LONGVIEW — The city has denied downtown Longview businesses’ request for a dedicated employee to draw customers to the area as dozens of business owners say their sales are decreasing and could be on the verge of closing shops.
The Downtowners has requested $30,000 a year for five years to contract with an employee to lead the longrunning business nonprofit, including planning events to draw patrons and raising money for services like holiday lights and parking lot repairs. The position is also needed to apply for a state program for historic downtowns that shows a history of increasing business.
Longview Community Development Director Ann Rivers agreed a dedicated staff member would likely enhance downtown, but the city can’t supply that person.
The municipality cannot ethically provide an employee for a nonprofit and the city’s most recent council-approved budget focuses on funding needed police and fire personnel and infrastructure updates, she said.
The problem
Ariel Large is the vice president of the Downtowners and a member of the council-appointed Longview Downtown Advisory Committee.
Large said she recently collected 20 downtown business owners’ signatures who say they are considering closing or relocating within the next six months and/or have seen a significant decrease in sales compared to 2022.
Large added her Broadway Street business Offbeat Antiques & Oddities, which opened in 2019, to the list. Hopscotch Toys, located in The Merk since 2019, is also on the list. Last month, the latter owners announced the store would close on June 24.
Other downtown businesses like Broadway Barrel Room and Jay’s Jukebox Burgers have already recently closed.
Large and Rivers both agree the Downtowners should apply to join Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s Main Street program that aims to revitalize historic downtowns by increasing local sales and jobs.
The catch: Nonprofit business organizations can only apply for the Legislature-created program if they have a paid executive director.
Would the city’s help be favoritism?
Large said she is looking for seed money to start funding the position with the goal that promotional events like last October’s Harvest Festival, as well as the Main Street program — which has a revenue generator through a tax incentive — will fund the rest.
Cities like Camas contract services with local business organizations to hire executive directors to become Main Street dedicated communities, according to Jonelle McCoy, a specialist with the program. McCoy said enrolled organizations typically can hire a part-time staff member as well through collected funds.
Businesses throughout the state can donate to the enrolled nonprofits to later receive credit on their state business and occupation tax. Businesses’ tax requirements never go away, McCoy said, but owners can choose to put that money toward an enrolled downtown nonprofit, instead of directly to the state which then divides the funds.
But supplying paid staff for one Longview nonprofit could set an expectation for others to receive the same support and the city cannot show favoritism, Rivers added.
Rivers said the city already helps downtown businesses in ways businesses in other parts of the city don’t receive. Lighted trees, flower basket upkeep and metered parking support are provided by the city for downtown, but none of those services are given to Washington Way, for instance.
The city is also working to increase mixed-use developments downtown to include sites with residential and commercial spaces — a goal of a 2011 downtown Longview plan.
Rivers said the city looks for ways to help downtown without taking money from others by applying for grants, like the recent $1.5 million federal application to complete Commerce Avenue’s streetscape design. She said she also suggested the Downtowners apply to the Main Street program when it was managed by previous boards.
“In terms of economic development, we are all in,” Rivers said. “Everyone wins with a vibrant downtown core, and we remain committed to providing for that for people.”
The first pitch, and another plan
Large said she pitched the idea of hiring a Downtowners staff member using American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Downtown Advisory Committee, City Council and city staff on different occasions. The federal pandemic relief legislation brought around $21 million to Cowlitz County and another $8 million to Longview to focus on infrastructure needs but can include help for small businesses affected by the pandemic.
Rivers said the council-approved budget focuses on supplying requested police and fire services, as well as infrastructure updates with ARPA funds, the latter of which includes extending water mains in two city locations to build affordable housing in the areas.
In the initial proposal, Cowlitz County Economic Development Council Vice President Lindsey Cope said the independent 501C(4) also offered to discuss matching the Downtowners’ $30,000 request to fund the position.
Cope, who left the Downtowners Board in May, said she spent at least 40 hours a week on downtown Longview work as a paid employee with the development council, and the position — which included planning at least 171 downtown events over the last five years — is too much responsibility for a volunteer.
She said the Downtowners could have tried to “argue” her paid position was enough to apply for the Main Street program, and the Downtowners also tried to raise the position’s salary using sponsorships from October’s Harvest Festival when Cope was still president. But the event came up short of the goal, Large said.
For owners, running businesses — many of which are struggling — while also promoting events downtown is exhausting, Large said. The organization is cutting longtime promotional gatherings — like the event where customers have passports stamped at businesses to enter a raffle — to focus on one big money maker: The Harvest Festival, which brings sponsorships as well as customers downtown.
But Large has another plan. She said she recently applied for money through a Community Development Block Grant on behalf of the Downtowners, and the city is set to review applications in July.
Providing paid support for downtown wouldn’t just help businesses, she said, but strengthen the city’s character.
“I would love to see downtown specifically become a point of pride in our community,” Large said.
