Economic extraction: Wait, do you mean big box "dark" stores want property tax breaks that aren't available to indie businesses? I'm shocked. SHOCKED.

You know, principles and shit.

I've arranged Stacy Mitchell's tweets in essay format. As Mitchell notes, the discussion goes back several years, and here's one of ours on the topic; it was another fruitless attempt to convince Develop New Albany to lead discussions that actually matter to local independent business owners.

Challenges for independent local businesses include one-way streets and Big Box tax evasion.

It's always worth re-examining the consequences of civic and corporate greed colliding.

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Big-box retailers like Walmart & Target are not economic development. They’re a form of economic extraction. Always have been. Now they’re engaged in a new phase of extraction that’s costing communities even more.

In 21 states, big-box retailers are contesting their property values — claiming their busy buildings are obsolete & thus worth very little. They’re getting their taxes slashed & often winning huge refunds for previous payments.

This tactic is crippling the finances of many local governments, forcing homeowners & small businesses to pay higher tax bills.

In Texas, for example, the state’s comptroller says cities and schools will lose $2.6 billion in revenue per year because of big retailers' “dark store” property tax claims.

(As an aside: this has been strangely slow to get media notice. We wrote the first national story way back in 2015 … Finally @CityLab and the @nytimes have done in-depth pieces recently.) 

I have mixed reactions on who to blame. On the one hand, the mega-retailers are nasty. They came in promising lots of tax revenue to these towns. But their goal has always been to extract as much as possible & leave as little money behind as they could.

On the other hand, many city officials have been so stupid about big-box stores. There was plenty of evidence 10-20 years ago that approving these stores was a bad idea.

Big-box stores drove massive consolidation in the retail sector. About 100k local retailers disappeared in a decade. More jobs were lost than created. Civic and social networks deteriorated as Main Street did.

This was all known at the time. There were published studies on the net job losses, for example. I wrote a book in 2006 called Big-Box Swindle. People like @SprawlBusters went around the country explaining the consequences of saying yes to Walmart’s store proposals.

Some places got it. Vermont said no to big-box retail in a sweeping way. Today VT has more small businesses per capita than any other state. And not a lot of vacant retail.

But most cities and towns, often over the objections of their residents, said yes, yes, yes to the big boxes. The main reason was all that tax revenue.

You don’t have to be expert in city finances to see why this was so dumb. Just think about it. First, sprawl is super expensive. Big box stores cost local governments a lot more in services, like road maintenance & police, than compact “Main Street” style districts do.

Second, even when they’re new, big-box stores generate far less tax revenue per acre than downtown and neighborhood business districts do. This is because parking lots have little value and their buildings are cheap too.

Walmart, Home Depot, Target – they all presented a very different picture to cities about how this was durable economic development. But city officials should have known better. It was not hard to see the truth. 

So this whole push the mega-retailers are making today to have their stores reassessed as basically worthless is them doing the big reveal on what was true all along. 

Well-built, multi-story, mixed used business districts can endure for centuries. They are durable, flexible, adaptable as things change. They are great habitat for incubating new entrepreneurs. They are great at nurturing social & civic engagement. 

More towns and cities should have defended these districts rather than handing over their future to big-box sprawl. 

But – and this is important – I want to be clear about what should happen now. As stupid as city officials were, communities should not be paying the price for Walmart’s wealth and dominance.

The “dark store” tactic these companies are using to slash their property taxes should be outlawed by state legislatures. There are bills in these states to do so. And then cities should pass a special tax on big-box stores to make up for all the additional costs they impose.

Finally, cities need to get wise to the fact that not all development is actually economic development. If it furthers the power of the biggest companies, it’s often extractive. 
‏
Here’s your first test, cities: Amazon. Extractive or additive? Should you give it subsidies? Should you shift your procurement to Amazon? Or should you call for vigorous antitrust action to check its power? 

Be awakened: "A quick look at why small businesses are so important to communities."

Seriously, we've been saying this for at least a decade -- and our local governing elites still can't grasp it.

To be sure, occasional one-off gestures of assistance and glimmers of understanding occur, but the bulk of old-think in terms of economic development continues to be showering the Sazeracs and HWC Engineerings of the world with largess even as indies chalk up the bulk of the worthwhile investment.

The time is coming when the idea of an independent business association seems ideally poised to make a comeback. More on this later. Until then, a quick review of the evidence.

Small Businesses Can Save Your Community, by Quint Studer (Strong Towns)

Quint Studer is a Strong Towns member, a resident of Pensacola, Florida, and the author of Building a Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America. Today he is sharing a guest article on the benefits of a thriving small business community.

It’s an exciting time for small and midsize towns and cities. All across America, community leaders are on fire to find solutions for the challenges the past couple of decades have brought. They’re seeking new ways to spark growth, to keep young people from moving away, and to revitalize half-vacant downtowns.

One of the best and most powerful approaches is to deliberately nurture and grow their small business communities.

Small businesses can be underappreciated and under-supported, and that’s a shame. After all, when a downtown is filled with cool coffee shops, locally owned restaurants, microbreweries, and quirky boutiques—together with plenty of strong non-retail players like architects, ad agencies, and attorneys—that downtown is often the heart and soul of a vibrant community.

A strong small business presence—especially one that thrives in the context of a busy, livable, walkable downtown—is what gives a community its character. It creates that sense of “place” that attracts tourists, young people and empty nesters (increasing numbers of both groups want to live downtown), a talented workforce, and yes, bigger businesses and other investors who drive further growth.

I can’t say enough about how crucial small business is to economic health—and now more than ever before. Over the past few decades, most communities have had their “pillars” pulled out from under them. Big institutions like banks, hospitals, and newspapers used to be locally owned. Their owners lived and worked in the same place. Their children went to the local schools. As a consequence, their leaders were deeply invested in the community and worked hard to keep it vibrant.

But over the years, large corporations have bought up many of these pillar institutions and consolidated them. It’s now common for the owners of these organizations to live elsewhere, often in bigger cities where corporate headquarters are located. Smaller communities no longer have the benefit of business leaders with a deep personal connection to the place.

This is a natural part of change. And all change brings opportunities along with losses.

One big opportunity has landed at the feet of small business owners. They have a chance to step into the vacuum that was created when the old pillars fell. Not only can they keep their communities strong, they can help shape those communities’ futures. When small business owners work toward the goal of creating vibrant places, they benefit by increasing their communities’ overall economic health.

Let’s take a quick look at why small businesses are so important to communities ...

Here's one for Wendy: "How Corporate Welfare Is Killing Small Businesses."

(Infographic from Money Choice)

But, you know, River Ridge and all. Follow the link to examine the chart in greater detail.

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How Corporate Welfare Is Killing Small Businesses, by John White (Inc)

Despite being the backbone of the economy, funding from the Small Business Administration is a fraction of that of corporate welfare.

What is corporate welfare?
Corporate welfare is tax money that is given to corporations in order to encourage growth in a specific sector, stabilize a shaky sector, or avoid financial meltdown in a certain sector. Most notably we've seen this used to successfully avert a banking crisis in 2008, as well as the predicted collapse of the American auto industry between 2009 and 2013.

Big business wins big
Between 2000 and 2015, two-thirds of corporate welfare subsidies went to fewer than 600 large companies.

Small businesses can't compete
Even though small businesses are considered by many to be the backbone of our economy, accounting for 54% of all sales in the United States as well as the lion's share of job growth since the early 1990s, funding from the Small Business Administration is a fraction of that of corporate welfare. The SBA's budget was $1.4 billion in 2016, but the SBA only provides grants for nonprofits and educational institutions in certain growth sectors.

It does not provide direct loans to small businesses; instead, it provides guidelines for small business loans from lending institutions. You know, those big banks getting all the bailouts.

Middle fingers: "It’s never been better to be a big company in America, but it has rarely been a worse time to be an entrepreneur."

What Democrats might be doing about it.

Indeed, the opening reference is intended as ironic, because ...

"America’s biggest companies have never been bigger, but all too many people are sitting in a McDonald’s, drinking coffee and wondering where their town went."

If you agree that "small is losing the war against big," then a logical corollary would be ceasing to accept at face value the bilge dispensed by oligarchy-based entities like One Southern Indiana.

There are other ways, you know. But Wendy's not going to be telling you about them, is she?

Monopolies Are Killing America, by Ross Baird and Ben Wrobel (The Development Set)

From rural farms to inner cities, small is losing the war against big. And we don’t see it getting better.

... The regulars asked what I did, and I told them I run a firm that funds small businesses — specifically, high-growth startups. One man pointed out the window at a nearly deserted clapboard Main Street and said, “Small business, man, that’s all we got. We used to have the hardware store there; when they opened the Lowe’s twenty miles away, well, that went under. The Walmart in Locust Grove killed off a few more. Now, McDonald’s is all we have.”

The most basic American rights — which the authors of the Declaration of Independence called “inalienable” — are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The American promise is equality of opportunity. These rights weren’t universal when Thomas Jefferson first inked these words in 1776.

And while, at first glance, America has become more free for women, people of color, and others who weren’t landed gentry in 1776, I’d argue that thanks to monopolies, American freedom is quickly in decline — and because of the unchecked power of big enterprise, we’re on the road to serfdom.

It’s never been better to be a big company in America, but it has rarely been a worse time to be an entrepreneur.

Challenges for independent local businesses include one-way streets and Big Box tax evasion.

Break the chains, build local power.

On the eve of another monthly merchant meeting (Tuesday morning, 8:30 a.m., Cafe 157 at the corner of Main and Bank), here's a look back at a discussion starter from February.

Thursday Must Read Part 1: Upsides and downsides in a national independent business survey.

 ... Public policy challenges, eh?

In New Albany, one virulent 800-lb public policy gorilla is downtown's one-way street grid, which study after study has proven to be harmful to the interests of small, local, independently-owned businesses.

And yet, more than a few business owners in New Albany either don't wish to "rock" the boat, or worse, to take the time to understand the issues involved.

Think about it: If one-way streets hurt businesses like yours, then they do so 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Conversely, reversion to two-way would help your business -- 24 hours a day, every day of the year. You're fighting a battle with one arm tied behind your back -- by the city itself. The fact that the likes of Bob Caesar lobbies against reform should be the clearest possible indication that reform is both correct and necessary.

In addition, coming on the heels of today's previous post ("The dirty little secret of big box development – and it’s really not a secret – is that the buildings are designed to be abandoned"), here's another look at the big-box tail wagging the dog.

For Cities, Big-Box Stores Are Becoming Even More of a Terrible Deal, by Olivia LaVecchia (Institute for Local Self-Reliance)

Big-box retailers’ new tactic to slash their taxes is the latest example of why cities are better off saying no to the boxes and cultivating Main Streets instead.

... Marquette has been hit hard by a tactic that the country’s biggest retailers are using to slash their property taxes. Known as the “dark store” method, it exemplifies the systematic way that these chains extract money from local governments. It’s also the latest example of the way that, even as local governments across the country continue to bend over backwards to attract and accommodate big-box development, these stores are consistently a terrible deal for the towns and cities where they locate.

Because ... without principles and a system of values prefacing independent small business ownership, why work so damned hard?

Shouldn't local government be helping, not pushing back?

"What’s driving the growth in cities? Small-business entrepreneurs. And many of them are women.”

"What’s driving the growth in cities? Small-business entrepreneurs."

Except in New Albany. Here, it's parks.

What the Boom in Women-Owned Businesses Means for Cities, by Eillie Anzilotti (City Lab)

... “The economic landscape is shifting,” he tells City Lab. “At a time when large companies are decentralizing their operations or moving overseas or going to cheaper locales, what’s driving the growth in cities? Small-business entrepreneurs. And many of them are women.”

By the sheer numbers, men are still founding more companies, but the rate at which women are doing so is pulling the statistic ever more equal.

What remains decidedly unequal, however, are two things: funding and size.

Large companies grab most incentives aimed at small businesses.

It shouldn't come as a surprise.

How Economic Development Incentives Hurt Small Businesses: States say they want to help independent businesses, but large companies take the majority of the dollars, by Richard Florida (City Lab)

 ... Billions of state and local economic incentive dollars seemingly aimed at small businesses flow instead to a few large, well-established, and well-connected businesses. This is yet another example of how the rapidly growing economic-development incentive game remains a perverse and useless waste of taxpayer money ...

... ultimately, the study found that large companies captured between 80 and 96 percent of these small-business incentives, depending on the state in question.

In simple terms, these large companies have become sophisticated at gaming incentive dollars—including those explicitly aimed elsewhere ...

Props to Lightning Food Mart's half-century in business.

This article is a good illustration of the qualities that independently-owned local small businesses exhibit when surviving over the long haul. They adapt to changing markets, find undervalued niches, and provide great service. Obviously, Lightning has been doing these things right.

Lightning strikes twice in New Albany, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

When Tammy and Bob Wolford decided to move Lightning Food Mart across Charlestown Road from the spot it had been located since 1962, they knew it would be a gamble.

But risk and reward are concepts convenience stores are built upon. Ranked as the top selling lottery store in Southern Indiana, Lightning Food Mart’s reputation for facilitating winners stretches from Floyds Knobs to Louisville.

At the risk of picking nits, one sentence is unsettling to me.

“One of the things I take the most pride in is we’re one of the only American-owned convenience stores left,” Wolford said.

Of course, I'm an advocate of "American-owned," so there is no disagreement there. However, why say "American-owned," when "independently-owned and operated" conveys the same meaning, without a reference to American, which in this context implies code language for "not owned by foreigners"?

It's just that words, language and ideas genuinely matter, but let's not stray too far from the central point: Independent local businesses are the economic backbone. Instead of subsidizing big-ticket, plaque-ready projects, shouldn't we be tending to our fundamental infrastructure as the best way to help independent local businesses compete on a level playing field?

Ignis Fatuus: Duggins says "I think we did an excellent job" removing snow.

If the city is serious about being walkable, especially downtown, then snow removal cannot be solely concerned with cars on the major streets. Walkability is about connecting people, parking and businesses via places to walk, often to and from side streets. Otherwise, it is meaningless.

Maybe we spent all the maintenance money on the Main Street project.

Yet again, as if we needed another sad reminder, we're shown that the city's economic development director knows nothing about the needs of independent small business. It has been at least five months since Duggins and his aide-de-camp Tonya Fischer promised merchants a "parking is free at night" sign on the parking garage. It still isn't there. For the love of Jeeebus, how long does it take to make a sign?

It's heartening to know that somewhere, cloistered amid his hologram generator, the mayor has confidence in his minions -- blind, but comforting. It'll just make it easier to change regimes.

Frigid economic climate in Southern Indiana? by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

What role should the government play in supporting businesses when the weather is bad?

David Duggins, director of economic development and redevelopment for New Albany, said the most important thing government can do is to make sure streets are as clear as possible.

“The city of New Albany and the street department worked many hours of overtime to ensure that the roads were clean, but more importantly, safe,” he said. “There’s nothing more important than being able to get to the business. Obviously there’s always room for improvement, but I think we did an excellent job with this once-in-a-year kind of event.”

In reply, John Gonder quite properly references Cassius: "The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Cribbed from somewhere on the Internetz.

I'm glad John told me about his published reply, as I'd missed it on Sunday. Here's my tip from last week:

Damn it, John Gonder: Help revitalization and small business prospects downtown with two-way streets!

Here are John's thoughts.

Click through and read them all. We wouldn't get any such thoughtful explanation from the current occupant(s), would we?

Glad You Asked

Earlier today I read the NA Confidential blog by Roger Baylor, in which he questions my comments in a News and Tribune article by Daniel Suddeath on the current state of downtown New Albany. Roger felt I had betrayed an unspoken allegiance to a walkable New Albany by not seizing on the opportunity Suddeath offered to bring out the incantation of street conversion in my remarks ...

 ... When Daniel interviewed me, he referred back to some conversations he'd had earlier in the day, or week, with Dave Duggins, and some others. Because I do feel that a walkable New Albany would be a better environment for small and independent businesses, I thought of mentioning the conversion of one-way to two-way streets, since, as I said, I believe such a conversion brings us closer to that goal. Somehow or another, Daniel and I got on to another aspect of his question about what government can do to help stem the loss of businesses downtown, or to create a more fertile field in which to grow new businesses downtown.

Damn it, John Gonder: Help revitalization and small business prospects downtown with two-way streets!

There is an article today by Daniel Suddeath in the News and Tribune in which the state of small business success/failure in downtown New Albany is surveyed.

I'm not linking to it because the pay wall prevents me from doing so. You can find it easily enough.

David Duggins (the economic development guy with no economic development plan) speaks of natural business cycles of the sort he's never experienced personally.

Council member John Gonder lashes out at the deleterious influence of Big Box retail.

Developers Carter, Resch and Chalfant have good things to say about prospects for improvement in light of their ongoing, largely unsubsidized development efforts.

Current city band-aid programs (UEA, sidewalk repairs after a half-century of neglect, a dozen Bicentennial Park concerts each summer) are praised as manna from heaven, and not a single small business operator is consulted.

You'd think they'd be the most important sources of information, particularly as all others seem to agree they should be doing more to help themselves ... but I digress.

We already know that Duggins and his City Hall colleagues are utterly terrified to mention aloud what they insist correctly in private is the ideal means of our potential betterment -- Jeff Speck's forthcoming proposals for walkability, which include calmed traffic and completed, two-way streets. Duggins himself told me quite unapologetically that he couldn't possibly be seen to educate small business owners about the merits of Speck's worldview, lest he and the city be blamed for potential business failures -- which, of course, are occurring right now, pre-Speck.

ON THE AVENUES: Really, the word “progressive” embarrasses you? That’s okay, because political cowardice disgusts me.

However, for chrissakes, shouldn't John Gonder know better and be prepared to say so?

All John can say for attribution in the newspaper today is that he doesn't know what further help the city might provide to improve the business climate -- and he gallops off to compare apples and oranges with respect to retail varieties.

Really?

Earth to John: We know quite well how big box retail negatively impacts us, and what we're trying to do is implement as broad a range of potential solutions as possible, as with the following article, which I'm reprinting in its entirety, called "A Business Case for Conversion from One-Way to Two-Way Streets."

We all know quite well that a two-way street grid, aiding and not nullifying just the sort of small business climate as downtown New Albany is capable of having, is a strategy proven to work.

Why can't we mention this fact aloud?

Just because City Hall fears its own shadow and refuses to own a project that can do QUITE A LOT to help improve the business climate, not just for a few facade grant or sidewalk beneficiaries, but for all involved ... if we'd just bloody well GET ON WITH IT and get it done ... do you think a council person who understands this might chime in for once and HELP?

Or did PaddyMac forbid comment, too?

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A Business Case for Conversion from One-Way to Two-Way Streets

Today, we have a better understanding of what ingredients can contribute to a vibrant and prosperous city, and it is not limited to traffic flow.

By Sarah V. Wayland
Published May 24, 2012

The recent debate in Hamilton around one-way streets has focused on different aspects of the issue, including pedestrian safety, livable neighbourhoods, and the "usefulness" of one-ways. This article focuses specifically on small retail businesses, building on the insightful essay by Aaron Newman to show some of the research findings in this area.

Considerable research on the business case has been cited in a relevant Master's thesis1 that forms the basis of this article.

Among the many variables for assessing one-way and two-way streets in a commercial corridor are business visibility and storefront exposure. Business visibility refers to the ability of a driver to see and identify a storefront or sign. Storefront exposure is the ability of a driver to see a specific storefront based on the store's location within the block and within the street network.

There is some evidence that one-way streets are good for business, but only certain kinds of businesses. For supermarkets and other kinds of high-volume, low-margin stores or destination stores with their own parking lots, one-way couplets (such as we have on King and Main) can provide quick access.2

However, in the case of smaller stores that are situated along an urban city block, sell unique items, and are often locally-owned, two-way streets provide better business visibility and storefront exposure.

Even critics of two-ways agree on this point: "Specialty stores that rely on impulse sales and depend on high margins per sale do better on two-way streets, since only half their potential customers would see them on a one-way couplet."3

Indeed, even national book and coffee chains choose locations on two-way streets to maximize exposure and visibility.4

Why two-way streets are better for business

Storefront visibility: Storefront visibility is an essential prerequisite for "impulse" purchases and stops at smaller stores, even if the motorist plans to return later on foot to shop. Storefront visibility is optimized when drivers go at speeds of 30 to 40 km/hour.

In excess of about 48 km/hour, it becomes difficult for a motorist to observe what retail outlets are located along the street.5 When traffic moves above the posted speed limit, as often happens on one-way thoroughfares, storefronts and signs are even less visible.

Direction of travel: Storefronts lose valuable exposure to drivers on one-way streets. As drivers approach an intersection, they can see storefronts on the far side of the cross street. However, the closer side of the cross street is completely eclipsed from view, thereby decreasing precious storefront exposure. Even the stores on the far side are not so noticeable if the driver doesn't have to come to stop at the intersection.

Consumer comfort: Slower-paced two-way streets offer a better shopping and dining experience for consumers than do one-way multi-lane roads through commercial areas. Public gathering places can form along streets that where traffic is calmed.

In the United States, there is actually a strategy that involves making streets more "consumer friendly" by attracting pedestrians, increasing congestion and making downtown street networks more easily navigated.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street program seeks to preserve and revitalize downtown areas. Developed in the 1970s to prevent the continued decline of traditional commercial streets in American cities, the Main Street approach has supported the use of one way to two-way conversions.6 To date, it has been applied in more than 1,200 cities, towns, and neighborhoods, with very positive results.

Conversion to Two-Way worked in US Cities

One of the few if only comprehensive surveys of one-way to two-way conversions in downtowns was completed for the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District (HMSBID) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 2000.7

The HMSBID commissioned this study when it was considering converting a downtown street (Main Street) to two-way traffic but was dissatisfied with previous conversion case studies that focused on traffic flow only. The HMSBID study focused on business development and downtown livability.

Of the 22 cities identified as having converted their main downtown streets from one-way to two-way, the majority reported positive results in terms of business development.

One community reported mixed results but no municipality reported a negative impact. (It should be noted that many of the conversions were part of a greater revitalization program that included various streetscape improvements, so improvements may have resulted from a variety of changes beyond the elimination of one-way streets.)

Communities reported improved business, increased investment in the downtown, more choices for travel in downtown, increased pedestrian friendliness, and a general feeling of improved "livability", "quaintness", and "sense of community."

Conclusion

In the past, traffic engineers were mainly concerned with avoiding congestion. Other factors such as business vitality, pedestrian safety and the historic character of commercial streets were largely overlooked.

Today, we have a better understanding of what ingredients can contribute to a vibrant and prosperous city, and it is not limited to traffic flow. The business case for "shoppable," driveable, walkable and livable streets has been made. It is now time for our own city planners to take heed.

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Notes

Meagan Elizabeth Baco, One-way to Two-way Street Conversions as a Preservation and Downtown Revitalization Tool: The Case Study of Upper King Street, Charleston, South Carolina (M.Sc. Thesis, Historic Preservation, Graduate School of Clemson University and the Graduate School of the College of Charleston, May 2009).

G. Wade Walker, Walter M. Kulash, and Brian T. McHugh, Downtown Streets: Are We Strangling Ourselves on One-Way Networks? TRB Circular E-C019: Urban Street Symposium (1999), 5.onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf" style="color: #30861b;">http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf

Thoreau Institute, Should Cities Convert One-Way Streets to Two Way?, The Vanishing Automobile 30, 29 October 2008. http://www.ti.org/vaupdate30.html

Walker, Kulash, and McHugh, Downtown Streets, 5.onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf" style="color: #30861b;">http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf

John D. Edwards, Traffic Issues for Smaller Communities, Journal of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (1998), 32.

John D. Edwards, Converting One-Way Streets to Two-Way: Managing Traffic on Main Street(Washington, D.C.: The National Trust's Main Street Center, 2002).http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/main-street-news/2002/06/converting-one-way-to-two-way.html

Ted Brovitz, Converting Downtown Streets from One-Way to Two-Way Yields Positive Results, The Urban Transportation Monitor (2000).

Downtown business owner: "Without the city itself doing more, we can kiss (revitalization) goodbye."

There was supposed to be a city-sponsored meeting of non-profit organization representatives at The Exchange on Thursday, but it has been postponed, with as yet no reason offered.

As of 6:40 a.m., the Merchant Meeting (downtown business owners) scheduled for The Loft on Spring is a go for 8:30 a.m.

The gang that can't shoot straight but fancies itself an empire is striking back, but that's not the point at present. Rather, we don't always hear from retail operators downtown. What do they think about matters discussed frequently at NA Confidential, pertaining to the business climate, the city's non-existent economic development plan for downtown, and the like?

Here is the testimony of one, as originally posted as a comment here. I'm not the writer, but as you read, think about this: How might the city of New Albany assist the entirety of downtown in the absence of "tools" for growth in the traditional, chamber of commerce and industrial park sense?

Hint: Two-way streets are a proven boon for independent small business. As components of infrastructure, they function every single day, not just for "special" events that attract attention to the events themselves and actually detract from the scene, and cannot support day-to-day realities.

We wait, and wait.

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The revitalization of downtown which has occurred is fading quickly from what I am seeing. In my humble opinion, yes, some restaurants were brought in through the actions of a few. Some opened and not long after closed. Then more arrived and have maintained so far. Then additional retail stores appeared and the growth was looking good. All I have ever truly seen promoted are the restaurants, which is good, but more promotion for all types of businesses is needed. Shame on the city or its powers that be for not doing more and being forward thinking.

What future projects are truly related to continued growth? Adding living quarters downtown is great but not enough.

Many have already come and gone and more leaving. What can be done to continue the excitement and growth? Downtown has been rather dead customer wise the last several months, kinda like it was when I first opened downtown almost ten years ago.

Revitalization?

Billow disappeared, Keg Liquors moved out of downtown, Endris is closing, Aunt Arties Antique Mall is closing, Celtic Connection is next to close, Opal Gypsy is closed more often than open, The Dandy Lion is rarely opened, what use to be the Little Chef has a new tenant but just sitting closed, and who knows what else is coming up. Pretty scary times wouldn't you say?

Why is this occurring? The revitalization is fading away very quickly. Partly responsible are the business owners themselves, not being dedicated enough possibly. Not enough support from the local community itself in a continuous regular all year round support. No true support from the City in promoting downtown other than the restaurants. We need way more than restaurants for the revitalization to continue.

Shame on Develop New Albany and New Albany First for not doing more and especially the City forces that be and what they haven't done so far.

I do not have the answers but what revitalization occurred in the past resulted mainly from small business owners taking a chance and choosing downtown New Albany on their own. Some of them did not have the proper business knowledge to succeed for long maybe. Others had enough stamina to last as things occurred and enough business sense to grow.

Some came after seeing a growth happening and wanted to be a part of that.

I guess what I believe is that all of that is good and was happenstance but without the city itself doing more, we can kiss it all goodbye.

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There isn't much to add. I keep thinking of what we've been told so consistently by the city's economic development team: "But there isn't anything we can do because we don't have the proper tools to do anything."

As such, simple logic ordains this conclusion:

If you have been unable to do anything, then you cannot take credit for what has been done.

That's a tweet I suspect Warren Nash will not favor.

That Thursday morning meeting with the city I twice told you about? Shockingly, it has been postponed.

Hmm, well, I do believe the empire is striking back, so score one for City Hall.

I've just learned that the Thursday morning meeting at The Exchange, as mentioned twice at NA Confidential, has been postponed.

Attention, downtown small business owners: Thursday, 20 November, 8:30 a.m. at The Exchange.

Downtown business owners, don't forget the meeting this Thursday.

Not that I've been informed of this in any official sense, but the Green Mouse has his impeccable sources. I know all of this is confusing, and the confusion probably isn't a coincidence, but here it is. Please bear with me.

1. The bimonthly City Hall-sponsored meeting on Thursday, originally planned for the exclusive attendance of selected representatives from non-profit organizations, to which I unilaterally invited all and sundry to attend, anyway, has been postponed. My guess is that it has been postponed precisely because I invited all and sundry to attend. I suspect City Hall currently is preparing to launch a Facebook site for these meetings, so I can be abruptly Adamned from it, as I have been v.v. the local Democratic Party.

2. The monthly downtown Merchant Meeting scheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday) at The Loft on Spring Street (above Colokial and Dress & Dwell) is still scheduled for 8:30 a.m. If you can make it to The Loft on Tuesday morning, please do so.

Downtown business owners, don't forget the meeting this Thursday.

Often I've taken New Albany city officials to task for having no economic development plan for downtown. Insofar as a coherent answer has been forthcoming, it has been muddled, and I'm not misrepresenting the tone of the response by phrasing it like this:

"But there isn't anything we can do because we don't have the proper tools to do anything."

As such, logic ordains this conclusion:

If you have been unable to do anything, then you cannot take credit for what has been done.

By the way, there's a meeting this week.

Attention, downtown small business owners: Thursday, 20 November, 8:30 a.m. at The Exchange.

(While small business owners are) not officially invited, (it's) the precise reason you should attend and provide YOUR update to the city's officials. Two-way communications are only fair, right? After all, the last such meeting took place just BEFORE Harvest Homecoming. There's a lot to talk about.

Bring questions and comments, and let me know you're coming.

Attention, downtown small business owners: Next Thursday, 20 November, 8:30 a.m. at The Exchange.

I received this notice from the city of New Albany. It refers to regularly scheduled meetings every other month, at which representatives of Develop New Albany, NA First, the food & drink organization in development and others come together to receive city updates.

Having promised to share this with fellow downtown business owners, permit me to do so. Understand that you're not officially invited -- which is the precise reason you should attend and provide YOUR update to the city's officials. Two-way communications are only fair, right? After all, the last such meeting took place just BEFORE Harvest Homecoming. There's a lot to talk about.

I'll bring extra doughnuts and coffee.

Who's in? Let me know if you're planning on coming.

"The next scheduled meeting for the downtown not-for-profit group is Thursday, November 20th, 8:30 am at The Exchange. Donuts, juice and coffee will be provided. This is an opportunity for you to receive an update on City of New Albany projects."

Probability high that 1Si's "think local" box lunch will contain red herrings.

The Green Mouse has been hacking on-line again. I keep telling him to stop, but he just will not listen. Bad mouse.

He's learned that One Southern Indiana is keen to help small, local business owners, although the single most logical step -- doing away with 1Si, which is the perennial defender of the oligarchs, whose monopolistic interests collide with those of small, local business -- appears to have been omitted from the action list.

It's fairly hilarious to note that two looming threats to small business health, which 1Si now seeks to play a leading role in protecting, are downtown bridge construction and subsequent bridge tolls, both of which 1Si has (of course) enthusiastically endorsed. Physician, heal thyself ... although I don't see THAT on the agenda, either.

Wouldn't you just love to see the invitation list?

Full disclosure: I ain't on it.

---

Greetings!

As I approach my six-month mark as President of One Southern Indiana, I am working with our Board of Directors and many members and volunteers on developing a Strategic Plan which will help guide our organization’s direction over the next 3-5 years. I am excited for the many opportunities for businesses in Clark and Floyd county to thrive, and we are looking for ways to add value to the good work that many of your organizations are currently doing. We are also sensitive to not duplicate your efforts, but instead to enhance the business climate for our smaller and locally-owned businesses.

Therefore, you are invited to a Luncheon meeting to determine the opportunities and concerns of the locally-owned businesses and the merchant organizations that are working on their behalf. In today’s competitive marketplace it is imperative that communities are proactive in determining the challenges of our local businesses, and through a unified effort, address these issues to foster local buying habits and make Southern Indiana the destination stop for the region’s needs. We believe there may be areas in which we can collaborate to contribute to a successful business environment.

Please join One Southern Indiana, Think Local and the other merchant associations to share your association’s strategies and to identify those areas where help is needed.

The Luncheon meeting will take place at One Southern Indiana Tuesday May 7th from 11:00 – 1:00 p.m. We will provide boxed lunches. Please RSVP by email to dannyj@1si.org.

The suggested agenda would be as followed:
1. A welcome and introduction (All)
2. Purpose of the meeting (Wendy Dant Chesser)
3. Strategic Direction of each Association (All)
4. Collaborative Opportunities (All)
5. Next Steps (All)
6. Adjourn

Thanks, and I hope you can join us!
Wendy

Wendy Dant Chesser | One Southern Indiana
President & CEO
4100 Charlestown Road
New Albany, Indiana 47150
812/945-0266
www.1si.org

Calling all food and drink biz owners and operators inside the beltway: Meeting on Wednesday.

As noted in this space on March 26, 2012 (link below), independent locally-owned businesses have driven New Albany’s recent revitalization ... and the lion's share of the drivers to date are the food and drink businesses that have transformed a moribund Nowhere Land into a place quite distinctive in the entirety of the metro Louisville area.

We're proud of what we've done, and now we'd like to be heard.

There is a developing consensus, and at last it may be the case that local independent small businesses (in general) organize themselves to more effectively find a seat at the various planning tables. Granted, we were not elected, but we have invested, and we continue to invest -- time, money and commitment. Reality needs to being reflecting the skin we've put into this game, don't you think?

I do. As an example, what could be more important to downtown merchants than the future of the street grid during the forthcoming toll implementation era?

And yet at this moment, there is no unified voice from the business community, on this or other issues of importance. There needs to be. I cannot speak for everyone, and so I won't. Rather, the food and drink sector inside the beltway is going to begin getting together to chat about how we might organize and market ourselves. On Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., a few of us are meeting at JR's Pub on Main Street. At last week's Merchant Mixer, we talked about exploring a subcommittee approach, and organizing Food & Drink, Retail Professional groupings. I like the idea, and I'm making it my mission to get the restaurant, bar, brewery and winery segment together.

Interested? Stop by JR's tomorrow and let's discuss.

No, I will not shut up, but thanks for the hint. Now, for more on the necessity of independent business empowerment.

 ... All one needs to know is that in this community, there is almost no disagreement: Independent locally-owned businesses have driven New Albany’s revitalization, and yet in terms of decision-making, the reins are nowhere close to our hands. Why do we acquiesce in this? Why do we not insist on input commensurate with our achievements?

Independent We Stand: "Small Business. Big Impact."

I'm not thrilled with Independent We Stand's annual promotion with American Express, but the video seems solid, and touches on the necessary talking points.

Free NA1st seminar on Thursday is "The ISBDC: Our Hidden Gem For No Cost Business Resources."

Now equipped with wine, via River City Winery. Learn more about New Albany First here.

The ISBDC: Our Hidden Gem For No Cost Business Resources

The nonprofit Southeast Indiana Small Business Development Center exists for one reason: Small business success.

Come join us to discover all of the resources available to you as a small business owner for absolutely no cost that could increase your marketing reach, help identify process mistakes, solidify your strategic direction, and increase your profit margin.

Wine and food will be available for purchase. Come network with other New Albany First members and guests while learning about the free business resources that can help your business succeed.

Random 2013 Platform Goals 4: Incentivize diverse grassroots design, not top-down beige-think.

Roughly a thousand years ago at NAC, we started talking about measures aimed at making New Albany a more appealing place to live, both for those already residing here, and for others who might choose to relocate.

Of course, the very first task required of us was to disregard the nattering nabobs of naysaying, those lifelong local residents convinced that since they, themselves, have been congenitally incapable of accomplishment and unable to articulate substantive differences, no one else should be permitted to try to do so, either.

Ideas we’ve floated have ranged from a political culture capable of grasping basic scientific principles, to taking seriously the city’s own rules that pertain to human habitation. They’ve included notions like complete streets and clear structural support for bikes and walkers, public art and the insanely simple suggestion that having garbage cans available to receive trash just might keep some of it off the street.

What I’ve come back to repeating over and over during recent years is whether any active measures pertaining to a contemporary aesthetic, i.e., the nature or art, or designs for public spaces, can be entrusted to anyone who already is convinced that he or she is a community pillar.

Quite clearly, the answer has been no, because from the discredited plan for River View to Caesar’s Folly (Rent Boy Park, et al), we’ve seen a stunning absence of creativity among those with post-war childhoods. White bread might be ideal to construct a PBJ for a five-year-old, but it has no place in community space.

For instance, consider New Albany Clean & Green’s plan to place identical planters on multiple downtown street corners, and then, having imposed a specific design blueprint like this on the varied downtown streetscape, turn next to business owners and mercilessly hector them to help maintain placements they had no say in designing.

As we’ve asked again and again: Why must things like this always be applied top-down by folks who otherwise claim to support individual initiative?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to consider a proven and successful idea like the Urban Enterprise Association’s façade grant program and apply its 50/50 principle to beautification?

Why not let businesses come up with their own plan for flowers, trees, planters or other “green” applications, and have Clean and Green coordinate a bundle of grants to help with costs? Wouldn’t this allow for more individualized design flair, and also provide the businesses with an incentive to maintain their own placements?

Arguably the most successful act of downtown revitalization to date was the city council’s enactment in 2006 of the riverfront development area, enabling a less restrictive regime of state alcoholic beverage permits, and resulting in a diverse downtown “food and drink court” of international flair, which in turn has provided impetus for building restorations and hundreds of visitors more than before.

Note that this measure appealed to entrepreneurial self-interest and provided a solid reason to invest without once stipulating which beers were to be poured or the type fish destined for frying. The same principle might be leveraged to promote more retail, loft housing, public art and … yes … even beautification.

The key? It’s prying design considerations from the leaden hand of the “father knows best,” beige-rules crowd.

Anyone with ideas about how to do that? Let us know. It’s actually rather important.