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EDA hears branding plan for Innovation District and proposal to call it “The LINC”
Summary
The city’s marketing team and the Davis Agency presented a proposed brand name, "The LINC," for the Innovation District. Presenters tied the name to launch/innovate/network/create and to Portsmouth’s historic Lincolnville neighborhood; board members responded positively and asked staff to proceed with logo and wayfinding work.
The Portsmouth Economic Development Authority on April 15 reviewed a draft identity for the city's Innovation District and responded positively to a proposal to brand the area "The LINC." Staff and the Davis advertising agency presented the name and rationale and invited feedback before finalizing imagery and next steps.
Zainal Kawas of the Davis Agency said the task was to create a unique, memorable name that aligns the district’s creative, entrepreneurial and historic elements. "Our proposal is to call this Innovation District the LINC, and it can be used as an acronym that can stand for Launch, Innovate, Network, Create," Kawas said. Richard (Davis Agency) added that the spelling with "INC" was deliberate to suggest incorporation and business development.
Presenters connected the new name to local history: the consultants described Lincolnville, a post–Civil War freedmen’s community near the proposed district, as an historical touchstone the brand could honor. The team suggested the identity would support storytelling, placemaking and future marketing, and that it would tie into wayfinding and gateway signage as zoning and district boundaries are finalized.
Board members praised the linkage of history and future growth and asked the contractor and city staff to develop logos and visual identity options. Commissioners said the name can be used to help residents and regional audiences discover High Street and the wider Innovation District and encouraged staff to pursue a rollout that includes community storytelling and youth engagement.
Staff said next steps include developing imagery, determining how the name ties into zoning and district boundary amendments, and presenting refined branding for further EDA and city review.
