Fulton Mall Event Planning to Enter Next Phase   

The Downtown and Community Revitalization Department was thrilled with the results of two new festivals in May and June. On May 29-30, the Fulton Mall saw the first annual Fulton RevFest, a motorcycle parade and show with terrific live music and a great family-friendly atmosphere. The next weekend, June 5-6, was Fresno HyeFest 2009, a lively and delicious celebration of Armenian food and culture.

Both events drew an estimated 4,000 people or more over two days. These two events were the Department's first steps toward what will become a year-long season of weekend festivals that celebrate our cultural diversity and Valley heritage.

The next step toward the goal of constant activity is creating a new nonprofit organization to manage festivals on both the Fulton Mall and at Chukchansi Park. (Under the City's new contract with the Grizzlies, the City is responsible for programming events at the stadium when it is not in use for baseball or soccer.) The connection between the stadium and the Mall is an exciting opportunity to create synergy between the ballpark and our historic Main Street, including large events that incorporate both venues to build on the strengths of each.

The new nonprofit, now in its initial stages of formation, will include both contributions and representation from the City, the Grizzlies, and the community. With a consistent rhythm of festival activity in its portfolio, the new organization will have the capacity to create outstanding events week after week, and build greater and greater community support in the process.

If you are interested in supporting the formation of this new nonprofit, tentatively called Downtown Fresno Arts, Culture, Entertainment, and Sports (or Downtown FACES), please email Elliott.Balch@fresno.gov or call (559) 621-8366.

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Next DRUM Meeting On July 22   

The Downtown and Community Revitalization will hold the second quarterly Downtown Revitalization Update Meeting (DRUM) on Wednesday, July 22, at 5:30 at Milano Restaurant on the Fulton Mall. Come hear about the status of the City Downtown revitalization team's projects, and make your voice heard about next steps. The DRUM is a laid-back, free-flowing dialogue where all questions, ideas, and complaints are welcome!

To RSVP, please call the Department at (559) 621-8350. We'll see you July 22 at Milano!

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FILM, ENTERTAINMENT & TOURISM     

Filming in Fresno…”We’re Number ??”   

In a recent issue of “MovieMaker,” a film industry magazine, they published their ninth annual list of Best U S Cities for Independent Filmmaking. According to “MM” their Top 30 cities offered ‘the perfect combination of employment opportunities, reasonable costs of living, strong quality of life, affordable home prices, and financial incentives.’ Most of the Top 10 cities were established major film hubs like Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Boston. Noticeably absent from the list was Los Angeles/Hollywood!

Most interesting on the list was the inclusion of cities like Boise, ID (pop 193,161), Stamford, CT (pop 118,475), Sheridan, WY (pop 16,719), and Sedona, AZ (pop 11,471). What do all of these cities, who are much smaller than Fresno, have in common? They are all growing, they all have eclectic, artsy, creative communities, and they are all not in California! In fact, the only California city to make the list was San Diego, and they were at lowly Number 23.

Lists in magazines are occasionally informative, sometimes amusing, and once in awhile stimulating. Over the past three years, Fresno has seen a marked increase in film production and film revenue. And, when it comes to “employment opportunities, reasonable costs of living, strong quality of life, and affordable home prices,” it seems like next year Fresno should be able to topple, say, Portsmouth, NH, at Number 30. And then, watch out Baltimore, Number 29!

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LOCAL BUSINESS INITATIVES   

Have you considered Banking Local?   

Last week Mayor Ashley Swearengin and the Local Business Initiatives team met with a group of CEO’s from locally owned Community banks in the Sky Room at the Holiday Inn Downtown. Aside from enjoying the view, the group discussed a number of issues that affect our local business community and local residents alike. The issues discussed included the Community Reinvestment Act, the effects of banking locally, strategies to communicate to the public why banking and investing locally is crucial to the health of our local economy and ways to get more locally owned businesses to take advantage of the tax credits through the City’s incentive zone programs.

In the coming weeks the City will be looking at ways to highlight the investment that local Community Banks make in our community every day as an educational piece to share with our residents. A special thanks to the following attendees: Fresno First Bank, Central Valley Community Bank, Premier Valley Bank, Murphy Bank, Security First Bank, Valley Business Bank and United Security Bank- your contributions to our community are vital to the health of our region.

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Taking our Local Business Initiatives to Another Level   

In a concentrated effort to stay in tune with the concerns of local business owners, the Downtown and Community Revitalization Department has organized ongoing meetings with groups of business owners located within various city neighborhoods, including the South Stadium area, the Lowell neighborhood, and the Chinatown District.

Through these ongoing meetings, the DCR department will be able to coordinate responses to issues affecting local businesses. The goal is to make these specific neighborhoods more conducive to a healthy business environment by removing barriers to operations, ranging from infrastructure and landscape maintenance, to crime prevention and police surveillance.

If you own a business in any of these neighborhoods, please email fernando.santillan@fresno.gov to find out when the next meeting for your neighborhood will take place.

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Looking Ahead   

In the coming months Mayor Swearengin and the Department of Downtown and Community Revitalization will be doing outreach to local technology companies to form an affinity group with a very distinct agenda. The truth is that the City of Fresno is a prime market for up and coming technology companies because not only do we mirror the resources shared in the Bay area, but we offer a place where companies can grow and be a leader in their respective field- but we have yet to capitalize on those strengths. This group will be looking at best practices in other cities on how the City can create a leadership role for the technology companies that have already made Fresno their home. Philadelphia provides a great example of how the City can provide support for technology companies in their area: http://mcot.phila.gov/about.html. This will be one of many practices we will look to for guidance. If you are interested in joining this group, or would like to recommend a company for us to contact, please contact amy.huerta@fresno.gov or 621-8362.

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Looking for Tax Credits?...Check out the Municipal Restoration Zone   

The City of Fresno is looking for qualified new and expanding businesses in the Municipal Restoration Zone (MRZ). The MRZ includes all City of Fresno incorporated land located south of McKinley and west of Peach. A business can qualify for the MRZ benefits by being new to the area, or experiencing an expansion of at least 20% in physical size or number of employees. In addition, companies must meet other qualifications including number of full time employees and having a long term lease or ownership interest in the property. Qualified businesses can receive a refund of their business license fees for 3 years, a rebate or refund of up to 50% of permit fees, a 50% refund of City sales and City property tax increases, and credits for hiring employees who live in the MRZ. For more information please visit our website or call Kelly Trevino, Incentive Zone Manager, at (559) 621-8426.

In FY 2008, businesses in the City of Fresno's Enterprise Zone took advantage of over $200 million in potential tax credits! If your business is located in the Enterprise Zone and you are not taking advantage of the benefits, you are leaving money on the table. Don't miss out! Make plans to attend one of our monthly incentive zone workshops or contact the City of Fresno Incentive Zone Manager at kelly.trevino@fresno.gov or (559) 621-8426.

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Upcoming Events and Resources for Local Businesses:

July

16 – Government Contracting Workshop
Who: U.S. SBA
Where: 2719 N Air Fresno Drive, Ste 200
Time: 8:45 -10:30 am

16 – Existing Business Owner Workshop
Who: U.S. SBA
Where: 2719 N Air Fresno Drive, Ste 200
Time: 11:00 am – noon

16 – Entrepreneur Workshop
Who: U.S. SBA
Where: 2719 N Air Fresno Drive, Ste 200
Time: noon – 1 pm

16 – July Networking Night
Who: ABIRC
Where: Valley Small Business Development Center, 7035 N. Fruit Ave
Time: 5:30 – 7 pm

17 – Marketing 101
Who: Central California Small Business Development Center
Where: 3302 N Blackstone Ave, Ste 225
Time: 9 – 10:30 am

17 – Effective Gender Communication In and Out of the Workplace
Who: CVBI
Where: 1630 E. Shaw Ave, Ste 163
Time: noon – 1:30 pm

17 - Lunch Bunch – Casual Networking over Lunch
Who: Clovis Chamber of Commerce
Where: Toledo's Mexican Restaurant, 1125 Shaw Ave., Clovis 93612
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

20 – “Show Me the Money” – Extreme Retail Makeover Workshop Series
Who: SCORE
Where: Sierra Vista Mall, Community Room, 1050 Shaw Ave, Clovis
Time: 8:00 – 9:30 am

23 - Economic Reporting Breakfast
Who: Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce
Where: TorNino's Banquets, 5080 N. Blackstone Ave. in Fresno
Time: 7:00 am – Registration
7:30 am - Program

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