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Farmington committee pushes outreach to businesses: bike-friendly certifications, QR wayfinding and signage repairs
Summary
Members discussed recruiting businesses for bike-friendly certification (estimated ~$50 for small shops), expanding QR-linked wayfinding to promote local merchants, and replacing crumbling parking-lot signs with possible support from Farmington Valley Trails Council.
Committee members discussed multiple items aimed at improving how trail users find and access local businesses, from promoting a bike-friendly-business certification to replacing worn parking-lot signs and adding QR-linked economic-development listings.
One member described an outreach email about a bike-friendly business program that scales fees by employer size and estimated that small businesses could qualify for a lower fee tier ("I think it's, like, $50" said speaker 2). Another member said some groups had seen higher quoted prices in other contexts, but the committee agreed the primary challenge would be selling local businesses on the practical benefits.
Wayfinding and parking-lot identification were also discussed. Members reported a draft, multi-town sign plan developed with Simsbury and Avon and suggested naming individual parking lots for clarity. The Farmington Valley Trails Council has received quotes for sign replacement and will review funding options; one committee member volunteered to share additional vendor contacts.
Members also noted the town QR code that links to the economic development coordinator's site listing local businesses as the most scalable way to surface merchants to trail users. They agreed to pilot outreach to a handful of businesses and suggested a pop-up tent event to engage merchants and residents directly.
No formal vote was taken; staff and volunteers will continue vendor outreach and outreach to businesses.
