Downtown Summits Inspire

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Randy Maiers

We have to solve our own problems.  That’s a common refrain you continue to hear throughout Michigan these days.  From Governor Snyder to our elected representatives in Washington, to our local stakeholders, we’ve all reached the same conclusion.  Either we do for ourselves or it won’t get done.  It’s a bit daunting and invigorating at the same time.
The question is often where do we start?  And while I certainly support using paid consultants from time-to-time, past experience has shown that results and action often follow more readily when we just roll up our sleeves and get together for an open agenda meeting.  Those are the kind of meetings when you facilitate a group discussion with no clear-cut agenda topics, goals or pre-determined expectations.  I know I personally enjoy these types of brainstorming meetings better.
Based on the attendance and interaction at the first two Downtown Summits of 2011 I would have to say that the stakeholders in our various downtowns feel the same way.  In February the Community Foundation, Blue Water Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the St. Clair Chamber of Commerce, co-hosted the first of three Downtown Summits at the Riviera Restaurant in Marine City.  The second meeting was held March 15th at Algonac High School, and the final summit will be held April 12th in St. Clair.
The Community Foundation facilitated a similar round of meetings in early 2008 and saw the same interest and excitement.  The ideas from those meetings resulted in the creation of the Discover the Blue tourism campaign and the Small Business Concierge program. 
Utilizing a hand-held remote polling and survey computer system, the first summit presented a range of topic areas and ideas for the group to consider.  From the beginning it was clear that the 30+ people in attendance were focused on maximizing “quality of place” in our unique downtowns.  Some of the specific results included;
o 72% thought free wireless in the downtowns was very important
o 50% would use extra funds for niche small business incentives
o 43% would use extra money on tourism promotions
o 82% felt that cross marketing with other downtowns was very important
o 79% felt that having more niche restaurants, shops and pubs in their downtowns was most important

At the March meeting we had another packed meeting room to continue our discussions from the first meeting.  After quite a bit of good group discussion we used the same voting system again to re-focus their priorities.  The results were clearer this time around.  71% said that any extra funds should be used for cross marketing and tourism promotions as the #1 priority.  Their second priority would be niche small business incentives, but it was well behind the group’s interest in promoting what they have and expanding tourism efforts.  67% were in favor of expanding the current Discover the Blue campaign. 
There was another, less obvious result from these first two meetings.  At both meetings, with packed rooms of people representing different constituencies in different communities, there was nary a negative comment to be heard.  There was no pessimism and no playing the blame game for anyone’s problems.  Perhaps it’s a sense that we’re coming out of this long recession.  Perhaps hitting rock bottom a year ago made us realize we all contributed to our problems and we’ll all contribute to our successes. 
We have one more Downtown Summit to go for 2011 and while it’s too early to predict the outcomes, it’s clear to see the recognition that the stakeholders in our downtowns now view each other as collaborators and partners instead of the competition.