Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

When I heard the expression “Contra Dance“, the first thing that came to mind was the group that was being supported by Ollie North (stuffing documents, regarding the illegal arm sales to Iran, down the pantyhose of Fawn Hall) for the purpose of overthrowing the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. It would appear this mental response may date me but has nothing to do with the dance.

The Contra Dance in question seems to be associated with folk dancing, especially in New England. However, I have been assured that it can include schottisches, polkas and hambos, which are popular in these parts. Perhaps as part of the dance instruction at 7 pm, the organizers will explain the “contra” title.

At any rate, the dance is tonight, February 23rd, 7 to 10:30 pm at the Northfield Armory, 519 Division Street, Downtown Northfield. The cost is $9 adults, $6 children with a $20 per family cap. No prior contra dance experience, dancing partner, or political leaning is required. Comfortable shoes are recommended.

The new Executive Director of the Northfield Arts Guild, Michael Fallon, pictured here (by Griff Wigley) at left with Arts Guild Board Member Steve Wilmot, was the guest on this week’s edition of Locally Grown.

I met Michael at the Frebruary Downtown Forum. Steve introduced him to me, but I only managed to pick up two or three sentences of background information in the brief exchange. When I heard more in the broadcast session, I was really impressed.

Not to put too much pressure on a guy who has only been on the job for a couple of weeks, but I think Michael’s experiences offer tremendous potential for Northfield, not just for the development of the art scene but for overall economic vitality.

What was of particular interest to me was what I’m calling the Ketchup Legacy. While Michael was earning his Masters at Carnegie-Mellon, he worked at the Heinz Foundation on, get this, revitalizing Downtown Pitsburgh through the Arts.

Michael, welcome to Northfield. I’m envisioning a positive and productive partnership between you and me…

In today’s (Wednesday, 2/21/07) StarTribune South section, there is an article featuring Grezzo Gallery. We hope it’s only the beginning of fame and fortune for Grezzo and Northfield.

The article name checks four other galleries in town but mentions that there are more places in our community that display art. I know that the Northfield Entertainment Guide often lists at least a dozen places showing art each month. For a relatively small town, we’re growing a pretty decent “scene”.

The owners, Nick Sinclair and Stephen Delwiche, can differentiate themselves from the other galleries in at least one way, they’re younger. It shows up in their “product-development technique”. Reaching out to local and state artists for possible shows, they use “social-networking website” MySpace.

This new-fangled approach seems to be working. They’ve already booked a year’s worth of work from Minnesota artists for their monthly exhibits.

…and they let the Metro Area hear, once again, about the art scene here in Northfield.

Downtown building owners gathered to dine on pink-frosted doughnuts, chat with their peers and discuss the NDDC’s proposed Downtown Managment District. About two dozen building owners met at the Rueb-N-Stein on Valentine’s Day to hear about a concept for strengthening the Downtown District.

Known in most places as a Business Improvement District and in Minnesota as a Special Services District, we at the NDDC are calling it a Downtown Management District. It is a legal entity available in Minnesota. According to the Minnesota statutes, it is “a defined area within the city where special services are rendered and the costs of the special services are paid from the revenues collected from service charges imposed within the area”. It creates a vehicle through which building owners can finance enhanced services for the district.

We believe that it will give downtown building owners a united voice in meeting the challenges, the power of teamwork in taking advantage of the opportunities and, perhaps most important, more control over the management and promotion of and the activities and investments in Northfield’s downtown district.

There are a number of these districts in Minnesota including Duluth, Rochester, Crookston, Little Falls, Mankato, St. Louis Park and White Bear Lake, performing a variety of tasks including security patrols, grafitti removal, parking ramp construction, decorative lighting, storefront improvements, public art, cultural events, district promotion, snow removal, decorative banners, waste removal, flowerpots, sidewalk cleaning and flood control. A Joint Committee Meeting of the NDDC’s Action Squad and E. R. Team identified the following potential activities for the DMD: Snow Removal, Safety and Security, Street Light Maintenance, Crosswalk Maintenance, Speed Enforcement, Sidewalk Cleaning, Area Marketing, Garbage Handling, Unified Hours, and Health Insurance.

Minnesota law requires that 25% of an area’s building owners sign a petition of support for the creation of such a district. The NDDC has set a 60% requirement for the downtown district in Northfield. Once the petitions are signed they are presented to the City Council and a Public Hearing is held.

The NDDC will be following up with one-on-one meetings with building owners over the next six weeks to further discuss the DMD. Our hope is to present the petitions to the Council in April of this year.

Last Tuesday’s Forum was just the beginning of a plan of work on Retail Support Strategies (RSS). It may have been only the first step but it was an important one. At the NDDC, we believe that gathering stakeholder input is the best way to start a process.

The RSS work plan comes out of the EDA’s Economic Development Plan. Created over many months in 2006 with TIP Strategies, the E D Plan was a comprehensive effort to get all the various groups in Northfield pulling in the same direction for the community’s economic vitality. Members of the EDA visited with various groups in town, including the NDDC Board of Directors, explained the plan and asked for support.

The NDDC responded by offering to implement the tasks in both RSS and Business Recruitment and Expansion. In December of ‘06, the EDA voted to contract with the NDDC, in collaboration with the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce, for the RSS work.

The Work Plan has three phases: 1) Structuring the Process and Gathering Stakeholder Input, 2) Researching and Reporting on Potential Recruitment Prospects and 3) Linking Retail Promotion with Tourism Marketing. The Forum was part of Phase 1. Another important step in Phase 1 is setting up a Task Force. Among the responsibilities of the Task Force will be to guide the review of existing materials, develop strategies for strengthening the community’s retail, and recommend steps to increase the retail sales leverage from existing assets.

All of the Task Forces’ recommendations will be reviewed and endorsed by the Boards of Directors of both the Chamber of Commerce and the NDDC before being forwarded to the EDA. The goal is to be implementing at least some of the recommendations by July 1st.

Members of the Task Force will be announced by the end of this week. I think you will be very impressed with their “credentials”. I know I have already been impressed with their willingness to work.