The Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative is an approach to strengthen and enhance Denver’s diverse neighborhood business districts. This initiative shows how Denver is leading the nation in providing a support system to allow small businesses that comprise the numerous business districts to grow and flourish.
The goals of the DNMI are to:
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Strengthen neighborhood business districts
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Strengthen communities by providing locally needed retail, services and jobs
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Enhance Denver’s sales tax base
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Foster a cooperative, interdepartmental City strategy to create stronger neighborhoods
Importance of Small Businesses
Neighborhood business districts play a vital role in Denver’s economy, sense of community and quality of life. More than 50 percent of the City’s general fund comes from retail sales tax from small businesses usually located outside what many consider to be the City’s center.
Each business district can become its own destination, its own attraction for community growth and continued success. This initiative is designed to support each community so each area can be self sufficient and adequately prepared to thrive.
DNMI Background
A team of city officials partnered with economic development experts and gathered input from hundreds of stakeholders throughout the city. The group spent exhaustive time studying the best practices used by other major cities to create the Denver Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative.
Primary Elements:
- Centralized leadership in Denver’s Office of Economic Development
- Aligned business services across city departments and agencies
- A community and economic development approach that can serve more city neighborhood business districts, not just a select few
- Creation of a citywide Business District Alliance
- Assessment tools that use current data and citywide benchmarks to establish a district’s current status
- District ownership profiles that market and promote Denver’s diverse neighborhood districts
- Assessment of both primary and secondary residential markets near the districts, including community outreach to determine market demands and opportunities
- Combination of existing resources and strategic partnerships to provide expertise and funding for needed improvements based on market staging
- Detailed, locally produced plans with an eye toward sustainability
Together We Thrive
Denver’s Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative combines local collaboration with citywide support. It brings together neighborhood and business expertise, financial tools and realistic assessments to help neighborhood business districts evolve--no matter their current stage or status.
Denver’s Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative combines local collaboration with citywide support. It brings together neighborhood and business expertise, financial tools and realistic assessments to help neighborhood business districts evolve--no matter their current stage or status.
Through partnerships with civic and private organizations, DNMI champions the needs of diverse communities so that success and sustainability come to all areas of the city. These valuable local marketplaces serve as economic and community strongholds, which are an integral component of a livable and desirable cityscape.
A sense of place and loyalty encourages neighborhood success. Such bonds have the power to turn today’s small business into tomorrow’s landmark and whole neighborhoods into hot spots. Through local planning and leadership, everyone in these neighborhoods will reap the benefits of DNMI.
In the past, most economic initiatives focused only on job creation, job retention, or on revenue generation. Those elements remain important, but DNMI also considers the alignment of powerful influences such as land use, infrastructure, access to transit corridors or options to strengthen and enhance Denver’s diverse neighborhood districts. It’s an approach that looks beyond the bottom line and seeks to help businesses find a place in the community’s heart.
Strength of Being Unique
Not all neighborhood marketplaces are alike. Each one has diverse challenges, needs and priorities. Here’s how Denver’s Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative honors these unique characteristics.
- Determine a district’s stage of development.
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Based upon this staging, determine which city tools and resources can be deployed to maximize impact
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Support local creation of a "District Development Plan" (covering three to seven years) that addresses local market needs, applied appropriate community and economic development tools and sets expectations for public/private partnerships for moving the district forward
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Create performance measurements to gauge the district’s progress in meeting goals outlined in the district’s plan.
The long-term plan includes putting systems in place so that after three, five or seven years a neighborhood business district "advances" from DNMI support and continues its progress through self-sufficiency.
Tools for Success
This is a list of the type of help available through the DNMI:
- Special Districts such as Business Improvements Districts or Community Improvement Districts
- Technical assistance (real estate, district formation, marketing) from city staff, community development corporations, other non-profits or consultants
- Local access to Denver’s Business Support Offices and the Business Assistance Center
- A citywide Business District Alliance
- HOME and Community Development Block Grant funds
- Small business lending
- Streetscape improvements
- Workforce recruitment and training
DNMI Brochure