Idea Factory

Are you frustrated with the ongoing results of your town's Economic Development strategy?

Small, local, independent businesses drive the local economy and contribute to local identity in small towns. They have tremendous power to transform their streets and become hubs in their community. 

The accelerator looks at the health of your district based on the Storefront Mastery system. It starts with a physical assessment of commercial corridors to determine their cohesion, attractiveness and potential. We will establish high-level strategic and design recommendations for both district-wide and individual storefront actions.

By looking at both the district as a whole and its individual components, the assessment and recommendations look for opportunities to intervene at district level and also at the level of individual storefronts, improving the efficacy of each intervention.

The purpose of the accelerator is to help individual businesses create wealth, assist the owners in building a healthy, strong community and support downtown, main street and business district management organizations, nonprofits and local developers in adding value to the social capital in their districts.

Let's make a better, stronger town, one storefront at a time.

When you book the Business District Accelerator you will get:

• Over a decade of experience with revitalization, economic development, design and Placemaking.

• A meeting to discuss your district, its strengths and the opportunities to implement the accelerator. 

• A thorough district assessment with a fresh look, that proposes up to five creative, unique and out of the box strategies for redevelopment.

• A workshop that tells successful downtown stories, discusses design strategies and the role of good storefronts in successful revitalization efforts, and offers tips for immediate implementation.

• Storefront design materials: The Ten No-B.S. Rules For Successful Storefront Design e-book, the Storefront Mastery Playbook, and other useful materials to help business owners assess and upgrade their storefronts.

No single storefront survives without a good context. And no commercial district survives without great small businesses and a strong, healthy community. The Idea Factory will assessing the district's opportunities, and proposing strategic, creative, out of the box strategies to help your organization add value to the district.

Who is this for?

· Small, independent, local business associations will benefit from this conversation by seeing the potential of the collective beautification effort in the creation of wealth within their districts.

· Cities, city agencies and local organizations benefit from harnessing the Placemaking power of small businesses to add value to neighborhoods and commercial districts.

· Small Developers benefit from the wisdom of thinking about how design interacts with the city around their property and establishes a win-win relationship with the neighborhood and community.

What's included in the cost?

The fee for the District Accelerator is $5,000.00, which covers the Idea Factory workshop and an assessment with up to five strategies to create an optimal environment for local businesses and entrepreneurs. The fee includes any travel and other expenses that may incur in the delivery of the service.