For over a year now, as a response to our current recession, I have been urging downtown organizations to focus on repositioning their districts for future growth and encouraging them to take on new financial activities.
The Washington BID in Warren County, NJ, is a good example of a district organization that is doing this. Also, it is in a town, Washington Borough, with a small population of 7,000 people.
The BID is borrowing money from a nearby community bank, Skylands, to build a badly needed downtown parking lot. Few BIDs, large or small, borrow from banks for capital improvement or program purposes.
The BID obtained a USDA loan guarantee that made the private bank loan possible. This was a smart move and tapped a government source many other BIDs might not have thought about.
Impressively, the BID will bring in a completed project for about half of Washington Borough’s estimated project cost.
I can think of many BIDs around the country that would benefit from emulating the Washington BID’s audacity to assume financial risk and willingness to play a lead role in a downtown redevelopment project. Too many BID managers and board members are straight jacketed by a comfort with reliably safe programs such as street sanitation, security and promotional events. But, by their very nature –and usually by their state’s enabling legislation– BIDs are tasked with economic development roles. Unfortunately, too few perform them.
N. David Milder
