Association attracts local merchants

About a year ago Pat Molesworth, longtime Sisters resident and owner of Village Interiors, asked the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce why there wasn't a local merchant's group. Not getting a satisfactory answer, Molesworth, along with Jennifer Lake, owner of the Jennifer Lake Gallery, started discussing how to harness the collective skills of the downtown businesses.

Lake served as the Prineville-Crook County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director from 1981-86 and is no stranger to downtown revitalization projects. During that time she guided Prineville through the process of having nine buildings designated as "national historic buildings."

"After opening my gallery in Sisters I couldn't believe how fractured the city was, communication between the city groups and merchants was awful. I wondered why there wasn't a grass-roots movement that works in Sisters," said Lake.

So Lake and Molesworth "took the bull by the horns" in 2008 and started assembling a group of 14 "captains," local businesspeople who could begin to spread the word about a new grass-roots group which would come to be known as the Sisters Village Association (SVA).

SVA had their first public meeting on Wednesday, March 11, at the Sisters Library. About seventy people attended the informational meeting, a mix of local merchants and businesspeople. The meeting's goal was to introduce the SVA and recruit volunteers for four working committees.

"This is an organization all about rolling up your sleeves and getting to work," said Lake during the meeting.

The SVA is being modeled after the Oregon Main Street program, a statewide commercial district revitalization program administered through the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department. This program, in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center, was created to assist communities in achieving viable commercial districts.

In the 1970s, the National Trust developed its pioneering Main Street "four point approach" to commercial district revitalization.

The four point approach includes: Organization: assembling public/private leaders within communities to work toward the same revitalization goals. Promotion: selling a positive brand image of the commercial district drawing visitors, shoppers and investors downtown. Design: enhancing both livability and attraction of the district by rehabilitating historic buildings, creating pedestrian-oriented streets and encouraging context-sensitive new construction. Economic Restructuring: strengthening a community's existing assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base. Main Street sharpens the competitiveness of existing business and attracts compatible new businesses to the district.

To date, Oregon cities participating in the program include Albany, Baker City, Oregon City and Roseburg. The National Trust states that it has created a network of more than 40 statewide, citywide and countywide Main Street programs with more than 1,600 active Main Street communities throughout the U.S.

The SVA believes this approach will combine historic preservation with economic development to restore prosperity and vitality to the downtown area of Sisters.

Jennifer Lake believes that now is the time to revitalize the downtown corridor.

"To be honest, I have had several gallery visitors come through and say they thought the downtown area had decayed recently," said Lake.

With all the artistic and business talent in Sisters, Lake is not going to let this "negative branding" take root.

"I want to attract people to Sisters. We do tourism really well and we need to really work on that, making the downtown a very attractive destination again," she said.

Last Wednesday's introductory meeting produced tangible results for the organization. Sixty-eight people signed up for the four "committees" - Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.

Each committee has a chairperson responsible for organizing meetings and attracting members. The chairs include Pat Molesworth/Jennifer Lake - Organization; Teri Applegarth - Promotion; Kathy Johnson - Design; and Lance Brant - Economic Restructuring.

Speaking about the economic restructuring committee, Lance Brant said, "This is the beginning of the process, we have no answers right now, and we're looking for input from folks who would like to be part of this effort."

Over the next 30 days, each committee will be meeting with its new members, deciding on committee goals, and picking two members to serve on the Board of Directors for the SVA. The board will then determine how the association will be legally organized, and goals will be set for SVA.

There is the possibility of a paid administrator to manage SVA. The group plans to apply for grants and loans from a number of sources to fund its activities.

One of SVA's goals is to foster close planning and working relationships with the many groups in Sisters. These include Sisters city staff, city councilors, chamber of commerce staff, chamber board, the new SBART committee (Sisters Business Acquisition & Retention Team), and individual businesses in Sisters.

Following the election of a board, SVA plans to hold a community roundtable, bringing all the groups together to foster a common vision and strategy for the downtown core.

Erin Borla, Executive Director of the Sisters Chamber, is very much in favor of SVA.

"I'm excited to be a partner with this group. It's very challenging for the chamber to concentrate just on the downtown core because our market area extends all the way from Black Butte to Fryrear Road," said Borla.

For more information contact Lake at 549-7200.