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Committee reviews business survey results and next steps for recruiting and downtown activation
Summary
Economic Vitality staff presented a 20% response business survey of 79 ground-floor retail businesses, summarized findings (demand for food & beverage, parking and cell coverage concerns) and described next steps including targeted outreach, grant awards and a Third Thursdays pilot to boost evening foot traffic.
Town of Concord economic development staff presented preliminary findings from a business survey at the March 26 Economic Vitality Committee meeting. The survey focused on ground-floor brick-and-mortar retail and returned a roughly 20% response rate from a narrowed list of about 79 retail businesses.
Tiffany (staff) said 80% of respondents were owners, about half self-identified primarily as retail, and respondents across business districts reported a mix of concerns and priorities. Food and beverage was the most-requested category for new business; other common themes were complementary retail, cell coverage and parking management. Tiffany said the sample size is modest but that she expects the priority themes to hold with additional outreach.
The meeting recorded several related programs and grants: a $25,000 Massachusetts travel/tourism grant helped launch a “Patriots of Color” tour; six farms received $3,000 grants for refrigeration upgrades at farm stands; and 10 food businesses received $1,500 grants for equipment. Visitor center hours were adjusted for the season (opening March 30–31 with expanded hours). Staff also reported installing benches in West Concord and Concord Center using a Mott grant and continuing to seek donations for additional benches.
Tiffany outlined outreach next steps: targeted follow-up to nonresponding businesses, one-on-one conversations to match specific retail niches to available storefronts (she described a shoe retailer, Anita, whose product mix seems complementary to an existing cluster), and coordination with brokers, building owners and regional economic vitality officers to recruit fit businesses. The committee suggested prioritizing three to five actionable goals and using the survey results to inform the MCI Concord development and town priorities.
Staff is piloting “Third Thursdays” starting in June to encourage retailers and restaurants to keep evening hours and animate the downtown. The committee asked staff to condense survey findings into a short set of priorities and to perform additional targeted outreach before using the survey as a basis for recruitment and town-level recommendations.
