The Downtown North Battleford Business Improvement District has a number of initiatives set to go for 2019.
Misty Lavertu, executive director of Downtown North Battleford, outlined their plans before city council Monday, a day in advance of the organization’s annual general meeting.
There have been a few changes internally with the BID. The board has a new chair, Devan Oborowsky, recently installed. Lavertu said the organization has been spending the past year focusing on improving policies and procedures within the BID itself, including the board structure itself. A new website is also currently under construction.
This year, several initiatives are planned and a few changes are in store for familiar ones such as the Live@Lunch series.
This year it is being rebranded as the Live Concert Series. Lavertu said they held an evening event last year that saw a great response. The plan for 2019 is to have a combination of both lunch and evening events.
The organization’s facade grant program is also continuing. The BID intends to award six grants this year.
Other initiatives are brand new. Downtown North Battleford plans to host their first “Business Walk and Meetup.” Board members will go out and visit each business in the downtown, collect data and do surveys that will outline further projects. Businesses will be invited to come to a meetup event later to provide further feedback.
A series called “Partners in Progress” is also starting up this year. Four events will be held annually where downtown business owners can meet the board, have their voices heard and hear from guest speakers.
Their “clean team” will continue to sweep and pick up garbage.
Last year the BID hosted their first “Santa Saturday” that included the participation of members of the Battlefords North Stars. They plan to hold that event again in November.
The fall festival, however, was cancelled due to inclement weather. The intention is to revive the event, which will be held “rain or shine” on Sept. 14.
The Downtown North Battleford plans for 2019 come alongside a number of major developments that are to be completed in the coming months, particularly the new Magic Lantern cinema complex and the new Giant Tiger.
“There’s so much excitement going on right now with all the new developments, so the BID just really wants to get out and be with the businesses and be the number one cheerleader,” said Lavertu.
