event where hundreds of local residents work together to make our city a more beautiful place. The city will provide volunteers with trash bags, gloves, safety vests (where needed) and help you find a trash pick up location. Columbia Public Works will pick up your filled bags. This is a wonderful event for individuals and groups of all sizes and people of all ages and abilities.

For more information contact the City of Columbia Volunteer Program at 874-7499.

Call for Artists

The City's Office of Cultural Affairs is asking for submissions for their 2010 Commemorative Poster. Deadline for submissions is April 9.

Find the details at http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Arts/Poster/index.php

Tornado Drill

This week is severe weather week, designed to educate Columbians on how to deal with floods, tornadoes and other disasters.  An annual statewide tornado drill will take place tomorrow, Tuesday March 9 at 1:30 pm.  In case of bad weather, the alternate date is Thursday, March 11 so make sure all your employees are aware this is a drill.

Information on how to handle disasters at home and at the workplace available on the city's website at:
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/EM/.

SBD Agenda

AGENDA
Columbia Special Business District
Board of Directors Meeting
March 9, 2010, 4 p.m.
11 South Tenth Street

Call to Order

Welcome Guests

Approval of the February Minutes

Financial Report

Approval of February Financials

Committee Reports
- Hospitality Zone Committee (Wilkerson/Ott)
- Noise Committee (Kespohl)

Old Business
- Panera Compactor

New Business

Director’s Report
– True/False Film Festival
– CCA Update

City Update


Public Comment

Adjournment
Next meeting will be April 13, 4:00 p.m.

Noise Committee Agenda

AGENDA
Columbia Special Business District
Noise Committee
Board of Directors Meeting
March 9, 2010, 3 pm
11 South Tenth Street


Call to Order

Review of Data

Public input
Survey
Best Practices
CPD

Discussion

Public Comment

Adjournment

New Business Update

We've got a fresh group of new businesses opening up in The District! Here's the scoop:


Cafe 9 Nove - 912 Broadway Ste. 101
Aren't you looking for a new place for lunch? Sandwiches and salads plus your am caffeine fix.


La Siesta Mexican Restaurant - 33 N. Ninth
Stop by for some authentic fare before your next Blue Note show.


9th Street Hookah Lounge - 32 N. Ninth
Yes, you hang out and smoke hookahs there. Not just the cool kids allowed.


Seva Unliminted - 910 E. Broadway


Moon Valley Therapy - 920 E. Broadway Ste. A


Spectrum Studios - 210 St. James St.


Ambrosia Flowers - N. Providence Road
Welcome back to The District!

Trends for Downtown Retail

Interested in what 2010 has in store for retail? Carol Gies, presidents of 4Insights, a consulting firm that works with downtowns and other specialty retail areas, shares her thoughts.

Who will be buying?
The baby boomers are not the primary market they no longer have a steady income and they re worried about their retirement savings. The focus now is on single adults.

70% of households have no children at home and the most common type of household is a person living alone. Because of this, retailers are shifting away from offering only family-oriented products.

Shift your focus to single adults and female head-of-households. Revamp your merchandise for a younger age group, with items such as electronics or eco-friendly goods. Look to extending hours in the evening and upgrading your web presence.


What will they buy?
For 80% of consumers, necessity, price and deals are at the top of their list. The other 20% are luxury shoppers who are slowing moving back into the market.

Stock and promote items necessary for daily living--household goods, towels and linens or tabletop items. Promote your lower priced items to pull people into your store. Offer perks and special services, like next-visit discount cards or personal shoppers.


How will they be shopping?
Time-pressed consumers are making fewer special trips for shopping and instead integrating it into their daily activities. They will pick up a gift on a lunch break or pop into a store before meeting friends for dinner.

They also do a lot of shopping online. They'll check menus or hours on a business website, comparison shop at their desk, friend a business they like, and much more.

Take advantage of downtown workers, evening diners and other incidental customers. Use web and social media to keep your business top of mind, like tweeting about lunchtime deals or blogging about a great new customer perk.


What do Columbians want?
Consumers are looking for cooking and tabletop items, home accessories and decor, linens and towels, and garden supplies and decor. They're also looking for more casual apparel (women's and men's), more shoes and more accessories.

They like the convenience and atmosphere of The District and are pleased by the service. They have lingering concerns about high prices and limited hours of operation.

Want more details? Our full survey deals with retail and restaurants so it's worth a look.