DBBA News 11/5/2020

It was a great week at the DBBA with some interesting plot twists and fun challenges.  We love serving our Downtown!

We hosted a merchant meeting with the Bend Police Department that was really informative and helped merchants and Bend PD collaborate to keep Downtown Bend running smoothly.  We'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to Bend Police Chief, Mike Krantz, for his passion for Downtown Bend, and his desire for working hand-in-hand with the DBBA and Downtown merchants.  We love community team work!   If you have questions about the meeting or would like to view the video, please contact us. 

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COBLA and the DBBA continue to collaborate to make Downtown Bend the most inclusive, diverse and welcoming space that it can be - and they are having fun while doing it! 

In the picture to the right, the DBBA's Executive Director, Mindy Aisling and COBLA founder, Riccardo Waites, pose for a photo in the DBBA office to show off Aisling's new shirt, designed by Aisling and made by Waites.  The shirt says, "You are safe with me. #downtownbend"
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"During our first meeting to discuss how we could bring more diversity, equity and inclusion to Downtown Bend, I excitedly share my hopes for a t-shirt that Downtowners could wear to share their support." says Aisling, "I send Riccardo a mock-up of the design & he surprised me with the shirt today!  I'm so excited."

​The DBBA Board of Directors appointed Waites to the board in September (you can read more about that here).  Together they have been working on creating internships for people of color in Downtown Bend, improving the inclusivity of Downtown marketing and social media, taking the first steps to create a 'safe space' program, and much more.  You can see their inclusion plan and goals below. 

DBBA_inclusion_plan_and_goals_v1.pdf
File Size:	118 kb
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This year has been really challenging when it comes to planning the Holiday Experience in Downtown Bend.  I think we can all admit that COVID19 is a real bummer. The Christmas Parade, free visits with Santa, Ladies Night, the Ugly Sweater Pub Crawl - all of these have been canceled due to the government restrictions.  Other events have been re-imagined to allow for safety measures to still be met during the event and/or the events of gone virtual.  This week we had some major 'plot twists' that came up with community partners, locations and hosts that had us rushing to change our plans.  We are happy to announce, however, that we were able to shift gears quickly and we are on track with the Shop Small Passport Event, Community Tree Lighting, and our Community Video Project.  

The DBBA is the sole organization responsible for decorating Downtown Bend for the holiday season.  This is an unusual situation.  You don't usually find a business association shouldering the full funding and implementation of holiday decorating in a town.  We are hoping to hang lit snowflakes on every historic lamppost and wrap every tree with holiday lights, but as of today, the City of Bend has not yet repaired the outlets on some of the historic poles and in all of the tree wells for us to be able to get the electricity required to provide more festive winter lighting in Downtown Bend throughout the Winter months.  We are hoping to work together to get these outlets fixed so that we can provide our Community with an excellent 2020 Holiday experience in Downtown Bend.  We are also looking for snowflake sponsors - click here if you're interested in contributing. (Thanks!)

On the street this week we continue to install twinkle light canopies in all of the the trees of Downtown Bend.  This is one of our communities favorite features - and we are happy to provide it.  We also want to give another shout out to Elite Electrical for loaning us their lift.  As a small nonprofit the work that we do would be impossible without donations and community partnerships like this.  Thank you, Elite Electrical!  In the photos below, DBBA staff use the lift to install twinkle lights throughout the Downtown Bend Economic Improvement District (EID).

Shop Small Saturday kicks off this weekend!  Normally, Shop Small Saturday takes place on a single day as a big shopping event in Downtown Bend.  Due to the current global pandemic, this year we'll be giving participants three full weeks to fill their passports.  This will help everyone spread out and stay safe, and allow us to follow all state guidelines.  
PLUS - This year you can participate in the Shop Small Passport Event online!  For more info, click here.

We'd like to extend our congratulations and gratitude to new elected leaders and our past elected leaders.  Welcome to City Council, Anthony, Melanie, Rita and Megan - we look forward to working with you!  Welcome Jason Kropf, we look forward to working with you!  And a big shout out and deep gratitude to Chris Piper, Bill Mosely and Cheri Helt who worked closely with our association to bring positive changes to local businesses.  We are incredibly grateful for all of our local leaders! 

Finally, a big THANK YOU to our community and our stakeholders for your ongoing support for the work we do to increase the vitality of Downtown Bend!  We couldn't do it without your support!