Downtown Development

Downtown Destination Development is the process of improving the economic, physical and social well-being of a community’s traditional town centre by: 

  • Strengthening local business and encouraging investment by building and property owners; 
  • Creating enjoyable public streets and spaces animated by a variety of creative and civic activities;
  • Providing work and living opportunities that respond to people’s needs across a wide spectrum of ages and interests. 
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Bright, modern store interior with plants on display among gift items

Past Project Work 

In 2018, the County of Wellington worked in partnership with Renew Northern Wellington and the Wellington Waterloo Community Futures office to collect survey data from downtown customers to specifically help with identifying business gaps, business opportunities and where our consumers are coming from. This was identified as part of the County’s 2016 Business Retention and Expansion Project, a piece of a larger downtown destination development project. 


Current Initiatives  

The County of Wellington received funding from OMAFRA as part of their RED grant programme to continue working on downtown destination development project work within the County. Working with our member municipalities, the County is identifying priority focus areas that each community has with respect to their downtowns. Some of the overarching work that will be funded as a part of this project include: 

  • Producing new downtown photo and video assets for each lower-tier municipality 
  • Consultations with each municipality and their downtown businesses to identify what are local downtown priorities and what can be improved 
  • Collect and analyze downtown survey data to assist with highlighting short- and long-term investment goals/opportunities within each municipality's downtown(s) 
  • Executing the Destination Downtown Campaign for the County; emphasizing shopping in our local downtowns and supporting small businesses. 
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River Trail kiosk in park in Arthur

 

Are you a local business looking for resources to assist with business planning, capital improvements, or funding opportunities?