D'Aprix Blog--A Blog by Chuck D'Aprix

I'M BACK--AND I'VE GOT SOME THINGS TO SAY

Chuck D'Aprix — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:39:00 GMT

It has been almost a year to this date since I have blogged. In that time we have seen an explosion in the so-called social media arena (who thought it could get any more expansive?) and the field of community economic development is certainly no exception.

I stopped blogging because I felt there were many great blogs relative to economic development dotting the landscape. For example, Richard Florida's blog at www.creativeclass.com is superb as is CEOS FOR CITIES blog. Of course the gold standard remains PLANETIZEN at www.planetizen.com. Then there are the literally dozens of bloggers who cover specialized beats on every topic from transportation to historic preservation. Moreover, there are some simply amazing blogs that cover a specific geographic area or city.

Frankly, I also stopped blogging because I have more work than I can handle as a community economic development consultant and as a consultant on downtown and neighborhood entrepreneurship. IMoreover, I have added consulting on retail incubators to my repertoire so time has been scarce.

However I am back and have found my niche-- I think. I want to write for the community economic development practitioner. Of course I will address one of my favorite topics which is downtown and neighborhood entrepreneurship--but I do not plan to limit myself to that area alone. I have another blog that I have allowed to "dehydrate" over the last year--that can be found at www.retailincubation.com . The topic covered there is painfully obvious. I plan to revive that very soon. With the interest in retail incubation increasing, my hope is that blog can begin to serve as a clearinghouse of sorts relative to that topic.

This initial piece will be brief, but it is something that I have been giving some thought to over the last few months. That is--too many blogs simply are written to showcase the writer or to "parade about" technical knowledge that, frankly, very few people are interested in. They are vanity blogs if you will--and believe me, they do not resonate with people engaged in the practice of community economic development. Yes there are exceptions, I cited a few above and there are others.

However, as I have traveled from one end of this country to the other over the last year I have been startled to learn that few economic development practitioners(or downtown/neighborhood revitalization people) actually read these blogs. Too many blogs are pedantic and written for the academic or for the person so immersed in economic development or urban planning theory that they have nothing better to do than prattle on about this or that. Frankly, I think many of these blogggers are frustrated academics who have never actually run an economic development agency or a community development agency(I have).

There is a thirst for practical information for the person trying to revitalize a neighborhood or bring back a sense of community or save their downtown. Citing some arcane textbook or some academic article simply does not help those folks. If you are running a CDC in a tough part of town--the last thing you need is a link to an article on planning theory. You want practical advice--and that is what I plan to offer.

I happen to read those textbooks and arcane articles, but because I harbor that interest doesn't mean most people do. So over the next few months, you will get practical advice on community economic development. Best......
Chuck

www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.retailincubation.com

GET OUT OF YOUR CAR!

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:37:00 GMT

I have taken a bit of break from this blog because I am firm believer that when others are making cogent points with which one agrees--then it is better to step back, get out-of-the-way and let them make said points.   I particularly have taken to the CEOS FOR CITIES blog(www.ceosforcities.org ) and the blog of renowned "Creative Class" expert Richard Florida(www.creativeclass.com).

Yet I tend to address issues from the perspective of an economic development/commercial district revitalization practitioner...which makes sense, given that I actually ran agencies of all stripes before entering the consulting arena. So, given the number of emails I have received asking me to "re--blog" I will do so.

What is irking me theses days are those who seem to be whistling past the graveyard of the energy crisis. Jim Kunstler(www.kunstler.com) and I had coffee one rainy Sunday morning in Jim's town of Saratoga, NY two or three years ago(I had family in the area and had grown up not far from Saratoga, and was visiting) and he was already warning about the energy problems on the horizon--as only Jim can do. I like to think Jim practices "gonzo planning" (thanks Hunter).   In fact his book, THE LONG EMERGENCY(I believe I have the correct title) was prescient in its view of the oil crisis.   He told me then, that the world of suburbia was about to change---and he was right!

I live in Washington, DC and I am still shocked at the number of SUVs and 8(and yes 12) cylinder cars I see on the roads.   And we have a good public transit system!  Although one may be able to afford such behemoths--is there not a sense of social consciousness that at some point admonishes the owners of these vehicles to rid themselves of these gas guzzlers? The answer is an obvious--NO! Many of these drivers call themselves "liberals," yet they seem to ignore that moniker when tooling down the road or firing up that grill for yet another sterile weekend suburban gathering of fellow-high fossil fuel users. It is as though they are trapped in some LEAVE IT TO BEAVER view of the world. I sometimes wonder if they actually live in an old, bland, black and white existence.

What irks me even more are those who are two-family car owners, live in a suburban sub-division and somehow justify the big car, the minivan and the house 20-miles plus from the City Center.....or 20 miles from reasonable public transportation. Of course the argument these folks advance is always--almost always--rooted in "the schools" and a desire for a good education for their children(that and the fresh air of the suburbs--must be great with all those SUVS and minivans). Gimme a break. You can find a good school in almost any US City today and indeed if you are a "liberal" it would be great if you started acting like one. If you don't like the schools--change them. And as an added feature, your kids will actually get exercise and not become part of another generation of overweight idle Americans. No more shuttling around from ballet, to swimming to gymnastics to well, ...you name it.........! Driving to exercise--only in America.

I am doing a great deal of research these days on the role of entrepreneurship in commercial district revitalization.
Many folks who want to become downtown entrepreneurs are doing so because they no longer want an absurd commute and would rather work closer to home. These are the the folks that are true agents of change and they are the people that will not be caught with their pants down when the energy crisis really hits home.

So my suburban friends; Please do the rest of us a favor and move to smaller, more energy-efficient places near public transit. It may take a year or two given the housing "crisis," but for those of us who have been practicing Smart Growth living for years--believe me when I say--it can be done--and it can be fun. See you on the bus.

Chuck

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
Economic Development Visions
THE RETAIL INCUBATION GROUP
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC--Boston--Miami
202-248-9715
http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.RetailIncubation.com
http://www.downtownproject.com

THE RETAIL INCUBATION GROUP---RETAILINCUBATION.COM

Chuck D'Aprix — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 10:56:00 GMT

As many of you know, I recently started an additional consulting group--it is affiliated with one of my practices THE DOWNTOWN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROJECT. I am a firm believer that in order to revitalize downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts we need to create entrepreneurial environments.......

One tool that can be used to help create an entrepreneurial environment within a downtown or commercial district is a Retail Incubator--there are many different types. So I started THE RETAIL INCUBATION GROUP to help downtowns and commercial districts form retail incubators that are the most appropriate for their areas. Please take a look at the site when you get a chance--there is new blog as well associated with the site. The site is
htttp://www.retailincubation.com

Also Planetizen, the superb planning and community revitalization website has a piece about the new consulting practice. It can be found at http://planetizen.com/announce/item.php?id=1724

Thanks..and best ...
Chuck

Chuck D'Aprix
Economic Development Visions
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
The Retail Incubation Group
www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.retailincubation.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

WE NEED TO "LURE" ENTREPRENEURS TO OUR DOWNTOWN--NOT BUSINESSES

Chuck D'Aprix — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 01:48:00 GMT

I continue to be amazed at what seems to be the sense of impotence that many downtown and commercial district leaders have with respect to their business mix downtown or in their neighborhood commercial districts. By the way, there are still plenty of downtowns and commercial districts that would like to have a mix---instead the only mix they have is a mix of plywood types over their windows.

I have a dear friend, who is one of the smartest(and nicest and most ethical)people I know. Yet he complains that he can't attract new business to his small city downtown.   I want to scream--GROW YOUR OWN BUSINESSES! (I also want to scream--do you know what I have been doing for tha past 25 years studying the role of entrepreneurs in downtown revitalization--why not ask me for advice??!!!!!!--but that's another story) His downtown is near a great state university, an Ivy League school, and several other institutions of higher learning. Granted within his community proper there are not significant established institutions, and there is a relatively small population within his city limits, and it is not a particularly affluent population--but it would be so easy to create a downtown entrepreneurship program based upon the various academic and other institutions within an hours drive of his city.   That downtown could be transformed into a regional showcase. The architecture is superb and the rents are reasonable.

An INCUBATOR WITHOUT WALLS would be the perfect solution for him to start attracting creative, innovative and intelligent entrepreneurs who could be filling not only the downtown storefronts, but upper story spaces as well.
There are several other options with respect to entrepreneurship he could also pursue. His story is not unique--as I travel the country I hear the same refrain over and over. "I can't get businesses to come to my community."
To which my answer is the same: TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN DESTINY AND GROW YOUR OWN!!

Folks, for crying out loud please start to think about entrepreneurship as an answer to your downtown and commercial district business development strategies. You can visit two of of my other websites--http://www.downtownproject.com  and http://www.retailincubation.com to learn more. Within a year you can have full storefronts and you can control(to a certain degree) the retail mix. Stop complaining and get going!!!

As the economy continues to contract, as gas prices increase, as the dollar continues to weaken or stay the same, and as Big Box Retailers continue to blight the landscape, the creation of new interesting downtowns through entrepreneurship development is the answer.   We need to start thinking in terms of entrepreneur attraction--not business attraction!

Chuck

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
Economic Development Visions
THE RETAIL INCUBATION GROUP
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
www.economicvisions.com
www.retailincubation.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

A GOOD SESSION ON RETAIL INCUBATION...AS FAR AS IT WENT

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:14:00 GMT

I was told by a senior staff member of the Main Street Center at the National Trust for Historic Preservation that when I write about the Main Street Program, people email them copies-- GOOD! So I hope they get this one. As regular readers of this blog know, I am an economic development maverick--I push the envelope, because for crying out loud not enough people in the field do! .................................

I call them as a I see them and I do so with 25-years plus of economic development experience under my belt. I was told that writing negatively about them cost me the chance to be a speaker at their annual conference just held. First, I am a big fan of their organization and was first a Main Street Manager in the early 1980's, second, I have gotten several people to join, three I do a lot--a lot-- of pro bono work for Main Street communities, four, I don't recall writing many negative pieces and 5, isn't it ok to be critical of an organization from time-to-time?

I am a little ashamed of myself, because for the first time ever I took down a post--but in the final analysis it was the right thing to do. I actually took a break from this blog for a month or so, but am back in the saddle again--more determined than ever to change the face of economic development and commercial district revitalization--including downtown revitalization. Or if I can't change it--I can comment on it.

Anyway here is the story. I put up a post about an upcoming session at the National Trust's Main Street Program's annual conference(which just ended). I did not mention the organization sponsoring the conference or the person conducting the session(who is a great guy--and I am saying that sincerely) but I was expressing the opinion of many people I heard from or talked to.

As you all know I am HUGE believer in entrepreneurship as a tool for downtown and commercial district revitalization.   I also believe retail incubators can play a role in that. Too little is know about Retail Incubation(although I now have a site www.retailincubation.com and I put together a team of academics, downtown revitalization pros, economists and yes even a former librarian to conduct a study on Retail Incubation). I will not bore you with it--but you can to my other site to get info.

So anyway, the Main Street Program of the National Trust had a session scheduled for their annual conference that was titled something like CAUTIONARY TALES ABOUT RETAIL INCUBATORS(ion?). I thought the title was a little negative and still think so. They did not have to do a "how to" session on retail incubators, but they could have made the title a bit more positive(but--look, we all do make mistakes--so no big deal) I also contended in my post that the session was not rooted in the most up-to-date research. They knew I had just completed research and they never called.    Certainly they did not have to use my research or even give it the time of day. However, if I heard of someone involved in a major study on a topic and I was about to do a presentation on said topic I think I might, oh I dunno, contact that person. Moreover, if I knew that person had a long-standing interest in the topic I might call and spend 5 minutes on the phone picking their brain and trying to get some linkages to others who know the field. What the hell is the downside??? Particularly since they pay dues to be a member of said organization.

That said, I went to the annual conference which was superbly run(and I am not saying that because I pissed a couple of people off--I am after all a bit of a maverick--we piss people off sometimes).   The speakers were great and this organization is short-staffed and they all pulled together to do a great conference in Philadelphia. Anyone in this field who is not a member of the National Trust's Main Street Program is missing a great deal.

So..................I went to the Retail Incubation session. It was one of the few session I could attend because I took a trade show booth and needed to attend to that. I had a flyer at my booth that was critical of the Retail Incubation Session. Off I went to the Retail Incubation session fresh from having copied more of the flyers(they were popular at the booth--the most popular in fact)--and I saw that other consultants had put their literature outside various sessions on tables set up for literature--so I placed a few flyers there--and brought the rest into the session ready to take to my booth afterward--they were in a manila folder.

The session turned out to be GOOD.   The speaker was good, it was well organized, he was witty, he kept things moving--he took questions and comments from people--including me. It was informative--although again, a little info from those of us in the field of Retail Incubation could have helped--but the session was good and he turned out to be a very nice, bright, committed professional --I hope the Main Street Center can hang onto him because he obviously contributes a lot.

After the session, I had many people crowd around me to ask me questions about incubators--it was obvious I was well-informed(the speaker of course had people around him).   I had NO INTENTION of distributing my literature--it was headed for my booth. However, people started asking for copies of it--and like any good marketer I obliged. Hardly the end of the world, but it was not my session and I would not have liked it had someone done the same(by the way it was not like I was distributing the stuff while the guy was presenting).
A week from now--will anyone really care?

However he was pissed and then it came out that he was pissed about the blog post that I did when I heard about the session. I got my hands slapped by the appropriate people, took my lumps and moved on. So I offer, of my own free will, an apology to the National Trust's Main Street Center and to the speaker, who did a really nice job and is a great guy. My intention was not to advertise my services after his session--although they will probably not buy that--which is just too bad--get over it. I made a mistake when people started asking for info. It was a free exchange of information that RANDOMLY SPRUNG UP--if I had wanted to market I would have hired some temps to stand outside the session and pass my info out!!

So I have to eat a little crow and say it was a good session(but still horribly titled--I will not back down from that).
Also, HEY POTENTIAL SPEAKERS AT EVENTS--if you know a member of your organization is an expert in a certain field --it might be wise to call them and pick their brains. You do not have to use what they say--but a call or an email may help you out.

So, since apparently when I write stuff about the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Program it gets emailed to them(by the way--I haven't even figured out how to email my BLOG POSTS!), here it is Main Street Staff--I ate crow--it was a good session--with a good presenter who is nice guy--and my criticism of the session title stands. So while I did not mention the name of the organization in my original post--I did here.

I am sincere in saying that they are good organization--I urge people literally daily to join --they are a great resource on downtown revitalization--so join the NATIONAL MAIN STREET CENTER.
The End.

Chuck

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
Economic Development Visions
DAPRIX BLOG
The Retail Incubation Group
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
http://www.economicvisions.com
http://DAPRIXBLOG.com
http://www.retailincubation.com
http://www.downtownproject.com

THE RETAIL INCUBATION PROJECT KICKS OFF!!!!

Chuck D'Aprix — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:11:00 GMT

I am pleased to announced today the formation of yet another business to serve communites. THE RETAIL INCUBATION PROJECT will work with communites to develop retail incubators--primarily in downtowns and commercial districts.

THE RETAIL INCUBATION PROJECT is an extension of the The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project and Economic Development Visions, two boutique consulting practices that I currently own and manage. As with the two existing businesses, we will be dedicated to creativity, innovation, rule-breaking, customer service and an acceptance of the reality that communites have constrained budgets.

Retail Incubation is catching on nationally, thanks in great part to the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project. I am currently working in Granby, Colorado where an incubator appears likely, I did a full-scale incubator program for Jeffersonville, Indiana and was just hired by Newton, New Jersey to help them with a downtown incubator. I realized that a separate group to handle RETAIL INCUBATION was necessary--hence THE RETAIL INCUBATION GROUP.

As with all of my businesses, I intend to attract and nurture the best talent I can for each project. This is something the large established firms with high overhead simply cannot do. We are nimble, creative, committed to change and creativity and have an established history as agents of change. So the RETAIL INCUBATION PROJECT is ready to roll. We will have our website up soon and we will have a blog addressing issues related to RETAIL INCUBATION.

Best---

Chuck D'Aprix

http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

A Community's" Personality" is Key to Its Economic Future

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 10:47:00 GMT

I do not write about politics on this blog, despite the fact that I live in Washington DC. I can't throw a rock up my street without hitting a political pundit here, so I try to stick with issues related to community economic revitalization. However there was an interesting article in this morning's New York TIMES.................  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/politics/05clinton.html?ei=5065&en=cb59275b89a1bf6a&ex=1200114000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print about Hillary Clinton's recent loss in New Hampshire that does have some applicability to what I have been saying for years about communities.   As I write this we are in that lava-hot political period between the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire Primary, so there are countless stories about what the various campaigns on both sides of the aisle did " right or wrong" in the eyes of the political pundits---ah where is Hunter Thompson when we need him?

Anyway, according to the TIMES, Ms. Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, Chairman of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, public relations firms in the country, apparently concentrated too much on polling data (the "numbers" or as we have to call them now, for some reason known only to corporate America: the metrics), and not enough on her personality. The Clinton campaign according to this piece realized their error too late and the message of 'change" advanced by her opponent Barack Obama trumped the numbers gurus hired by Senator Clinton.

This is very much what I have been saying about market analyses in downtowns, urban neighborhood commercial districts and communities for years now.  Every community is anxious to have the "numbers" that
will tell them what type of business they need.   The sad fact is that the big market analysis firms come in, hand off a report with warmed over, updated, census data or perhaps worse, a community uses one of the off-the-shelf products that gives them the numbers and then the economic development director, the commercial district manager, or the Main Street Manager runs off and tries to find those businesses that "match the numbers." That does not work folks. There are more lousy economic analysis studies out there than you can count. Walk into any planning office and see the old reports lining the shelves--it would   actually be funny if those studies didn't represent a tremendous waste of money.   That is why I like charrettes(I am a certified charrette manager by that National Charrette Institute(http://www.charretteinstitute.org/) they reveal personality over raw data.

There is an important element missing in too many studies--the PERSONALITY OF THE COMMUNITY--period. The lesson of the Clinton campaign can be carried over to community revitalization---numbers versus personality. Interestingly, communities could use some additional numbers in their quest to find their "personality."

When I do a market analysis I go about doing some limited polling by telephone, I do intercept surveys, I do focus groups and one-on-one interviews with business owners--this gives me a feel for the community beyond just the raw economic data. So a little polling can help you find the personality of your community. Sure you could argue I am just getting "more numbers"--but I would disagree and say I am going beyond what most firms do.   This information reveals the hot button issues in the community--and begins to tell me the "personality" of the community.    However, I never rely solely on raw market numbers or polling to tell me about a community. Rather, I add to my knowledge of the community by learning its history, by listening to stories about the "good old days," by talking to people on the back streets--not just the Main Streets. I listen at community get-togethers and watch public meetings on local cable, I chat with people of all political persuasions and I look at old studies and read local guides to tourism and attractions.   I want--I need--to know the "personality" of the community. I find the informal channels of communication within a town, city or neighborhood this reveals a great deal to me about the "place" I am trying to define.

In many ways, Richard Florida's groundbreaking work on the creative class that he so eloquently writes about in his books and on his blog(http://www.creativeclass.com ), is about the personality of community. I read this week that he now looks at the local music scene as a factor in community analysis.

Sure I get the numbers, and I get better numbers than anyone I know in the field--but you need much than metrics(ok I used the word) to find the "personality" of a community.  The "community personality" will tell you just as much about what types of businesses will work as a report overloaded with statistics, charts and graphs(all impressively laid out using the latest graphic software). If you are involved in the revitalization of a community, I implore you to think about the personality of your community, not just the raw numbers. It is this personality that makes your community unique--savor it. Best.........

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
Economic Development Visions &
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
htttp://www.economicvisions.com
htttp://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

The Need For Simplification of Local Economic Development Concepts

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 12:22:00 GMT

I am a proponent of employing the latest academic and think tank research, of pushing the envelope with respect to conventional thinking and I openly ebmbrace new ideas and concepts. The field of economic development was reduced to civic boosterism (not that there is anything wrong with that) for so long that the intellectual energy has been sucked from the field...........

Although I find it a bit trendy to develop new concepts just for the sake of new concepts(read: gazelles, economic gardening etc) when someone like Richard Florida(http:/www.creativeclass.com) does offer an intellectually sound and well-reasoned concept, as he so often does, I am genuinely excited.   I feel the same way when I read New Urbanist publications, although I do not embrace all that is advocated---there can be no denying that Andres Duany is a big thinker--and I like big thinkers.   He is also a big personality and I like big personalities(that is personality--as opposed to celebrity. Embrace I do not, the community revitalizer as celebrity.)

My commitment to intellectual integrity, new ideas, creativity, innovation and change clearly set forth--my bona fides if you will-- allow me to scream--we complicate this field too damned much.   A case that is emblematic of this unnecessary complication was made known to me yesterday when I was chatting with a potential client.   His agency had an economic development study conducted a year or two ago and I inquired as to whether it was posted on line. He said it was so full of "charts and graphs" that it really made little sense to post it on line. He told me outright the study actually was unnecessary and that it just confirmed what he and his colleagues already knew.

Look the fact is we conduct too many studies in the field of economic development and commercial district revitalization and perform too little in the way of implementation. My position should hardly come as a shock to those who know me, I have been saying this for years.   I conduct studies--but only studies that will lead to change and implementation. I spent too many years toiling in the trenches of economic development in down and out cities not to believe in implementation and transformation. Study until the cows come home--but eventually you have to pull the trigger and implement!!

Look we hemorrhage money in economic development. We conduct studies, ad campaigns, offer unnecessary incentives and do not take care of the basics. That unfortunately does not sound like a "BIG IDEA" --but it is an uncommon one.

Again I say we need to return to the basics. Yes of course we acknowledge we live in a global economy with a
technological imperative and that emerging technologies are changing our lives daily. Yes, creativity matters--far more than most economic development people will admit. That said, I return to the old saw, " THINK GLOBALLY--ACT LOCALLY." Before the next ad campaign, or before you coin the next trendy phrase to describe something we have already been doing for decades and decades--long before I was born(just for the record)--take care of the economic development basics.

Allow me to offer some of those basics as I see them. First, make sure that you address education. Without quality public education, you will never have quality local economic development.  If you think education is not an economic development issue you are in the wrong field. Do not allow the local school department to tell you they have things well in hand, chances are --THEY DON'T!!

Take care of the businesses you have and help them innovate. If that means spending your money on innovative management consultants to help drive local innovation--do it--nobody cares about that ad campaign anyway. Improve every single commercial district in your community and have a manager for each one. I do not care which approach you use, but you need to save the historic buildings in the commercial districts, create markets for those districts, create excitement and promotional activities in those areas make sure they are clean, safe and well served by public transit.

Speaking of public transit, make sure you have a quality public transportation system--period. Take care of housing the less fortunate by rehabilitating existing houses, using infill housing and building new housing, if necessary, ensure that it is quality housing.   The least fortunate among us deserve it and the community will benefit.

While you are at it, do not forget the neighborhoods--make sure they look god for crying out loud. Your local Community Development Department should not just be addressing low-income housing, but all housing to make sure that neighborhoods look good. Moreover, the police need to be employing the latest approaches to ensure the safety of residents in every neighborhood.   If you don't think public safety is an economic development issue-the just look at the surveys conducted of corporate site selectors and CEOS about location--education and public safety are on that list under QUALITY OF LIFE.

Make sure there is cultural and artistic imperative at work. I worked on a Cultural Plan in a community back in 1986 as a staffers and it contributed substantially to the economic viability of the community. It's not fluff, but rather substantive economic development.   Make sure your community has access to higher education--whether it is a community college or a division of a four-year school. This allows people to stay in the community and further their education at the same time. The residual effects of an institution of higher learning are too numerous to mention here.

Endeavor, if you will, to make your community a CENTER OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP. Bring together as many regional providers of entrepreneurship support services as you can and reach out to those with creative ideas to help them get businesses started. This will yield far more than any ad campaign touting your community as the best place to do business.

Work with the real estate community to develop zoning that will encourage quality--QUALITY--new development. More schlocky town houses may pay property taxes, but in the long run will have a deleterious effect on the community.   You should be thinking about REDEVELOPMENT RATHER THAN NEW DEVELOPMENT whenever possible anyway. Fix what you have , before you build new. While you are at it, make the community walkable and create nodes of development that allow all citizens to be within walking distance of services that matter. This is ignored by so many communities that it is frightening.

Finally, (while thinking locally) think regionally. Nothing quashes creative economic development programming faster than parochial thinking. Work with other cities and towns in the region to share ideas, to share resources, to create regional plans and transportation systems. Reach out if you have to ---but do not stay stuck in your own community--even if that community is a major city.

I have bored you long enough----and this list is hardly exhaustive(although you are probably exhausted at this juncture).   Unfortunately none of what I have suggested today is a grand idea---they are a series of small concepts that if strung together will have your community walking down the road(make that the sidewalk) to economic viability.

Chuck D'Aprix

http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

Baby Boomers Letting Their Innovation Shine AsThey Revive Communities

Chuck D'Aprix — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 13:19:00 GMT

One community revitalization business I run is called the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project, a business designed to attract, nurture and grow entrepreneurs in downtowns and commercial districts nationally. I have been studying downtown entrepreneurship for 25 years. It began when I was first tasked with attracting businesses to a downtown, and I asked the very simple question.......WOULDN'T IT JUST BE EASIER TO GROW NEW RETAILERS THAN CHASE EXISTING ONES?...........................................

My interest has not waned. I have had the opportunity to run a downtown retail incubator, to travel the country talking to downtown entrepreneurs for a book I am writing, to study the role of downtown business in community revitalization, and to speak to groups of downtown and commercial district entrepreneurs in formal and informal settings. Moreover, I have had the opportunity to meet with countless people charged with running downtown and commercial district revitalization programs. They have expressed their raw frustration with the growing pressure on them to "lure" new businesses(If I could take one word, as I have said so many times before, out of the lexicon of economic development it would be LURE--I would replace it with GROW.)

So the DOWNTOWN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROJECT http://www.downtownproject.com ,
sister business of my economic development consulting practice Economic Development Visions http://www.economicvisions.com, is a true labor or love for me and 2007 was a great year in which to further expand my examination of the role of entrepreneurship within downtowns and commercial districts. In fact I initiated the largest single study of retail incubators ever undertaken. That will take a few months to birth and bring to fruition.....but it will be well worth it for the downtown and commercial district revitalization communities.

One trend that has caught my imagination is Baby Boomers not only moving back to downtowns and urban neighborhoods, but the fact they are opening businesses in those places!! They want to live there of course because of the cultural and social amenities so readily available to them in those environments--and there is indeed a sense of place in a downtown or commercial district that is simply not available in suburban locations.

Many of these Baby Boomers now have empty nests, 401 (K)s or similar retirement programs upon which to draw, they have pent up creativity and they are of a generation that has broken new ground at every turn as I have so frequently written. They have witnessed societal upheaval and change not to mention astounding technological changes. In fact Boomers expect change and innovation--and have since they were born.

What really drove me to this question of Baby Boomer as entrepreneur or potential entrepreneur in a downtown or commercial district was when I volunteered to do some pro bono work for an organization that is a "semi think tank." They said GREAT, as you would expect, but then they handcuffed me a bit. It seems their economist of choice had convinced them that urban entrepreneurs--entrepreneurs close to the city core--were young, hip and peaking at age 34 or 35--I was never quite sure of the age. They gave me a list of 5 "hot" neighborhoods from around the country to study---- and then we had a slight philosophical difference.

You see my heart wanted to agree with them because it would be a nice study to do and they were/are nice folks. However, my eyes and my intellect were telling me something else. I was working in too many "hip" communities where it was the Boomers who were making the difference-and without trying to be hip--hell they had seen Woodstock, free love, the Moon Landing, The Beatles on Ed Sullivan, experienced the deaths of Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison--had gone through the upheaval brought to us by Vietnam and racial inequality--and of course saw the deaths of three icons, Jack, Bobby and Martin. Hip? Dylan anyone?  "Hip" does not need to be explained to the Boomer generation(even as they are disciplining their kids for behavior "unbecoming"). They were on the front lines of hip and are open to change--including technological change.   In fact Baby Boomers have a huge rate of web use.

I'll never forget the day I went to the offices of a Gen? consultant who complained that one of his advisors was "Too BOOMER." This consultant loves to employ phrases that sound hip when they really are just a rehash of old concepts, repackaged to sound hip--for example fast growing entrepreneurial companies are now "gazelles" and entrepreneurship is "economic gardening" and incubators are "crowd sourcing". Never mind that there are few if ANY academic studies to indicate how what they are espousing is any different than what has been evolving in commercial district revitalization for years now. Hey it sounds good, it sounds hip and it sounds NEW---gottta have NEW or it ain't any good.   This is all done under the rubric of CREATIVITY.
Richard Florida's books on creativity have been great http://www.creative class.com , and I recommend them highly, but I fear he has been misunderstood, co-opted by some and that "some " just don't get it. Some of the crowd that thinks entrepreneurship peaks at 34 or 35 or whatever, do so by citing, in part, the works of Dr. Florida--a big mistake in my opinion. Creativity is not related to age--it is related to mind and consciousness.

I prefer the studies you can find all over the web and academic datat bases on Baby Boomer creativity and entrepreneurship to anecdotes, however I will serve up an anecdote or two. have a colleague who is 75, still works in a multi-media store where he sells classical music but interacts with people of all ages throughout his work week. In his "spare" time he produces and acts in one man shows based on the works of the Ancient Greeks. He also reads the latest books, does the NY TIMES crossword puzzle in about 10 minutes(in pen!) and is as "Hip" as any 20 something I know. In fact, he regularly socializes with 20 somethings because they find him a compelling figure. Go figure.

I recently was doing a market analysis in Brunswick, GA ------------http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_access/news/326806617962308.php and met with a number of downtown merchants in their rapidly revitalizing downtown district. These entrepreneurs were Boomers(plus in some cases) and yes...many were "hip"--very hip.   Brunswick sits in the shadow of 2 resort islands that attract high net worth individuals from around the world--and they are now attracting this clientèle to the downtown--thanks in great part to the Boomer business owners and the active arts community--also BOOMER -heavy. Heck, the Mayor, a progressive, smart, and knowledgeable guy is also an actor, and has a background in the arts. Not a bad start down the path to creativity I would say.

Many of these business owners are second career folks who "get" the dynamic of a commercial district more than many younger entrepreneurs. That said, there are also great younger, dynamic entrepreneurs in Brunswick--which is the whole point--no? I hold that a successful commercial district or downtown should have a mix of independent business owners who cut across the demographic spectrum. That is why I was so turned off by the faulty logic of that "quasi think tank." First, here is a fact--ENTREPRENEURSHIP does not peak at 34/35 in burgeoning urban districts or small resort towns or small out-of-the-way towns. Period. I have read too much, spoken to too many nationaly-known economists to think otherwise. Moreover, by giving credence to the mid-30's notion it creates an artificial divide we do not need. That "quasi think tank" was just wrong--but they can't or won't sacrifice their credibility to say so. Such is business in the non-profit think tank world I guess.     Need those grants for the next study.

All of that said, what we at the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project do is, is help downtowns and commercial districts understand their market and then help them attract potential independent business owners who
will complement existing businesses, will complement chains and will make the area more dynamic.   Age and other demographic characteristics do not matter--improving downtowns and commercial districts does!

Best....
Chuck

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
& Economic Development Visions
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

DOWNTOWN MARKET ANALYSIS MUST EMBRACE THE HUMAN ELEMENT

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 12:42:00 GMT

I am a frequent critic of market analyses. Somehow, the economic development, ---and in particular the commercial district revitalization worlds-- have become convinced that they need to know everything about their market--current, past, future. This used to be the domain of the real estate developer who needed to discern what she/he could build, make money on and get financed. Now every community wants one---- GREAT! However, most firms do not do them right and in fact present an overpriced, boilerplate product that throws little light into the economic development cave. They give you an updated version they did in town X the day before-- but it is not personalized!! I will say immodestly that I do them right--period. Moreover, I have been told as much by countless clients from around the world. I do something shocking.....I take into account the cultural and human elements of a community.....I don't reduce everything to "metrics." As they say, what a concept..............................................................................

I just got back from the charming community of Brunswick, Georgia a waterfront City about 70 miles from the Florida border(well from Jacksonville). My firm, Economic Development Visions has been hired to conduct a market analysis for the downtown. It is a community with lovely architecture, two distinct islands serving different needs(one for island residents, the other more for tourists), and a committed and visionary local leadership. Moreover, a progressive, professional and creative developer is about to build a mixed-use waterfront project that will include condominiums, a hotel, housing, a marina and some retailing. This developer, does not want to detract from the downtown retail core, so is partnering with the Downtown Development Authority to determine what the market for retailing is downtown and on his site. This is a remarkable and very community-based decision on the part of the developer. Frankly, more developers could take a lesson from this firm and make themselves part of the community on the front-end so that there is a melding of economic and social needs on the back-end. Kudos to the developers of Liberty Harbor in Brunswick, GA. Hats off as well to the Downtown Development Authority and its Board for wanting a market study that was all-inclusive, but also takes into account the human, social, financial and political realities of the moment. Also, the Mayor, a progressive, thoughtful man understands the dynamic perfectly. This is a community that in fact "gets it."

The "numbers", or as so many feel impelled to call them now--"the metrics", we can handle easily. We needed to layer this study--as we at Economic Development Visions do with all of our studies--with an understanding of the community, including: history, culture, local politics, and yes PEOPLE. The human elements. We spent the week conducting a great deal of research, but none was more rewarding than the conversations with local residents. This takes time and often means as much as the "metrics", as we listen to their sage business advice relative to the downtown or just their recitation of local history and how the community has evolved. Frankly, large firms who send junior people into a community cannot afford the personal touch. They have high overhead, and need to move from project to project.

We thrive on the personal touch. We revel in what makes one community different from the next and we do it very well--period. When we finish a market analysis for a community, a downtown or a development project we don't hand over a myopic, metric -laden document--we present a product that realistically pays homage to the community and the future. Yes, it defines the market and is a superb decision-making tool, but the one we will present to Brunswick GA, will be unique to Brunswick, Georgia---a place, like every other place, that is UNIQUE!

Here is a link from the local paper the Brunswick Times to an article about our project.
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_access/news/326806617962308.php

Best and Happy Holidays

Chuck D'Aprix
Economic Development Visions &
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

"I WOULDN'T EMAIL THAT TO RICHARD FLORIDA" WELL I JUST DID AND WHO CARES!!!

Chuck D'Aprix — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:32:00 GMT

In a couple of weeks I am heading to Granby, Colorado to help them develop an entrepreneurship development program. I am champing at the bit because the Main Street Manager there is a bright, progressive, results-based professional with extensive Main Street experience and a great Board and she intuitively understands what makes a commercial district work. We are going to make some things POP!! An article about my visit appeared in the edition of the regional paper that covers Granby, they cover Granby one day per week apparently. The article had the facts right and more important---the spirit right. In our profession we improve downtowns and commercial districts---the headline may have set the bar a bit high---but hey I am a consultant--better to set a consultant's bar too high than too low---I've hired too many consultants to think otherwise. When I showed the article to a colleague who fancies herself an intellectual, she in essence scoffed at it and I later overheard her talking about it with her boyfriend derisively. One comment she made to me was, " I wouldn't send that to Richard Florida." Huh?? Since when are we a celebrity-driven field, and as much as I like and respect Florida's work----who gives a flying &%^%&$#* what he thinks of this article? Hell he'd say the same thing I'm sure. Moreover, and ironically, the program to be developed in Granby aligns perfectly with what he espouses professionally. SO I EMAILED THE ARTICLE T0 RICHARD FLORIDA. http://www.creativeclass.org .......................................................................................

The link to the Grand County News article is: http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20071217/NEWS/52819234
This anecdote that I relate above is exactly what bothers me about some intellectual urban planning elites on the coasts(and I consider myself an intellectual of the first order--if I do say so myself--and I may be the ONLY one saying it, but also I have 25 years in the field--I am not some bloviating newcomer--I've been in the trenches in a number of diverse settings).   The first annoying thing is they consider themselves elites(and that's just plain annoying any way you look at it). The other thing that is well, frankly.... grating, about these types is their inability to crawl out from underneath intellectual theory and embrace the joy of a community seeking to creatively transform itself. I don't mean just saying "that's good," but really embracing the joy of a community seeking creative change--such as Granby is doing.    We have 70, 80, 90 years on the planet for crying out loud--let us find some joy in these situations as they present themselves. The irony about the Richard Florida comment is that he seems joyful, and willing to embrace creativity --openly and freely--no matter what some news article said. He is a true intellectual elite and a ground-breaking one at that--so I have to laugh at the comment.

Oh these self-proclaimed intellectuals will argue that what they do as theorists and occasional practitioners is about helping communities and that they find great joy in that. You could have fooled me. The professors are the worst and then the cocksure bloggers, consultants, and theorists are right behind them. Granby is taking a great step forward--a bold step one might posit. Yet these intellectual elites--urban planners and commercial revitalization people--could not simply take a moment and enjoy the creativity of another community.   The obvious theory is if they don't think of something and then reduce it to a 6-step approach or of it doesn't fit within the world view of their readings or align with what has been cultivated in their minds, then it doesn't have merit. My cynical side says, if they were not hired for the job then they were perhaps a bit jealous--but then I put that away.

Now as to how what we will be doing in Granby aligns perfectly with Richard Florida's theories. Granby is about to cultivate a creative group of people who will complement the existing "creatives." All of this in a small town in Colorado. There will be entrepreneurial support systems, programs to encourage people to enter the creative community and Granby's move alone makes THEM as a community and downtown creative.
Add to this the fact that you have a successful, experienced Main Street Manager, Board and Community Leadership and I would say there is a lot to celebrate in Granby--even if one did not like the article. (FOR THE RECORD I THOUGHT THE ARTICLE WAS JUST FINE--MORE THAN FINE).

I am looking forward to bringing my enthusiasm, professional experience, creativity and yes... joy to Granby.
We will have some fun, but in the end we will have a great product and Granby will be a better community.
Not bad. In fact it will be fun--event though I don't ski!

Oh the theorists and academics and pseudo-intellectuals will continue their blustering and vociferate on everything related to community improvement. They will move from job to job sucking the joy from their workplace until their colleagues have had enough. As for me, I would rather bring to bear genuine creativity, roll up my sleeves and make a place a little better than when I arrived.   Saccharin perhaps....but a little optimism goes a long way--which these theorists would understand if they actually had to work in a community for any length of time---or had worked in a community for any length of time.

I am glad I got that off my chest. Granby here I come--I look forward to reading your paper in person, to meeting the citizenry and to making a difference for your town. Have a JOYFUL Holiday season.

Chuck D'Aprix

http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY MUST DEMAND EDUCATION REFORM!

Chuck D'Aprix — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:56:00 GMT

I KNOW, I KNOW, you think economic development involves attracting, retaining and growing businesses--and of course in great measure it does. We have attempted to elevate this function to a profession, which is a little odd, and we offer "certification" in various types of economic development, which is odder yet. But folks, we need to broaden our scope to include grander social issues, like the biggest economic development issue of all........Education!........ IF NOT YOU-WHO? IF NOT NOW--WHEN?

I was reading a piece from noted intellectual, academic and social commentator Camile Paglia in SALON( www. salon.com) the online journal, where she quoted a Philadelphia Inquirer piece on the need for more technical education in this country.
I suppose I could have gone directly to the Inquirer, but I will allow Ms. Paglia's words to stand on their own:

There was an excellent op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer last week about the urgent national need for technical education -- which has been a recurrent theme in my Salon columns for a decade. Walt Gardner, who taught public school for 28 years in Los Angeles, calls for a "shift in our attitude to grant career and technical education the same recognition, respect and value that we reflexively accord academic education."

Gardner predicts severe dislocations for the college-educated middle class over the next two decades: "Auto mechanics, plumbers, and electricians will be earning a comfortable living and deriving deep satisfaction from their work, while many graduates from marquee-name colleges will find themselves unemployed when their jobs are off-shored."

Exactly! And as a career college teacher, I want to insist yet again that the general education offered by American public high schools and even elite colleges and universities has become blatantly mediocre and not worth the price. Soaring tuition costs are a national scandal that the presidential candidates have failed to systematically address. Families and students themselves have incurred monstrous debts in their deluded search for brand-name cachet, which only marginally relates to a quality education. The college admissions race in the United States is a gigantic marketing scam that most mainstream journalists, desperate to get their kids into the overrated Ivy League, have shamefully neglected.

                                                                                                                                         -Paglia
I will let the piece stand on its own merits. Rather, my point is this; Economic Development people, as I said in
an earlier post this week, need to be advocates for education. If not them --who? This is an economic issue with far-reaching implications. I know it is not as sexy and does not resonate with the same pitch as attracting a hot new company, but education matters. I think that very much aligns with Richard Florida's Creative Class thesis--bad education: no creative class to speak of. I loved Florida's first book when it came out, then I felt he lost some luster, but if he did, he has regained it and then some. I have become a big fan again. Perhaps there was some professional jealousy at work there. Ah, my humanity rearing its ugly head again.

I recently related an anecdote about how as a very young economic development professional, I observed the economic development genius that pervades Lowell, Massachusetts, a tough down and out mill town transformed into a model of urban revitalization.   When the schools were not working for them, they in essence(and I a sure they hate this phrase) set up a school administration in exile(absent Castro-like garb; well most of the time) and in essence established a mini- educational think-tank, replete with nationally know education experts, until the progressive powers that be, including, but not limited to, the late former US Senator and Presidential Candidate Paul Tsongas, could topple the entrenched existing School Department regime. (If my education had been more thorough, I would not have provided the reader with the run-on sentence that preceded this sentence). Tsongas was a big believer in education, arts an culture---ever the Greek. In one slide show I have, he talks about how in "ten years, it will the softer, intangible aspects of the community that will matter-- education, culture the arts." The pre-Creative Class Senator. He was a mentor and a friend and ahead of his time.

Anyway, it was the public/private economic development corporation that oversaw this thank tank, in the main, and the business leadership on the development corporation were vocal advocates for educational reform. In fact the Chairman of the group, a local lawyer who would go on to serve as President of Nike and whom had served in the Kennedy Administration, put his full weight behind educational reform as well all culture and the arts. We did a cultural plan that I would put up against any in the nation--some 22 years later. I understand they are revising it now.

I implore economic development professionals, despite the professional costs, to stand up for educational reform because over the long haul it will bring about palpable economic development change in the community. I inquire again of economic developers-- If not you--WHO? If not now--WHEN?   Best........

Chuck D'Aprix

http://www.economicvisions.com
http://www.downtownproject.com
http://www.DAPRIXBLOG.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT NEEDS TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND--OR FIRE THEM!!!!

Chuck D'Aprix — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:10:00 GMT

Sooner or later an economic development organization--public or private--will have the need to hire a consultant. Sometimes it is for the ubiquitous market study, or the firm promising "Chain Retailers" for the downtown---or even a professional organization(no names mentioned) that are membership organizations for economic development people but feel the need to be in the consulting business as well. Sometimes these groups will use the euphemism--TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE when offering their consulting services--which by the way tend to be slanted toward the view of the professional association--but I digress....

There is nothing I like better than dishing out dues to a professional organization that represents economic development people, downtown revitalization people or urban planners only to find them as my competition in the consulting arena. Thankfully I find I provide a more creative, innovative and better priced product or I'd be a little miffed. Hell, I am a little miffed anyway. Thank goodness I offer several unique products that they do not--so I am covered there as well.......

However, there is, I fear, a problem in the consulting arena, and I would like to offer my community economic development peers the wisdom of some years of experience in this field--on both sides of the desk. When on the client side--budget mattered, so I am sensitive to price when I consult--very sensitive.

First, do not hire a consultant because your Board or City Council thinks it's a grand idea and something has to be done about(insert issue).  The first  consultant you need to hire should(oh I hate this term) "add value" to your program--punch up something you do well.   Figure out what you are good at and have a consultant make it even better. I know this sound counter-intuitive. You are thinking....NO I NEED HELP WITH AN AREA I AM NOT SO GOOD WITH. Yes, you do. But first, get a couple of kick-ass victories under your belt.   You are doing something well--like business retention and a consultant makes it even better. You now have a model business retention program and some breathing room
.

Later there is time for a consultant to shore up your deficiencies(I know you don't have any--but let's pretend you do). For example, I am the only consultant in the country doing DOWNTOWN Entrepreneurship consulting www.downtownproject.com .   Most downtowns and commercial districts are deficient in this area--so you will need my help. But let's not make this about me---ok let's. I can also be found at www.economicvisions.com .

Here are some things when considering hiring a consultant for community economic development. First, do not take the first price they offer--even if you issue an RFP. Consultants, in the main--not all--charge way way too much money.   Whether it's a market analysis(and I'll talk about those in a minute) or a business development study or whatever--they tend to overcharge.

The big firms have great GIS capability, have great graphics people, wonderful POWERPOINT presentations and they charge absurd--ABSURD amounts of money.   They have large staffs, offices in the best parts of big cities and you usually get a junior staffer who will spend as little time as possible in your community and then hand you over a boiler plate report--and yes big firms give you the same study(TWEAKED TO LOOK DIFFERENT) that they gave in another town the day before. But it wil look nice. This could not be more true of market analyses and market studies. Whom do you think is paying for all that great GIS equipment and staff and great office space--yes, my friend, you the client. If possible use a small niche firm(like mine to pull an example out of the air). We do not have high overhead, have usually been on the client's side of the desk and need to compete not just on price but on quality--for example doing a lot more leg work and spending a lot more time in the community. For example,if need be, I'll spend an extra day or two in a community doing intercept surveys myself. It keeps the cost down and sometimes as a small business owner you have to do what you have to do. That is why I beat so many large firms out of jobs--we offer customer service, a senior level person, and we keep going until we get it right. Oh yeah, we know what it feels like to get a really lousy boiler plate report...no matter how good the graphics. So we spend time doing as many community presentation as required so people understand we care about THEIR community and got to know its cultural, history and politics.

So hire small niche firms... and build in contractual performance standards. Be specific about what you need the consultant to do and be firm on the DELIVERABLES. It is a little frustrating on this end to have a client who does not have a clue as to what they need--but they hire a consultant to cover their tail. Which leads me to the following point. DO NOT-- DO NOT hire a consultant just to show you are doing something. I know, I know, it buys time. You've got the RFP process, the selection committee process, the negotiation, and then
the contract signing. All the while you can tell your Board or City Council about what you are doing. Don't buy time--it will always--always, come back to bite you.   I can often tell when an economic development agency is in trouble when they issue a very general RFP for services OR they decide to do an ad campaign--both can buy time. Not all agencies that do this are in trouble--but it is a small red flag.

So this conversation will be continued. Absorb this, think about it and use consultant ONLY AS NECESSARY. You will be better off in the long run and your bottom line will be stronger(and this is a consultant saying that).
Best....................

Chuck D'Aprix

www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

WELCOME TO THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB DOWNTOWN RENEWAL LEADERS--WE'VE MISSED YOU

Chuck D'Aprix — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:41:00 GMT

I am amused by the fact that the leadership of some downtown revitalization associations(associations representing people doing the work of downtown renewal every day) are now gung-ho about entrepreneurship and retail incubation. To them I say.... welcome aboard!!

I am certainly not the first person to think about growing new retailers in downtowns or commercial districts and formalizing that process in some meaningful way. However I was going through news clips yesterday and it was 25 years ago that I first proposed such a program in my first job as a Main Street Manager.

Then in the mid-1990's I started a formalized retail incubation effort attached to a multi-million dollar loan pool(we had to do some arm twisting to get banks involved). That program was a resounding success, although my successor with the agency I was directing chose not to continue it--he was more of a "bricks and mortar" guy--although to his credit he kept the loan pool running--as it is 13 years later, helping entrepreneurs daily.

In the late 1990's and early 00's I got in my car al la Jack Kerouac or Ken Kesey and traveled the country just chatting with independent retailers in downtowns and commercial districts across the country. I interviewed them about their needs, I inquired as to what support systems they needed and those stories will be coming out in a soon-to-be-released book(although I have to get my writing act together on that front) that will help serve as a guide to the downtown revitalization and commercial district community as to how to grow new independent retailers and support the ones they have.

Now, why grow new retailers--why not just chase existing ones or get existing ones to open a second or third location, or better yet, why not get the ubiquitous chain store to open. Well national chains bring a lot of baggage(particularly if they are Louis Vuitton--sorry couldn't resist), but they do. The anti-chain crowd will raise hell and the reality is they just won't locate in downtowns or an urban commercial district--usually.

Getting an existing regional chain store or restaurant to open is a good idea, but fewer are willing to expand.
The margins are not what they like and often the owners are fairly burned out from running the locations they have. So I advocate AND HAVE ADVOCATED for years--growing new retailers. I have developed a methodology for doing just that and it is rooted in a broad-base of experience. Good for me. Whoopee. I saw the obvious and pursued it....and I am successful at it. I started something called the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project-- www.downtownproject.com People like the organization and we are good at what we do!

What is maddening to me is that since I and others(like the Institute for Local Self Reliance who pushes the idea of independents vs chains) have been talking about it, the leadership of some downtown professional associations have now decided this is an issue of importance. They now write in their newsletters about entrepreneurship or sponsor conferences with entrepreneurship as the theme. I say again, WELCOME ABOARD MATES.

Look I am not holding myself out as some Richard Florida-type or Jane Jacobs innovator here. I was on the ground, saw a need and filled it. What is interesting how interested the leadership of these downtown associations is in the topic. When I was a voice in the wilderness along with some very good non-profit leaders(like Stacy Mitchell of the aforementioned ILSR) they paid lip service to the subject--one group gave Stacy a much-deserved award, but the staff of these downtown associations did not--and frankly still do not, understand entrepreneurship. THey are business attraction, retention and expansion types--all god things-but you are missing a pretty wide swath of the potential business owner marketplace with that limited approach.

While I am on it, they do not understand the whole concept of retail incubation either. One staffer wrote how they produce few jobs. Well we'll see about that. I am in the process of a full-scale study of retail incubation in downtowns and commercial districts. I have assembled a pretty good team of researchers---academics, practitioners, and economist and yes, even a former librarian. Why do I get the feeling that pretty soon the leaders of these professional associations will be on the retail incubation bandwagon?

Obvioulsy my frustration is palpable. Not because I am seeking credit--I get enough strokes from clients I help daily--clients who have become friends. No, I am frustrated by the lack of vision these associations are exhibiting--they should be leading for crying out loud. Instead you've got guys like me in economy cars traveling the country gathering data. Or folks like me conducting their own studies because the ones done for professional associations are so anemic! What is wrong with that picture? A lot.

Well as I said to the leadership of these professional associations-- WELCOME ABOARD the "Entrepreneurship Express. " We left the station about twenty years ago--but we hope you enjoy the rest of the ride, because it is just getting fun. I am not bitter in the least, although I suppose some of this had a "Maileresque" tone--rather, I am saddened that there is not more concentration on "futureship" among the downtown and commercial district professional associations. Entrepreneurship is well in hand , thank you very much. What are the future issues that need to be addressed? Let's hope some guy doesn't have to get in his car, travel the country and come back with some answers while the professional associations are writing newsletters, and offering training programs on topics of fading relevance. BEST..............

Chuck D'Aprix

www.downtownproject.com
www.economicvisions.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

WHY DO DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PEOPLE CLOAK EVERYTHING IN MYSTERY?

Chuck D'Aprix — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:44:00 GMT

I have been around the economic development and downtown revitalization block(no pun intended) a few times. There is something that needs to be addressed--there is no one person, approach or group that has a monopoly on the "BEST" way to revitalize a downtown or commercial district. Some of the people in the professional associations have "drunk the Kool-Aid" and are almost evangelical in their zeal relative to their respective programs........

Multi-point programs are developed by every group (and many consultants) and people repeat what these folks have to say like it is some sort of commercial district revitalization mantra. C'mon.   First, let me start with the premise that I think almost every commercial district needs some sort of management entity. OK we can a agree on that. You need someone in charge and working the district daily--if they have a staff, even better.

Beyond that, I do not care what you call that person or how the revitalization program gets funded. It needs to be there and it needs to be funded. Downtown and commercial district renewal people are bright, they will figure out how to make it happen.

I consult in A LOT of downtowns and have for 25 plus years. The fact is that there are certain guiding principles(things that every commercial district needs to do--and I am certain my list today is not unconditionally complete--in fact given that I am writing sans-caffeine I would say it probably is not.

Here is what we know: We need to fix the buildings(and save the historic character of said buildings), we need to market the district creatively(if we can do it by avoiding the word "branding" even better). Festivals and farmers markets are good if done right. I am not sure I can suffer through one more BAD commercial district street festival. We need to have public infrastructure that is attractive and useable(read: nice sidewalks, light poles, trash receptacles etc), We need a sense of place(like the Project for Public Spaces advocates www.pps.org ) where people can sit, congregate, interact like humans and simply be. We need some green space(or it would be nice). We need the aforementioned management group to oversee all of this and work it daily.

Then there is the side that everyone loves to talk about--the business side. There are the business attraction folks who think a magic wand is waved and storefronts get filled. Not so fast. There are a lot--a lot --of vacant storefronts in this country. I propose yes, getting building owners to use progressive brokers who will attract a good mix of stores, but also I propose that every commercial district have an entrepreneurial imperative that allows small(sometimes tiny) businesses to grown and open---retail incubators are good for that. The oft-employed phrase "third place" is used by commercial district people.   This is simply a meeting area where people can congregate(they usually seem to be coffee places--but what the hell, they have wi-fi).
Third places are good. Have them. Also, the stores in the district should be predominantly independent--it creates character and it helps shape the image of the area and it distinguishes it from the BIG BOX CITY that sits on the edge of town. Please make sure the commercial district has a wide variety of restaurants--people are attracted to that as much as a wide variety of places to shop. Also, you probably do not have the demand to support every type of business--so get in the market creation business. Help to create a market for your district's products.   Encourage the merchants to organize and allow them to come up with some great ideas as well.

The area needs to be pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and damn, it would be nice if it had good public transportation nearby. There needs to be unobtrusive parking--but enough to service those who have yet to hear we are running out of fossil fuel.    It also needs to be clean, have things for kids to do and oh yeah, be artist friendly. It would also help to have cultural amenities(playhouses, art galleries, artists lofts etc). Also, it would serve the public well if historic sites were highlighted and well marked. Richard Florida is right--the creative class folks will help to revitalize your area--make it friendly for them.

Wouldn't it be nice to have people living downtown? Not only are there a lot of vacant storefronts in this country there are a lot of vacant upper floors in those buildings.  Turn them into housing. You add commercial district customers, you create a demand for public safety and yes you create a sense that something is going on at night. Speaking of night, for crying out loud, the stores and restaurants need to stay open at night!!

That is my partial list--but if you started with that you'd be just fine as a commercial district manager. I am sure that my caffeine-less body could(and believe me I will) produce more. You see it does not matter which program you use for your downtown or commercial district revitalization or that you have an X number of point program--it matters that you begin to think about some of the issues above and do something about them. How you pay for it--well call me--we'll figure it out.   If I'd had some caffeine, we could have revitalized every commercial district around.

Chuck D'Aprix

www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

WHY THIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BLOG IS DIFFERENT--IT'S BASED ON EXPERIENCE--MY OWN

Chuck D'Aprix — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 14:39:00 GMT

I read a lot of blogs on economic development and planning. There are some exceptionally informative and well written blogs out there. They are managed better than this one--they certainly look better---although that will be changing soon --but they tend to rehash stories that are already in the news....not tend to--they do. They use existing articles and photos and then comment on what's going on. They go to GOOGLE, get a news story and serve it up to you with their spin. Or the full a photo from a file sharing service--nice graphically to be sure--but I have been around this field a while now and I have some opinions... and dammit I am sick of puss footing around the edges of my opinion field --so this is the new DAPRIXBLOG- new banner and new content--I am going to let my professional opinion be heard....it is rooted in a lot of experience and the Economic Development Establishment would do well to hear some of it. So I am going to try to let it rip over the next few months...share some anecdotes, some current projects and my unique perspective that will sometime clash with the POWERS THAT BE in economic development, urban planning, downtown and commercial district revitalization and community economic development. I will start to publicize the BLOG and look forward to comments. I will not rant just to rant--but I will not be shy in my criticism of a field that spends way too much money with far too few results...............

I am a 25-year plus veteran of economic development, I have experience in just about every aspect of economic development from downtown revitalization to running development corporations to running several successful consulting businesses to business incubation, to researching and writing(in progress) a book to working on staff for a developer to developing loan programs--you name it. I have traveled the country talking to and interviewing businesses owners. In short, I know my stuff. I stay abreast of the new books coming out, I read the professional journals, I call at least one economic development or downtown revitalization person today and say "tell me something I don't know"(which could go on for centuries). I give a lot of speeches and presentations and I learn as much from they audience as they learn from me(ok le'ts not go overboard--but I learn a lot--because I listen)

I currently consult --running two businesses --Economic Development Visions--the most cutting-edge economic development consulting firm out there(don't take my word for it) and The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project , which help downtowns attract, grow and nurture entrepreneurs so that downtown managers are not banging their heads against the wall trying to attract chains or other businesses. You can check out my businesses at
www.downtownproject.com or www.economicvisions.com .

I am a self-proclaimed economic development maverick who has little patience with the Economic Development Establishment and with the statu quo in our field. I am proud of my creativity, my willingness to work hard for my client and to take the unconventional path, if that is what is called for. I will break the so-called economic development rules if I find them supercilious and I have a pretty steely resolve rooted in year of experience--however, I am an agent of change who loves new approaches, new ways, new theories and getting to the right answer.   No stick-in-the-mud here.

I have little patience for consultants who have never run an economic development or downtown agency--or have never had to report to a Board or a Mayor.....they are so out of touch it angers me.   Their bills are indicative of that. By the way, I think we spend too much money on unnecessary studies in this field and spend way too little time nurturing entrepreneurs and far too littlle time asking our consultants to get down in the trenches to do some real work. As an intellectual(or so they tell me), I am shocked and truly dismayed at what I see coming out of most consulting shops and professional associations representing people in my various fields of economic development and downtown revitalization. It is the same-old-same-old. B-O-R-I-N-G!!

That is why I find so many economic development blogs boring. I can go to GOOGLE or some other news source and punch in "economic development" or "downtown revitalization" or "city renewal" and get stories about what is going on. Or I can use a news source agency(a clipping service in the old days) and keep up with the news and I can go to AMAZON and look up the latest books on economic development and downtown revitalization--which I do anyway because I read them---a lot of them--a real lot. Geez it's a shame to miss Dancing With The Stars because I am reading about a new economic revitalization theory for neighborhoods. Who won this year anyway?

FOLKS THINGS ON THIS BLOG ARE A LITTLE DIFFERENT. I WRITE FROM EXPERIENCE. I WRITE FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN IN THE FIELD--THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. I AM A MAVERICK AND I DO NOT RUN FROM IT. I HAVE DONE A FAIR AMOUNT OF THAT ON THIS BLOG--NOW THE TIMES ARE A CHANGIN'--THAT WILL CONSTITUTE THE TOTALITY OF THIS BLOG--MY EXPERIENCE AND MY OPINIONS ON COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION, BUSINESS INCUBATION AND URBAN PLANNING. IF YOU WANT A REHASH OF THE LATEST STORIES--GO TO THE OTHER BLOGS-OR GO TO GOOGLE AND GET IT YOURSELF. IF YOU WANT DRY URBAN PLANNING THEORY--THERE ARE BLOGS FOR YOU AS WELL.   DAPRIXBLOG.COM IS ABOUT TO CHART A NEW COURSE--OR BE MORE CONSISTENT WITH ITS ORIGINAL INTENT. IT WILL BE PROVOCATIVE, WILL TAKE ON THE FAKES AND PHONIES IN THE FIELD, WILL OFFFER PRACTICAL ADVICE ROOTED IN YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND WILL HELP COMMUNITIES FIND NEW WAYS TO REVITALIZE. WELCOME TO THE NEW DAPRIXBLOG.COM.   ENJOY AND LEARN---AND PLEASE TEACH ME AS WELL.
Chuck D'Aprix
www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com

COMMUNITIES NEED TO LOOK WITHIN TO CREATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT..OH YEAH AND STOP WHINING

Chuck D'Aprix — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:24:00 GMT

The popular phrase of the 60's and 70's (and still in use today), "THINK GLOBALLY AND ACT LOCALLY," actually has great applicability to community economic development. We have a hollowed out manufacturing base that has decimated many Midwestern and Rust Belt states, and we have world economy-a "flat earth" as Tom Friedman and other eonomists warn us. Frankly many communities are whining about their inability to create a local economy. STOP WHINING! I am not at all lacking in empathy--I have worked in some pretty down and out areas. However, today, ironically, we must look inward and create local --truly local economic development programs in order to have thriving economies.
Now I hear the collective gasp from the world-economy crowd, the folks who advocate regionalism in economic development and the folks who advocate business clustering etc. Listen clearly--I reject none of those concepts--not one. However, the reality is you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario--and folks, many communites are teetering on that precipice. So yes, work regionally, try clustering(it works), and recognize we are in a world economy.   However, that said, take things into your own hands, look internally --within your community-- and start to make some dramatic changes--now.

As I write this at the end of 2007, the dollar is in some trouble particlarly against the EURO, we are in debt up to our eyeballs to China, and we are seeing technological changes that are increasing efficiiencies of scale within buisness(a 100 year old trend --at least). Then we have the notion that it is the creative, innovative people that communites ought to be seeking in order to bolster their economic development actvity--this is noted economist Richard Florida's thesis that caught fire and continues to rage(and he probably is right in great measure--at the very least he is a thougtful, thoughtful innovator who has changed the face of economic development).

Yet despite Dr. Florida's thoughtful approach, we still spend, according to USA TODAY, $50 billion on incentives to "lure" businesses from one state/city to the next. That is absurd and frankly is a zero-sum game. Wonderful..what an approach....Akron loses and Tuscon wins or Michigan loses and Pennsylsvania wins--we are in essence cannibalizing our country from the inside out and at the same time simply moving the pieces around on an increasingly smaller chess board.  This $50 billion dollar game could do a lot to drive economic development--if only we could put out local boosterism hat on the hat rack and look inward to make some changes. The irony is that many states and cities are asking for that incentive money back after the companies to which they hand it over do not deliver on promised results(job creation, tax revenue etc).

All of that said, when I do have the opportunity to speak to economic development groups or urban planners or hell, even the local Rotary Club, I return to the THINK GLOBALLY ACT LOCALLY notion. I wonder sometimes if the Chamber of Commerce types think they are dealing with an old hippie--although I hardly look the part.

My reasoning is this; If indeed we are a flatter economic world, if we do have a hollowed out economy thus rendering it absurd to chase businesses around the States with an open check book, and if creative people are the key to growth--then we need to look inward. I spoke at one event where(embarrassingly for me) I was billed as an economic development "guru." Making lemonade out of lemons I adopted the "guru" stance and encouraged people to look inward for better economic growth--"to seek an inner peace" said the so-called guru(I am not a guru by the way,.........well not so fast....let's think about that).

Here is what I think communites need to do and where I think many economic development people are missing the boat. I have economic development people tell me that I am asking too much of them, that I am throwing them to the lions and that they should be chasing new business. Sorry, times have changed. Continue doing what you do if you like...chase business, do the ads that no one sees, do the requisite promo video about how your community is better than the one up the road. Fine, do that...but now I've got some new tasks for you. Ignore them at your own peril. If you do not want to read the tasks fine--they distill to this--improve your community from the inside out and make things eonomic development issues that you never thought of as economic development issues--like education, parks, culture etc.

YOU NOW NEED TO BE AN EDUCATION ADVOCATE. Our schools, in too many communities are a mess and it is the social activists that are making the noise. Economic Development professionals, understanding the importance of education to a solid long-term work force and community stability must step to the table and say...enough is enough and demand local education reform(part of looking inward). I worked in one community where we in essence set up a school district in exile , conducting cutting-edge research on education. We simply waited out the incumbent old-time thinkers at the School Department and then eventually instituted radical change in the school.
Is that economic development--you bet! The leaders of the economic development agency(a public/private partnership) said enough is enough and changed the system. They saw the importance of education to economic development--and looked within. We didn't whine--we took ACTION. They raised money, brought in cutting-edge educational thinkers and administrators and set up a think-tank until the time for "takover" was ready. That is economic development like it or not--it's just not sexy. Well, I have a message--most of economic development is not sexy--if done right it is in the trenches hard work addressing REAL community problems. Economic Development people have not been trained to think that way.

I this city I am referencing, we knew a first-class city needed a strong arts community. So the Economic Development Corporation got behind a local repertory theater company--an equity company--and supported it all the way-- pushed for renewal of the performance space and then set about ensuring that a manager was hired for the facility and national acts and plays were booked. The manager of the theater company was an amazing guy who thre himslef into eonomic development with a passion. However, it was a community with a rich cultural tradition that cut a wide swath across the arts so we commissioned a full interactive arts study(this was in the mid-80's). We did not whine--we looked within and took on the issue of the arts. That was economic development(even before Richard Florida's ground breaking work on the Creative Class--of course we had a pretty creative guy in writer Jack Kerouac and a pretty impressive actress named Bette Davis who were from the city originally)

We needed a quality downtown hotel and corporate training facility, so we called in Washington political clout, held special events honoring national politicians from outside the state and we got our funding(pork barrel perhaps--but it created countess jobs) and we did not whine about the lack of support from DC--we took on the task of bringing the biggest names in politics to our community for a conference on revitalization, including a little-know Governor from Arkansas--Bill Clinton.   We looked within, saw our needs and reached out. No magic. Sure we turned outward for financial help--but we looked inward for creative solutions and identified our "wish list"--every year honoring our public "delivery team" with a huge community-wide event(looking inward again).

When the downtown department store decided to close, we got to the local university and to the President of Barnes and Noble and convinced them to put the campus bookstore downtown in the department store site.
No whining--we looked within and made something happen. Sure we needed Barnes and Noble, but we looked localy for the people with the best contacts to make it happen and we loked within to have architectural renderings ready to go.

This old mill city had vacant mills--rather than whine about them, we looked within at the local talent and devised a plan for a National Park based on the theme of the American Industrial Revolution and water power(the community is ringed by mills AND canals. We got the National Park and put together an internal task force on the canals and came up with a canal walkway on a smaller scale than San Antonio's Riverwalk. We did this internally, did not whine about lack of business--we made it happen thanks to the creativity in the community. I say we--it was actually a group of talented planners and community leaders who took on these projects--I simply was a small part of the team and a young economic developer who received the equivalent of a master's degree by simply observing the amazing talent who "got it"--look inward and find the answer. If you go outside, have your plans in place and operate from a position of strength.

When we needed a festival, we got the Smithsonian(or Library of Congress--my memory fails on that--and I am too into my writing to GOOGLE at this point) to have the National Folk Life Festival in the city--now we looked outside for help on that. After a few years they decided to take it back to D.C. and the city in whcih I was working decided to do its own every year --and it is a huge success to this day. We did not whine, we took matters into our own hands and made it happen.

You are getting the point. Economic Development people must look within the community and become local advocates--fix up local housing, even middle class ranch homes that need paint or repairs---take on education---
take on the arts and culture---find creative uses for things like canals(or more likely waterfronts), make sure the parks are well kept. Make sure the community is clean and that code issue are addressed--yesterday! This is not traditional economic development thinking that involves attracting and retaining business. Yes, you will need to do that--but I advocate entrepreneurship and incubators over trying to steal some business from another city(please re-read that--entrepreneurship over stealing a business from another community).

I could go on forever here. However, if you are to take anything away from this blog listing it is this--LOOK INSIDE YOUR COMMUNITY, FIX WHAT YOU CAN(education, the arts, a hotel etc), infuse some entrepreneurship, stop the ridiculous incentives for businesses your are stealing, create an entrepreneurial culture and think about problems that can be solved and get over the fact that traditionally economic development people do not involve themselves with those problems. If the community looks better, is culturally alive, has good schools, offers amenities and entrepreneurial opportunities you will be just fine. Note--those are all things within your control--thinks you can do if you look INTERNALLY. Tomorrow pick on item an economic development person is not expected to get involved in, get involved in it and make something happen!

The answers lie with you and not with some manufacturing firm that will "save the day." So listen to the "Guru" and look inside for the answers and your problems will slowly fall away. Forget what you have learned about traditional economic development and become gurus in your own right. Oh, and STOP WHINING!!!!

www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXblog.com

RETAIL INCUBATOR STUDY UNDERWAY

Chuck D'Aprix — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:09:00 GMT

I will let the following link lead you to information on a new study on retail incubators that is underway.

www.free-press-release.com/news/200711/1195927588.html

Chuck D'Aprix
Economic Development Visions
& The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
www.economicvisions.com
wwww.downtownproject.com

BABY BOOMERS ESSENTIAL TO URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD REBIRTH

Chuck D'Aprix — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:15:00 GMT

I have advanced for some time now the thesis that Baby Boomers(however you want to define that within general parameters--let's say 50 and up )are the key to the revitalization of urban neighborhoods--on both the housing and business fronts.

The housing side is obvious. There is a return to city movement and this group is increasingly becoming an "empty nest group" who want to avail themselves of urban and downtown amenities. In fact many Boomers are choosing to live in small city downtowns not just urban neighborhoods. The downtown lifestyle generally offers a wide array of opportunities, cultural and commercial.

Speaking of commercial, Boomers are an entrepreneurial group. This generation has been on the cutting-edge of change for a decades. From civil rights, to the Vietnam War, to Watergate to free love--this group is used to change--great preparation for entrepreneurship.

Increasingly, Baby Boomers are becoming entrepreneurs in urban neighborhoods. I just studied one such neighborhood in Lawrenceville--a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. There, Boomer(plus) entrepreneurs are opening stores and mingling with the younger entrepreneurs to create a sense of place that is truly a national story of urban rebirth. I have been engaged to look at the role of Baby Boomers in urban neighborhood rebirth and what cities can do to attract this important demographic. It is essential to note that simply because this group is cited as an important--perhaps the most important financially --to urban revitalization--that younger entrepreneurs are not playing a key role in city rebirth. They are!! This is particularly true in what I call OPEN ACCEPTANCE cities--cities such as Madison, Wisconsin, Chapel Hill, NC, Cambridge, MA, Ithaca, NY, Columbus, OH--but even in these OPEN ACCEPTANCE cities, there are a relatively high number of Boomer entrepreneurs. I urge you to read what is on the web about older entrepreneurs and not to be lured into the notion that the norm for entrepreneurship is the hip 20 or 30 something running a cutting edge business. That is an urban myth--LITERALLY! Sure they exist, they just are not the norm.

Please take a look at this press release that outlines the issue further.

http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200711/1195756427.html

RETAIL INCUBATION ONE KEY TO DOWNTOWN AND COMMERCIAL DISTRICT REVITALIZATION

Chuck D'Aprix — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 12:33:00 GMT

Downtowns and commercial districts across the United States are seeking novel and effective methods to "jump-start" their revitalization programs. For years, I have been an advocate of making these areas centers of entrepreneurship. The reality is, that with some notable exceptions, chains are not coming back to smaller downtowns and are wary of urban commercial districts. So common sense told me long ago that the most effective way to deal with retail development in a downtown or commercial district is to "homegrow" businesses that will not only contribute to the local economy but also will help create a sense of place(something we ignore too frequently in this business).

One method, and I stress ONE method, of growing new retailers is the establishment of a retail incubator. For years, incubators have been used in the manufacturing/emerging technology sectors and with some fits and starts in recent years have found their way into the retail side--particularly in areas undeserved by chains.

A retail incubator can take several forms. One of the most common is a single-site location where several retailers
share space, learn the basics of retailing, refine their product mix and then after a couple of years move on to a spot of their own in the downtown--thus filing an empty storefront and allowing them to spread their wings. Now, I have simplified the process here and there are other iterations--for example something called an incubator without walls where potential retailers are trained in a single location, but after training move out into their own space. This approach has advantages and disadvantages. There are other approaches as well. The salient point here is: RETAIL INCUBATION WORKS WHEN DEVELOPED PROPERLY AND TOO FEW COMMUNITIES HAVE IT IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TOOLBOXES!

I help communities establish incubators and I certainly help downtowns and commercial districts establish entrepreneurial climates with one of my organizations: THE DOWNTOWN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROJECT---
www.downtownproject.com . The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project is affiliated with my other venture--
Economic Development Visions, www.economicvisions.com

For communities that go it alone and try to start an incubator absent professional assistance there is an exceptionally high failure rate. Some of the factors contributing to failure are improper planning, under capitalization, poor design, poor tenant mix, poor staffing and waning interest by management over time.
At the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project we help mitigate against these factors to increase chances of success.

I call you attention to a project that I have had some very initial involvement with in Newton, New Jersey. This retail incubator is going to take off in a grand way and it will be the first in the state. Here are a couple of links if you are interested in reading more. http://www.njherald.com/290289165067055.php & http://planetizen.com/node/28476

We at the Downtown Entrepreneurship Project encourage you to take the first step toward adding something new to your downtown or commercial district revitalization effort and establish a Retail Incubator of some sort. We are here to help. We also encourage you to join the National Business Incubation Association www.nbia.org --then you can learn more about the theory behind incubators. Best....

Chuck D'Aprix
Principal
Economic Development Visions &
The Downtown Entrepreneurship Project
Washington, DC
202-248-9715
www.economicvisions.com
www.downtownproject.com
www.DAPRIXBLOG.com