Stakeholder's Representatives Meeting
January 27, 2009

MEETING MINUTES

The meeting opened at 8:35 AM.

The Stakeholder groups were represented by the following members:

Artists, Steve Syverson;
Building Owners, Marshall Field; Larry Field
Business/Community Banking, Jamie O’Hearn;
Business/JAMBRA, Tim Shanahan;
Business/Resources, Terry Williams;
City of Lowell/DPD, Theresa Park;
City of Lowell/Police Dept., Sara Khun;
Education/Middlesex CC, Molly Sheehy;
Education/UMass Lowell, Dr. Joseph Lipchitz;
Non-Profit Corporations/CTI, Bill Lipchitz;
Residents/Lowell DNA, Kathleen Marcin;
Visitors/Lowell Festival Foundation; Janet Leggat;

Absent:
Business/Chamber of Commerce, Jeanne Osborn;
Business/Lowell Plan, Jim Cook;
Business/Restaurants, Franky Descoteaux;
Business/Retailers, George Vallaras
City of Lowell/DPD, Christopher Samaras
City of Lowell/Police Dept., Janet Lopez
Cultural Organizations, L.Z. Nunn;
Cultural Organization of Lowell, Susan Cromwell
Education/Lowell High School, Roxanne Howe;
General Population/LRTA, Jim Scanlan;
General Population/NMCOG, Beverly Woods;
Visitors/Lowell National Park; Peter Aucella;
Visitors/CVB, Fred Hunter;
Youth/UTEC, Greg Croteau;

Guests:
Ann Ruthmann
Nabil Ghanem
Mark Connelly

Minutes of Previous Meeting

On a motion by Steve Syverson, seconded by Joseph Lipchitz, it was voted: to accept the minutes of November 25, 2008.

Treasurer’s Report

Treasurer Jamie O’Hearn reported that the CCC has a balance of $1,165.54 in its account.  All JAMBRA money has been withdrawn from the account.  Notices have been sent out regarding membership dues: $50 per organization and $15 per individual.  The annual meeting is scheduled for March 31st.  Bill reminded members they must have paid their dues in order to vote at the meeting.

Getting Students Downtown

Anne Ruthmann spoke to the committee about being a new arrival to Lowell from the perspective of a young professional from the arts community.  Anne has run a successful photography business for a number of years and her husband works at UMass Lowell and with students at Lowell High School.  Both have noted that for students between the ages of 16 and 21 there is nothing to draw them to the downtown in the evening.  She suggested that cafes and coffee shops that would stay open until at least 9 PM would be one way to get more people of that age group downtown. The need to have downtown businesses remain open later was brought up, and Anne observed that the downtown businesses need to have more tenacity in trying this out as it always takes a while for people to catch on.

Anne explained that blogs were instrumental in meeting people and learning about Lowell as a newcomer.  She mentioned that for single people in their 30’s, blogs are commonly used as an important way to meet others and establish connections in the area, and that blogs are frequently used by those in the arts community.  She has her own blog and uses a technique where other blogs are syndicated on her page to create a “community of interest”. Anne suggested that a syndicated-type blog centralizing information about downtown Lowell would be very useful.  Blogs would also provide a more in-depth view of Lowell for those coming to the area or deciding whether or not to move to Lowell.  For example, outsiders attending an event such as the Folk Festival could post their pictures and their impressions of the event on the blog site. Anne also thought that Chris Samaras’s weekly email on events would reach a wider audience if it was in blog format.

Such a community-based blog would require an editor (probably paid) who could monitor the site and decide what material to pull in and coordinate posts and monitor discussions. Advertising on the site could help to pay for this, and the net effect would be to get the “face of the community” in one place. It was suggested that area college students majoring in Marketing and Social Media, for example, could help out with the blog. 

It was brought up that since the City was spending money for marketing slogans, why not spend money on developing a blog instead.  Theresa responded that the City is currently using a marketing consultant to design a new website and that this would be more appropriate than a blog.  Bill agreed that it would be better to keep the stakeholder community separate. 

Double Tree Hotel

Nabil Ghanem, General Manager of the Double Tree Hotel, spoke to the Committee about changes at the hotel.  He reported that major renovation was starting up again.  Nabil stated that in spite of the fact that the Double Tree is the only downtown hotel and is conveniently located, many outsiders still have a perception that the downtown area is not safe even though that has changed dramatically over the past decade, and prefer to use hotels in adjacent towns.  The fact that most businesses close and activity dies down after 6pm does not help the situation.  Add to that a rather unsavory group of taxis, and a bus service that ends at 7pm, and attracting people to the downtown area becomes a challenge.  The discussion tied in with the earlier observations of Anne Ruthmann about having things to do downtown in the evenings other than bars and clubs. He said nightlife doesn’t seem to happen during the week. Several in the Committee brought up the hotel’s strengths such as the bar and the location of the restaurant and asked about hotel advertising.  Nabil stated that much was being done in this area.

Downtown Promotional Idea

Mark Connelly came to the Stakeholders Meeting to talk about Parcxmart, http://www.parcxmart.com/index.html a system of pre-paid cards used for parking and selected stores.  He stated that New Haven and Bridgeport have successfully used this system.  The cards, issued by the City but sold through merchants who sign on to the program, make paying for parking more convenient and can be used as a promotional tool by the City.  For example, a person could buy a card with $25 encoded on it and use it in the parking meter/kiosk, to buy lunch at a participating restaurant, or other local purchases. It would, however, require that meters and kiosks be retrofitted which could be considered a drawback. 

Next Meeting

The next Stakeholder’s Representatives Meeting will be held February 24, 2009.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 AM.

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