“The economic, social and cultural vitality of a downtown is a key factor in making a community an attractive place to live and work. Healthy downtowns require a persistent and creative effort, and an advocate to survive in today’s economy.” - Town of Brattleboro, Article 21 Downtown Improvement District. - Referenced in the BaBB Strategic Plan for July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009.

An Update from the Executive Director March 2008 Building a Better Brattleboro’s vision: “A vibrant downtown that thrives socially, economically and culturally….” April 2007 - BaBB Board determined priorities for organizational effort to be dedicated to the completion of strategic planning and the upgrade and use of the River Garden. Based on community feedback the board agreed that priorities would focus on organizational inclusiveness, visibility and credibility. Accomplishments We focused on being more inclusive by surveying the community to find that 86% of respondents felt a downtown organization was needed and should focus on acting as a link to state programs and promoting the downtown. Downtown cleanliness and inadequate marketing seen as greatest challenges. Expanding outreach to the public hosting a public meeting where 30-40 previously uninvolved people attended and offered input to our plan. Appointed three board members from underrepresented stakeholder groups to the board of directors. Increasing communication to include greater numbers of downtown merchants and stakeholders. We focused on being more visible and responsive by making possible the hiring of summer temporary help to focus on downtown cleanliness. Informal reports note that things looked cleaner. Spearheading spring plantings, organizing downtown paint touchup (sign posts), purchasing additional new trash receptacles in partnership with the town, facilitating the Entergy grants commitment and seeing the plan through for holiday lights and greenery, and other downtown beautification planning to be moved ahead in future years. Organizing annual sidewalk sales with a major focus on promotions. Numerous merchants reported results in excess of previous years. We focused on being credible by honoring our responsibility to provide the persistent and creative effort to advocate for a healthy and vital downtown. Acting as the liaison, as the downtown organization to state programs for tax credits covering major historic rehabilitation, code improvements and façade improvements. One grant was awarded this year to a Main Street property. Three properties seek future awards. Partnering with the town on the application for our downtown district to again be named as designated, affording the related state benefits. Responding to the public and developing a plan for the Robert H. Gibson River Garden space to be reserved as a central space for the local and visiting public to enjoy and to promote the downtown and our region to travelers in support of our downtown economy. Inviting the State of Vermont Downtown Program staff to visit and to assess our organization in support of the best results for our downtown in the future. And in addition: We made the River Garden available daily to the public, honoring the community’s need for public restroom facilities. We hosted over 75 different community activities in the River Garden since last March, adding an increased vitality to downtown community life. BaBB acknowledges the value of the special assessment on commercial properties within the designated downtown district. We respect and honor the relationship between our activities and their contribution to the betterment of the downtown district. We encourage commercial property owners within the downtown district, along with other interested parties to become involved with BaBB. BaBB can be reached by calling 257-4886 or at babb@sover.net Andrea Livermore Executive Director Building a Better Brattleboro P.O. Box 961 Brattleboro, VT 05302 802-257-4886