Main Street New Jersey to Hold NJ Downtown Revitalization and Management Institute Workshop in Westfield

Workshop Teaches Leveraging Commercial Real Estate for Business Recruitment

TRENTON, N.J – Registration is still open for the 14th annual Downtown Revitalization & Management Institute (DRMI) hosted by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ (DCA) Main Street New Jersey program. This year’s workshop, which is themed "Connecting Commercial Real Estate to Business Mix: Pro-Active Prospecting for Today’s Economy," will focus on how traditional business districts can gain buy-in from realtors and property owners.  The conference will take place on June 12 at the historic Rialto Theater in downtown Westfield.

This year’s DRMI will make clear the important concepts behind creating and maintaining a downtown that is viable for both residential and business activity during challenging economic times. Designed for business district management organizations, chambers of commerce and municipal, county and regional leaders, this one-day intensive workshop teaches how to recruit businesses to downtowns, how to prospect for tenants, and how to make traditional business districts more appealing to brokers, developers and tenants.

 

"We are pleased that Main Street New Jersey’s DRMI is able to provide an educational resource for towns to both create and revitalize downtown districts, especially under current economic conditions," stated DCA Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III. "Our hope is the guidance offered by experts in this program will result in prosperous business districts that help strengthen communities."  

Through a four-point approach of organization, economic restructuring, design, and promotion, the Main Street New Jersey program provides communities with technical assistance and training to improve downtown business districts. The DRMI workshop assists property owners in improving, creating, reforming and maintaining viable communities for residential and business activities.

 

"Participants in the DRMI workshop are given the opportunity to not only bring vibrancy to their own community, but to also contribute to the future of a larger community of successful business centers in New Jersey," said Jef Buehler, Coordinator of the Main Street New Jersey program at DCA. "This year’s attendees will learn how to make the connections needed to thrive for years to come." 

The workshop will include two expert panels featuring a downtown developer, a commercial real estate broker that specializes on downtowns, a leasing agent with nine years of experience in retail recruitment and leasing for Forest City Enterprises, and two downtown recruitment practitioners from New York City. The first panel is titled "Downtown View, Prospecting and Appeal" and the second is "Tips for Enhancing Broker/ Owner Relationships." The chance to hear from these experts’ experiences about their dealings and relationships with property owners will serve as an invaluable resource for attendees.

Promotional sponsors for the DRMI are the Downtown Westfield Corporation, APA NJ, Downtown New Jersey, and the Transit Village Initiative.

The Main Street New Jersey program, which was established in 1989, is a revitalization program that promotes the historic and economic redevelopment of traditional business districts in New Jersey. The Improvement District program helps businesses and property owners of a community to organize as a single entity, raise funds for activities that enhance or expand upon municipal services, and manage themselves to become a more effective destination for commerce. For more information and to register for this workshop, please visit www.mainstreetnewjersey.com on the DCA website.