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Princeton announces CARES community needs assessment; Experience Princeton reports gift-card sales, Main Street review visit
Summary
Councilmember Leighton announced a CARES Committee community needs assessment and Isaac Kramer, executive director of Experience Princeton, reported outreach metrics, more than $121,000 in gift-card sales and a May 8 Main Street America visit.
Councilmember Leighton announced that Princeton’s CARES Committee (Committee on Affordable Housing, Racial, Economic, Social Equity and Services) will lead a community needs assessment to reach residents and service providers, including low-income families, seniors and others identified as vulnerable. Leighton said the survey will cover housing, health care, mental health, child care and food security and described the effort as “the first comprehensive effort since February 2014” to gather direct input from end users.
Isaac Kramer, executive director of Experience Princeton, gave a report on local small-business support and outreach. Kramer said an email blast reached 4,830 recipients with 2,684 opens (a 59% open rate) and that Experience Princeton’s gift-card program has exceeded $121,000 in sales. Kramer reported a volunteer working 12 hours a week on a “Boons Tracker” to monitor occupancy and vacancy data and said the organization is finalizing a Princeton 250 logo funded by a Mercer County grant.
Kramer also said national staff from Main Street America will visit Princeton on May 8 to conduct an assessment and meet with board members, business leaders and elected officials; a public presentation of findings to the Experience Princeton board is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Nassau Inn. Kramer urged leveraging state Economic Development Authority resources and said New Jersey’s current budget proposes $750,000 for Main Street communities compared with $6.3 million committed since 2019; he noted Pennsylvania had committed $20 million in a recent period.
Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about how Main Street funds can be used; Kramer said local programs have discretion and that Experience Princeton can help businesses access EDA resources. Staff member Dawn explained how to find the new agenda platform (Legistar) on the municipal website and asked residents to use the government resources → council agendas and packets path to access meeting materials.
No formal motions or votes were associated with these announcements; they were made during the announcements and reports portion of the April 28 meeting.
