CENTER CITY COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
September 20, 2005

Present: Larry Field, Marshall Field, Ken Lavallee, Ted Lavash, Bill Lipchitz, Russ Smith, and Terry Williams.

The meeting opened at 8:35 AM.

Bill reported that the meeting of stakeholder representatives went well and was well attended. He went over the plans for Newcomers Night, which will be held Thursday, October 6th in the evening, in conjunction with Destination World – Quebec.

Ted announced that there will be an Open Studios event this weekend from 12-5 each day at various locations in the downtown and at the Western Avenue Artists Work Space.

Marshall Field mentioned that an out of town friend visited downtown Lowell recently and remarked on being impressed at the police presence and safe appearance of the city.

Ted reported that the Downtown Neighborhood Association had a meeting with representatives of both Sangria’s and The Court Yard about the noise levels, and he thought some progress was made.

Terry Williams, the Assistant Director of the Lowell Small Business Assistance Center, talked about the work of the Center and the people being helped to start or maintain a business. The Center provides help with creating Business Plans and provides training through a program designed by Russ Smith called “Right Start”.

In response to a question, Russ said that what is needed for these businesses are a lot of smaller spaces, on the order of 500-600 sf. This kind of space is not readily available downtown. He cited Cummings Park in Beverly (an old shoe factory) where an incubator of sorts provides such spaces.

When asked what kind of businesses would do well in downtown, Russ opined that restaurants and mid-level retail stores not available in a mall would probably do best. He also thought downtown could use a good dry cleaner and other service oriented stores. The LSBAC is in the Downtown Venture Fund loop, assisting startups that come through the LDFC/City program. Russ said that, compared to other cities, Lowell has a remarkable infrastructure to support businesses, starting with the DPD Economic Development office.

Terry said that the LSBAC has a Khmer speaking staff person, and that she also speaks Spanish and Portuguese. 68% of the Center’s clients are from Lowell, and 61% of the business startups are in Lowell. The services are free to Lowell residents and a modest fee is charged to others. Russ feels that, as gentrification increases in downtown Lowell, there will probably be a turnover in retail away from lower-end stores.

Ken Lavallee announced that on Friday, Lowell will participate in a three town drill in which a terrorist attack will be simulated. Friday’s activities will center around Lalacheur Park, and Saturday will see volunteer groups and disaster relief efforts practicing at the Tsongas Arena.

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 AM.