Opinion: Destination key for small-business competitiveness

How can downtown, business districts and neighborhood hubs strengthen their status as unique destinations?

“Being a destination is key.”

Those are the words shared with me by Brina Thomas, co-owner of Five Pound Apparel LLC, a small business in downtown Springfield.

“Attracting guests and visitors to an area, a retailer and/or a restaurant is created by desire,” Thomas said. “When consumers have a desire to go somewhere and experience something, the obstacles don’t matter as much.”

The vision statement of the downtown chapter of Forward SGF, the city of Springfield’s 20-year comprehensive plan, calls out four attributes for creating a “thriving, bustling core of the city:” variety, active storefronts, beautification and places to gather.

Wide variety
Downtown is home to more than 60 restaurants, 27 retailers and 18 pubs and clubs. However, there remain many underrepresented tastes and services. The economic development chapter of Forward SGF emphasizes the need to “remove barriers to small businesses.” That includes a review of existing permits, licenses and inspections required by the city. Reducing the timeline for approvals results in cash registers ringing earlier for both the business owner and sales taxes.

The economic development chapter also calls for entrepreneurial spaces that could build on the work of the Efactory and the IDEA Commons; promote minority-owned, women-owned and economically disadvantaged business enterprises; and expand access to capital beyond the current city small business and Springfield Finance and Development Corp. programs.

“As consumer behavior seems to be a revolving door, change, growth and innovation is more important than ever before,” said Thomas. “Supporting small businesses is one of the easiest ways to support your community as a whole.”

Storefronts activated
Thanks to the use of historic tax credits over the past two decades, only a handful of major downtown buildings have not been renovated. Public and private partnerships should be pursued to bring new life to these highly visible structures like the Newberry building off the square, Rubenstein’s at the southwest corner of Campbell Avenue and College Street and others that disrupt the pedestrian shopping experience and are rapidly approaching the point where it will not be economically viable for revitalization.

Continued coordination is needed among economic development partners to fill vacant storefronts more assertively. The economic development chapter of Forward SGF also highlights the use of accelerator programs to partner with local universities to establish a pooled fund to aid students looking to start local businesses.

Beautification
When places look good, they are more welcoming to the community. When communities are interesting to see and encourage visitors to take and share photos during their visit, they catch people’s eyes and draw even more visitors.

The Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District has invested in hanging lights across Park Central East, all four spokes of the public square and South Avenue. A group of community volunteers came together to plant small sunflower patches around downtown. Better Block SGF put out bright yellow tables and chairs on Park Central Square during the workweek.

The outstanding work of Sculpture Walk Springfield, the Overlay festival (previously MidxMidwst) and other artists bring color and creativity outdoors for everyone to enjoy.

There are many canvases yet to be painted – walls waiting for murals, silos yearning for a new purpose and corners awaiting the right sculpture. These enhancements are critical to creating unique and appealing destinations.

Gathering places
Center city is already home to many of the region’s most notable community events and festivals. The next step is to expand the weekly and monthly programming, such as movies at Founders Park, local concert series and First Friday Art Walk. New activities could include yoga classes, chess or game nights, and pop-up markets.

Community spaces should be made available with amenities to nonprofits and civic groups at little to no cost to foster vibrancy. This will be even more important with the development of Renew Jordan Creek and Grant Avenue Parkway. The increased daily traffic from these functions will generate more customers on the sidewalks.

Being a part of a destination is at the heart of why many of the restaurants and retailers choose to locate downtown. It is important to celebrate local businesses and their individual stories as points of civic pride.

As a community, everyone has a role to play in cultivating the places for our friends and families to experience both now and in the future.

Rusty Worley is the executive director of the Downtown Springfield Association. He can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.