Downtown Holyoke Business Association
Mission Statement and Plan of Action
Our mission: To identify, organize, support, and promote the businesses
located in Downtown Holyoke and support initiatives designed to help
make Downtown Holyoke a thriving and prosperous place to live, work,
shop, dine, and visit.
To support this mission we propose to undertake the following initiatives:
• Identification of all business entities that are located in downtown
Holyoke using city business registration records, state incorporation
records, telephone directories and door to door canvassing.
• The compilation of a database of these businesses containing all of
their relevant information.
• The publication of this database online at Doho.biz with business
members featured in detailed mini sub-sites devoted to their business
with member-editable menu and sale/specials pages.
• The inclusion in this web site of a detailed online map of downtown
Holyoke and its access roads.
• The creation of an extensive online presentation of the history of
downtown Holyoke and its impact on global trade and growth as a planned
industrial city, particularly with regards to its water works and their
implications in sustainable energy development today.
• A collection on Doho.biz of all online resources useful for business
owners, residents, and visitors to Downtown Holyoke. This includes city
departments, HG&E, other local interest sites, etc.
• The organization of group promotions coordinating events, sales,
festivals, parades, etc. and the running of group advertising welcoming
visitors to these events.
• Working with the mayor and city council and other city officials to
support and promote policies and programs designed to improve downtown
Holyoke.
• Working with Mass Tourism and the GSCVB, we will attempt to duplicate
the success of the Hidden Hills map and solicit grant funding, to be
matched by advertising revenue, to design and print a first class
tourism map for downtown Holyoke, with the Mt. Tom state park on the
reverse.
• Work to actively promote Downtown Holyoke businesses doing business
with each other, mostly through making sure that all downtown businesses
know about the other businesses around them.
• We plan to be members of both GSCVB and the Holyoke Chamber of
Commerce, and actively work with these organizations on projects of
mutual benefit.
• We plan to solicit civic volunteers from within our membership to fill
the many needed roles in our community and specifically work to help
promote and staff events that feature downtown Holyoke, such as
"Celebrate Holyoke" and the St. Pats Parade.
• We plan to educate our membership and the public at large on topics of
local importance through online publication and distribution of a
monthly newsletter. This newsletter will also announce the new arrival
or formation of businesses in Downtown Holyoke, and promote special events.
• We plan on launching a new anti-littering campaign "Don't Trash
Holyoke," to be represented by our new mascot, "Spike." Spike says,
"Don't Trash Holyoke!"
• The solicitation of co-sponsors to print up t-shirts that say, "I'm
with Spike" in both English and Spanish and feature Spike's caricature.
• Lobbying state and federal officials to make sure Holyoke gets its
fair share of economic development and historic preservation funding,
including support for such projects as the Canal Walk.
• Support enhancement of community watch programs and work with the
police department on initiatives to reduce crime and improve public
safety in Downtown Holyoke.
• Work with area realtors to provide extremely low cost supplemental
online advertising for properties for sale in Downtown Holyoke.
• Work with landlords to provide extremely low cost residential rental
advertising.
• Work to promote Holyoke as an excellent place to start or relocate a
business. Provide free business rental and employment advertising online
to member businesses (available or wanted). Promote local businesses
with unique angles or markets to newspaper writers to encourage positive
stories about Downtown Holyoke businesses. Provide local business
reporters with a steady stream of good news about developments in
Downtown Holyoke, as they occur.
• Work with city officials to identify, photograph, describe and
ultimately get sold and rehabbed the extensive inventory of abandoned
and distressed property in Downtown Holyoke.
• Work with the historical commission to promote initiatives to restore
the gorgeous historical architecture of Downtown Holyoke.
• Promote and encourage the development of free and/or subscription
high-speed wireless internet service throughout Downtown Holyoke.
Individual and business basic memberships are $25 for the first year
(through 12/31/06), with membership upgrades for enhanced advertising
exposure and web site functionality available for a modest additional
cost. We will seek grant funding to help fund this project and plan on
undertaking several benefit events to publicize and fund the project in
its initial stages. DoHo.biz will be developed by Positronic Design. We
invite local business owners and others with an interest in Downtown
Holyoke to join the Association and help us make Downtown Holyoke lively
and vibrant once again.
Public officials and industry leaders are invited to publicly endorse
the goals of the Association, if they agree with them. Suggestions and
comments from everyone are sought and greatly appreciated.
Target date to launch the initial web site is May 1st. Organizational
meetings and inital canvassing will begin by Feb 1st.
For more information call David Caputo at Positronic Design - 532.6440
David Caputo has owned and run Positronic Design as a continiously
operating retail business in the Pioneer Valley since April 1990.
He is the creator of the Hidden Hills of Western Massachusetts Map and
Hidden-Hills.com, which have been run as an independent tourism and
economic development resource since 1999. We have distributed 30,000
beautiful full color printed maps every year since then (7 editions) and
the web site gets tens of thousands of visitors every month and tends to
dominate Google and Google Maps search engine listings for Western Mass.
Positronic Design is a full service marketing company, specializing in
Web Site Design, Graphic Design, Print Brokerage, Web Site Hosting and
Search Engine Optimization and Promotion. Our full portfolio is
available online at www.PositronicDesign.com
We are currently
headquartered at 903 Dwight St. in Holyoke, MA. |
