Letter to NAC: "You need to support your existing businesses with facts, not wants."

This excerpt from the minutes of last month's merchant meeting caught the attention of regular reader Mike Ladd.

The next merchant meeting is July 19 at 8:30 a.m. at Cafe 157.

"L.R. said A study was done of what was needed Downtown in the early 90”s and might be of interest for us to take a look at now. He thought it was in the redevelopment office (John Rosenburger’s office L. also suggested we play off more on Louisville and the boat to draw people to our area."

Ladd, former head of the formerly independent New Albany Urban Enterprise Association, writes:

Admittedly, every day I read your blog I see more clearly why New Albany is behind its neighbors in Clark County. A study from the 1990s is not really going to do much for 2016 New Albany.

More recently, there is a 2010 Market Study paid for by the (now apparently defunct) Urban Enterprise Zone, showing exactly what types of business the town can support. And that's exactly the point: it's not about the types of businesses you want; it's about the types of businesses you can support.

This administration has good information under its nose and refuses to use it. In fact, if local business community members were smart, they'd push for an update of this report; it's about a year past due. But then again, I remember the city economic development director (and I'm using air quotes with that title) telling me he doesn't believe in market studies.

How are you supposed to know what your city can support if you don't gather the intelligence that tells you? It's not so much about wish lists -- you can bring in what you want, but if you can't support it, what good does it do you?

You need to support your existing businesses with facts, not wants.

UEA's market study the subject of three-part OSIN series.

Daniel Suddeath's three-part OSIN newspaper series examining the Urban Enterprise Association's 2010 retail site assessment survey, and its context within the city's overall economic prospects, concludes today. Links are provided below. The UEA's market study by the Buxton firm was first suggested during my tenure on the organization's board, and unlike certain other viewpoints, it falls squarely within the UEA's stated mandate.

MISSION: The mission of the NAUEA is to improve the physical, business, residential and socioeconomic environment of the New Albany Urban Enterprise Zone through collaborative, public-private initiatives that stimulate private investment in real and personal property.

This creates a continuum of jobs, including “living wage” jobs; and provides a supportive atmosphere for employers, employees and zone residents alike.

In all its endeavors, the NAUEA shall strive for the common good and reciprocity among its many stakeholders.

As most readers should know, I no longer serve on the UEA's board, but then, as now, my primary personal interest in this topic has to do with expanding opportunities for independent, local and small businesses, which have proven their resilience, especially the ones located New Albany's revitalizing downtown during the past few recessionary years.

When the market study idea first surfaced, my questions were appropriately narrow. Would such a study be used as chain bait alone? Would we be looking for the Qdobas and Bed & Bath & Whatevers that form the basis for the endless, soulless exurb (see: Veteran’s Parkway?

In the end, I was satisfied with the answers proffered, to the effect that the results would take the form of a factual compendium with a broad range of potential uses.

Oddly, my reading of the second installment of Suddeath’s series seems to reveal that a strange, latent affection for a larger-box retail presence downtown among some of the district’s boosters has never really gone away. The chosen euphemism for these trial balloons would seem to be the words “large” or "larger." Speaking for myself, it would be informative to hear more about what is meant by “large” when the word is used in this way, and whether the speakers truly understand why a small businessman like myself fight - and whom.

To repeat something written here numerous times in the past: Downtown is a case for a strategy approximating that of branded destination marketing.

Downtown business will succeed to the extent that its businesses and its overall feeling represent the polar antithesis of the exurb. Small, independent, local and niche are the keys. Not only is such a strategy possible; it is practical, and it is proven in cities across the country. NA 1st, the city's first-ever grassroots small and independent business alliance, exists for precisely this mission, and not only in downtown.

1. Despite low economic segments, some say New Albany’s consumer base still strong

2. Bringing business to New Albany: Study shows city capturing more than its share of the market

3. Next wave for New Albany: Officials: Education, housing and marketing must be focal points for city’s economic future