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BOSTON
- Monday, November 23, 2020 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced the
launch of Reimagine
Boston Main Streets, a community engagement process designed to
strengthen the future of Boston Main Streets program through a deep and
comprehensive analysis of the program's existing systems and resources,
uses, and gaps that impact local economic growth. The goal of the program
is to embed equity into our Main Streets Program, particularly as our local
economy feels the impact of COVID-19, and help close the racial wealth gap
by supporting new and existing businesses to enhance the local economic
development in our neighborhoods and create more jobs.
On
Monday, November 23 at 6:00 PM, Mayor Walsh will join the Office of
Economic Development for the Reimagine Boston Main Streets virtual
community kick-off event, launching discussions with members of the
community together with Main Streets Directors, the Main Streets Foundation
Board Members, and the Reimagine Boston Main Streets Advisory Group.
Registration is required for this virtual event and participants may register here.
"We
are facing a pivotal moment in the history of Boston - a moment of
opportunity to reshape our urban neighborhoods and their businesses,"
said Mayor Walsh. "Our small businesses add to the vibrancy and
character of each of our neighborhood commercial districts, and I look
forward to working alongside our communities to reimagine their
future."
Boston
was the first city in the United States to create a neighborhood Main
Streets program, established in Roslindale in 1983. Today, Boston's 20
neighborhood Main Street Organizations work with business and community
members to create, build, and sustain healthy commercial districts. Over
the last 24 years, each Main Streets district has had varied success, with
some demonstrating difficulties in establishing thriving economic
commercial efforts. Through the Reimagine Boston Main Streets process, the
City of Boston hopes to expand the Main Streets Program into a more equitable
tool for community development and transformation across all of Boston's
neighborhood commercial districts. The public engagement from this process
will shape the vision for the Boston Main Streets program.
Following
a public Request for Proposals (RFP) process, in May, the Office of
Economic Development chose Boston-based Strategy Matters and CJ Strategies
as the consultants to lead the Reimagine Boston Main Streets effort, which
includes Archipelago Strategy Group (ASG) as subcontractors.
Throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Boston has been steadfast in its
commitment to supporting the small business community. Nearly $6.7 million
in debt-free grants have been distributed to over 1,850 small businesses in
every neighborhood across the City of Boston through the Office of Economic
Development's Small
Business Relief Fund. Earlier this month, the City launched
three new funds totaling $6.3 million that will support small
businesses in Boston that have been affected by COVID-19, focusing on
commercial rent relief, supporting certified women, minority, and veteran
owned small businesses, and restaurant relief. And to further assist the
City's small businesses, the City of Boston has created
a list of suppliers to help businesses source the personal
protective equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies required to ensure the
safety of employees and customers as industries reopen.
It
was also recently announced that the City, as a part of a thorough Request for Proposals
(RFP) review process, selected
a partnership between Colette Phillips Communications, the Greater
Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Proverb to create a Visit Boston
campaign that will promote a safe and equitable economic recovery. The goal
of Visit Boston is to assemble a local tourism campaign to draw local and
regional tourists to take advantage of all that Boston has to offer, as the
City safely responds to the impact of COVID-19 and supports its hardest hit
industries, including small businesses.
Highlights
from the Reimagine Boston Main Streets event will be recorded and posted to
www.facebook.com/econdevboston/videos.
Sign up for the weekly small business newsletter to stay up-to-date on
future Reimagine Boston Main Streets engagement activities and more by
emailing: smallbiz@boston.gov.
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