Board & Committees

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VISION

Downtown Beloit is a culturally rich, vibrant, united neighborhood that promotes
and reflects a balanced mix of businesses and an engaged community.

MISSION

To attract and retain a business mix that cultivates economic and social prosperity.

TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY

Downtown Beloit is the premier destination for recreation, family entertainment, and distinctive retail and dining in the Stateline Wisconsin region.

Four Point Approach

The Downtown Beloit Association Board of Directors meets the 4th Thursday of the month at 10 am and meetings are open to the public. If you would like to obtain copies of meeting notices or minutes, please contact us at 608-365-0150.

Members of the board are made up of downtown property owners, downtown business owners and others involved in the downtown as uncompensated volunteers who believe in the mission of the organization.

Contact us to get involved in the DBA Board and/or Committee capacity.

GOAL of this committee: Partner, communicate and represent District members to advance the District.

Meetings are typically held the third Tuesday of the month at 3 pm and are open to the public.  If you are involved in the downtown and would like to get on or more information about this committee, please give us a call.

The Downtown Beloit Association was awarded national accreditation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This is an annual process.

Continued accreditation from Wisconsin Main Street Program.

Annual fundraising, business sponsorships, investments and savings along with Business Improvement District assessments. The DBA is audited / reviewed on an annual basis.

Executive Director continues to serve on the City Center Planning Committee, and the City of Beloit Economic Development Rapid Response Team.

Continued Downtown Beloit Marketing Campaign promoting businesses with tag line “Shop & Linger, Where Customers are Friends”.

Contact us to get involved in the DBA Board and/or Committee capacity.

GOAL of this committee: Market Downtown Beloit as a place to live, work and play.

Meetings are typically held the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 9 am and are open to the public. If you are involved in the downtown and would like to get on or more information about this committee, please give us a call.

The Downtown Beloit Association hosts an events almost every week throughout the year including:

  • Easter Eggstravaganza
  • Spring Wine Walk
  • Beloit Farmers’ Market
  • Fridays in the Park
  • Celebrate Weekend & Street Dance
  • Oktoberfest
  • Fall Wine Walk
  • Halloween Costume Parade & Party
  • Beloit WINTER Farmers’ & Crafters Market
  • Grand Lighted Holiday Parade
  • Holidazzle

Magnetic calendars of events printed and distributed.
Beloit Farmers’ Market Study highlights vendor sales & sales for downtown businesses.

Continued marketing strategy promoting “Live Music almost every night in Downtown Beloit”.  Calendar is on the DBA website and on Facebook.

Contact us to get involved in the DBA Board and/or Committee capacity.

GOAL of this committee: Continuously improve and preserve the appearance and character of the downtown. 

Meetings are typically held the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 3:30 pm, as necessary and are open to the public.  If you are involved in the downtown and would like to get on or more information about this committee, please give us a call.

Click here for Design Guidelines.

Continued management of the DBA funded façade and sign grant program. Click on Design Guidelines above for applications.

Hanging baskets and urns continued.

Ground plantings on the corners of State & Grand sponsored by First National Bank and Trust Co.

Sculptures utilized seasonally.

Contact us to get involved in the DBA Board and/or Committee capacity.

GOAL of this committee:   Strengthen and grow the District’s economic base.

Meetings are typically held the 2nd Wednesday bi-monthly (odd months) at 3:30 pm and are open to the public.  If you are involved in the downtown and would like to get on or more information about this committee, please give us a call.

Continued bi-monthly Business/Property Owners Meetings.

Continued promotion of Downtown Redevelopment Plan with access from the website and used as a tool for targeted developer interest in projects.

Continue to survey businesses and provide a bi-annual Business Survey Report.

Continued website updates.

Distributed directories to downtown businesses & area hotels.

Contact us to get involved in the DBA Board and/or Committee capacity.

Bushel & Peck’s Local Market

The City of Beloit purchased 328 State Street, formerly known as the Woolworth Building, in 2003 with plans to demolish the building and build a parking lot due to increasing parking needs of a large International company located downtown. The funds were set aside in the CIP for this project and acquisition was complete in December of 2003. The parking demand subsided when the company laid off 70 workers shortly thereafter which allowed the community an opportunity to seek an alternate solution to build value for the entire district. With this opportunity to rethink the building’s imminent demolition, the Downtown Beloit Association began advocating use of the budget set aside in City funds to save this building, restore it to it’s original architectural integrity, define it’s highest reuse as an economic catalyst, and place it back on the tax rolls. The City worked with the Downtown Beloit Association to accomplish this goal and the restoration of the facade was completed in 2007.

Concurrently, the Beloit’s Downtown Farmers Market, managed by the DBA, demonstrated clear success as it doubled in size, both in number of vendors and square footage, showcasing over 70 vendors in 2006. This success illustrated the demand for local foods and offered an opportunity to pursue a venture to offer local foods in a year-round market. Jackie Gennett and Rich Horbaczewski of Grass is Greener Gardens, sold lamb, chicken, and eggs from their farm at the Beloit Farmers Market beginning in 2005 and through their experience at the market became increasingly interested in Downtown Beloit. They responded to the City’s Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Woolworth site with a plan for developing a full-service specialty grocery with a strong focus on local farmers and producers, and were selected as the developer of choice.

The grocery opened its doors to the public in July of 2008 under the name Bushel & Peck’s Local Market generating a great deal of media interest regionally and nationally. Gennett and Horbaczewski were interviewed on Milwaukee Public Radio’s Lake Effect for a segment called Local Green, and also on WISC-TV in Madison. Articles were published by the Capitol Region Business Journal and the Weather Channel’s online magazine.

Bushel & Peck’s Local Market features local and regionally-produced foods and products including wine and beer representing the array of fresh food and value-added products available in the region. Bushel & Peck’s currently offers cafe seating with house made meals and prepared foods for lunch or take-out for day or evening meals and may support a butcher in the future. Gennett and Horbaczewski also use the grocery as a distribution point to serve restaurants from Chicago to Madison (currently L’Etoile of Madison serves their lamb and chicken) and home subscribers. The market created 12 new jobs in the downtown.

This project was intended to be a catalyst for economic growth in the downtown. Bushel & Peck’s Local Market supports the retail mix downtown by adding another anchor retailer to expand and diversify the products offered and, therefore, will expand the customer base for our district. The grocery has reinforced and increased investor confidence in the district and has drawn interest for new complimentary businesses to open downtown.

We know that people travel from Rockford and beyond to our Farmers Market and that the local food movement is a powerful national economic trend. This grocery has the ability to draw new customers from throughout the region and we believe this will also translate into the strong potential to increase sales for our restaurants and retailers. Bushel & Peck’s supports local business beyond downtown including our area farmers. It extends access to many of the Farmers Market products throughout the year and provides an amenity for the community as the gathering place where you socialize and meet the people who grow your food. National grocery chains, even the whole foods markets cannot offer the local experience and local products. This can only be achieved with local producers and community based support. This concept fills a niche that will not cannibalize current business but will expand its opportunity. The larger grocery stores will continue to serve their core market and should not be adversely affected either, as the Farmers Market experience has proven.

Our local foods grocery developers, Jackie Gennett and Rich Horbaczewski of Grass is Greener Gardens, have great relationships and credibility with our Farmers Market vendors and a large passionate customer base. They currently run a farm, but have also been very successful working for 20 years in the corporate world in the areas of sales and market operations, product management, technical systems development and information technology with companies like Time Warner in Chicago. We have great confidence in their ability to develop an exciting, well-planned local grocery concept that the community will enjoy for many years to come.

redevPurpose of this Plan

This Plan provides a vision and an implementation framework to guide redevelopment activities to shape the future of Downtown Beloit. This plan builds on Beloit’s successful revitalization initiatives in Downtown and along the riverfront, identifying opportunities to strengthen Downtown as a thriving center of activity based on its unique assets. This Plan provides recommendations for building preservation, redevelopment, urban design, public improvements, and Plan implementation.

Click here to view the full PDF version.

Board of Directors

Stephanie Kneuppel, Stateline Mental Health Services (Chair)

Dan Riemer, Harris Ace Hardware (Vice-Chair)

Barb Schultz, First National Bank & Trust (Treasurer)

Kelly Eickstead, Edward Jones (Secretary)

Nikkie Chadwick, Walnut Creek Awards & Promotions

Marty Densch, Beloit City Council Representative

Jessica Fox-Wilson, Beloit College

RoseAnn Haedt, Hendricks Commercial Properties

Matt Lee, Century 21 Affiliated

Courtney Prentice, Rally Appraisal

Dennis Senz, Senz Insurance

Christopher Wolfgramm, Hotel Goodwin and Ironworks Hotel

Rich Wolter, Bucciferro Family McDonald's

Staff

Shauna El-Amin, Executive Director shauna@downtownbeloit.com

Darcy Beyer, Promotions Coordinator darcy@downtownbeloit.com

Annual Report