Celebrating 2023 and ready for 2024

We had a wonderful Annual Meeting and Celebration at GERE-a-DELI on January 16th. Thanks so much to the volunteers and supporters that came out to raise a glass with us to celebrate all of our hard work in 2023 and to look forward to 2024.

Main Street organizations, like us, follow the Main Street Four-Point Approach, simultaneously working to improve promotion, outreach, design and economic vitality in our community.   And I’d like to celebrate the work each of our committees have done in 2023, and get excited for the work they have planned for 2024.

The Promotion Committee positions downtown as the center of commercial activity using our unique cultural assets.

• The Promotion Committee had a great 2023, launching Social Media, and hosting our first events…
  • We launched our Facebook and Instagram pages in 2023, growing  to over 1.5k followers in our first year, while creating content series like ‘Why I love Anacortes’ and ‘Living History” murals, that put people at the heart of downtown Anacortes
  • We took over planning for Whale of a Sale, growing the number of participating merchants from 3 in 2022 to over 30 in 2023 and winning the prestigious Excellence on Main award for the Outstanding Promotional Event in the state of Washington.
  • And we created Elves Night Out, bringing over 300 people downtown on the Saturday night before Thanksgiving to have a great time and to kick the holiday season off early
  • In all of our work, we are looking to build community, connecting our neighbors to each other and to downtown Anacortes, while also helping our downtown businesses by showcasing the great work they are already doing to new customers.
• We are excited for 2024:
  •  We will go bigger and better with both Whale of a Sale and Elves Night Out.  We’d like to thank you to LTAC for adding funding for these events.
  • We’re also working on a big secret, ok, not secret, plan with a number of favorite Anacortes organizations for a fun and inspiring April Earth Day Celebration downtown, stay tuned for news!

The Outreach Committee brings everyone together to make downtown vital.  This includes everything from fundraising, to recruiting volunteers, to organizing our gathering tonight.

• The Outreach Committee got a great start in 2023
  • We created Our Community Supporter program.  These supporters make a multi-year commitment to support the Downtown Anacortes Alliance. I’d like to thank each of our Community Supporters for making our work possible:
    1. Gere-a-Deli
    2. Jennifer Juckett, a Commercial Ave building owner
    3. Mariner’s Rest
    4. Laurel Harrison, designer and owner of First Avenue Design
    5. Shussboomer Properties
    6. Burton Jewelers
  • We got small grants to create our storytelling station, and plan our Creative Crosswalks project.
  • And we held our first fundraiser, a special showing of Boys in the Boat.  We brought history to Downtown Anacortes.  We earned money, but also brought folks into downtown businesses, had fun together, and celebrated our town’s history and rowing tradition.  Thank you Anacortes Cinemas and Rockfish Grill for helping us put such a rich local event together very quickly.
• For 2024
  • The outreach committee is small and really cares about downtown Anacortes. This year we plan to write several grants, including for the pocket park north of the post office.  We also will be continuing our cultivation efforts, asking local businesses for support, and launching a $10/month campaign for everyone who would like to help create the vibrant downtown we all are excited about.  If everyone gives a little, it ends up being a lot.  

The Economic Vitality committee creates a supporting environment for the  local businesses and building owners who drive our economy.

• We started strong in 2023: We partnered with the chamber of commerce and EDASC  to start monthly Rise and Learn seminars. We’ve had talks on secrets to small town retail, and hiring and retaining employees.  Our next talk is at 8:30am this Friday – Tim Schofield from US Bank will talk about how to partner with your banker.  Next up,  we’ll talk about Artificial Intelligence, and we’ll be joined by councilmember Walters and Police Chief Floyd to talk about public safety.
• We’re excited for our work in 2024:
  1. We just kicked off a multi-prong effort that encourages investment in our downtown commercial buildings (especially the historic!) and workforce housing
  2. Our effort aims to build a support network of experts and advocates; develop a investment playbook that includes high-value resources (e.g., cash-flow proforma, list of available tax credits, etc); host informational seminars; and advocate for policies supporting historic buildings and housing
  3. Seeking folks interested in learning more or participating in helping vitalize our beautiful historic downtown! Contact us: info@downtownanacortesalliance.org

The DESIGN committee supports a community’s transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets that make our downtown special. We’ve been working hard in 2023 to put together projects that you’ll start to see in town in 2024:

• We are currently Repainting the Welcome Downtown sign, and expect to bring it back around the end of this month.  
• We will be painting Creative Crosswalks at 10th and Commercial.  This brings a bit of beauty and art to the start of downtown.  It also is a signal to drivers to slow down because  they are leaving the state highway and entering a place where pedestrians have priority. 
• We are working with the City of Anacortes to create plans and seek grants for how we will enhance the downtown streetscape and connection to the marina.
• We are planning to build gathering places downtown, where folks can stop and rest or where friends can sit down and have a conversation when they run into each other.