DDA, Chamber Mull Downtown Partnership
By Karen Gould

The St. Ignace Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is considering a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce to promote downtown commerce and has agreed to increase its downtown activities budget from $5,000 to $20,000, following a proposal at its October 13 meeting to take over the St. Ignace Business Association. The DDA declined to contribute $13,000 to the organization for special events and salaries, but did agree that it could take a more active role in promoting commerce at downtown businesses.

Chamber of Commerce Director Janet Peterson told the DDA that it may be forced to dissolve the St. Ignace Business Association if it can't find a way to pay for special events it promotes throughout the year. The retail arm of the Chamber has been plagued, she said, with a budget shortfall, declining membership, and lack of participation at meetings. She attended the DDA meeting with board member Elizabeth Brown to appeal for financial assistance and advice about keeping the operation afloat.

The Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Peterson told the DDA, is struggling financially following a membership drop of 40 members this year, suffered when the Convention and Visitors Bureau split off on its own. Among the downtown events the Business Association has been promoting are this month's Autumn Apple Day and pumpkin roll and the upcoming holiday tree lighting and Santa Land, Home for the Holidays parade, and shopping evenings. Other events the association organizes include the community yard sale, Bayside Live, Locals on the Bay, ice chip golf, snow softball, and snow volleyball.

"I just can't imagine this tourist community, without some of these events," said Mrs. Peterson. "We're just at a point of saying this is where the budget is."

The DDA supported an idea that it partner with the Chamber in downtown promotion, but balked at the request from Ms. Brown for $13,000, of which $10,000 would cover wages for events and $3,000 would replace membership fees now collected from downtown businesses to support the events. DDA Director Deb Evashevski said wage support was "definitely out of the question."

"We can't afford to hire another person down there" at the Chamber of Commerce, she said. "We can't afford to hire another person to work here" at the DDA.

In adopting a 2007 budget that increases its support of downtown activities by $15,000, Mrs. Evashevski said, "We are in a position where we could do a partnership with the Chamber to have the business association be an extension of the two entities, with some labor offered by them and some financial assistance offered by us."

In addition to Chamber of Commerce dues, downtown businesses are asked to pay an annual $75 membership to the Business Association. Membership fees generate approximately $3,000 a year and are used to fund events, including the purchase of pumpkins and Christmas trees, but the funds are not enough to cover wages for the Chamber of Commerce staff, said Mrs. Peterson. Compounding the problem, she said, not all businesses pay the fee, although they reap commercial benefits from events that bring visitors downtown.

A DDA and Chamber of Commerce partnership could eliminate the membership fee, said Mrs. Evashevski, which could reduce tension between members and non-members.

The DDA, formed in 1981, captures some taxes to promote the economic development of the downtown. Mrs. Evashevski said the downtown businesses already support the DDA through taxes.

"Maybe for downtown businesses, membership should be a perk of the downtown taxes they're paying," said Mrs. Evashevski. "Maybe that's something we can do for our downtown businesses so they're not getting yet another bill saying, 'join.'"

Mrs. Peterson said the Chamber spends a lot of time working on events specifically geared for the downtown.

"The bottom line is, if we don't have money to pay people to be in our office, it doesn't matter what the membership is, because we're not going to have people to be able to organize these events," she said.

Some events have registration fees, which are used to cover the program's costs, which include promotion and advertising.

"A lot of events are breakeven," said Mrs. Peterson. Money generated from membership fees has been used to run the events, while the Chamber pays for staffing.

Ms. Brown said the business association organizes approximately 16 events each year, and one of the most time-consuming projects is assembling the free goodie bags containing coupons and visitor information, which are distributed at the marina and area campgrounds, she said.

But with declining memberships, the Chamber also lost $9,000 in membership revenue this year.

"I don't think people realize how critical it is for the Chamber at this time," said Ms. Brown. "The reality is, we are very close to closing the doors."

The Chamber, which operates on a $40,000 annual budget, experienced a drop of 40 members, from 230 to 190, during its membership renewal drive in August. As a result, it was estimated the Chamber would be out of funds by the end of December unless membership was increased.

In an article published in The St. Ignace News in September, Mrs. Peterson attributed the drop in membership renewals to three factors, including confusion over the roles of the Visitors Bureau and the Chamber following their split, changes in the Chamber's billing system and fee structure, and a weak tourism season that left some members lacking funds for membership fees.

Ms. Brown said with the Chamber's future in question, it has to decide whether staff time should be used for downtown events or to maintain an information resource facility. She also agreed that a partnership is necessary to continue to offer the events

"These events don't generate revenue for the Chamber, they do generate revenue for business," said Ms. Brown.