Carytown and the BID/BIRD

The Carytown Merchants Association (CMA) has been discussing the potential of becoming a Business Improvement and Recruitment District (BID/BIRD) with legislation to see how we can move forward. We are in an exploratory phase to see what we could do and how this will benefit Carytown overall. There will be more details at the CMA Meeting on September 4th. Keep an eye out for email blasts with updates on the decisions being made.

Below is the official CMA Statement. Again, please note this concept is just exploratory at this time.

"The consultant so far has presented different scenarios of things we COULD do with the BID/BIRD and how that COULD look to the small businesses and chains. We have a steering committee of local small businesses that have been working to see what the impact and benefits to the businesses would be. A group of small business owners who are looking to make Carytown the best possible, help preserve the small business vibe of this eclectic community.

We have been discussing the idea of all businesses chipping in a small, reasonable amount (instead of just 70 CMA members of the 230 businesses currently), and what COULD we do with it. A "wish list" of things we could do with funding to not only benefit this area, but in turn help increase sales in the area, is currently being put together. This means additional sales tax dollars going back into the general fund for the City of Richmond and therefore into other parts of Richmond as well.

We are putting the top 20 things together into a survey for the other businesses to help see what their priorities are for this community. Some of these things might be dreams, some are definitely needs, but we would want local businesses to help make those assessments. Perhaps every year we tackle a different project with the funding. There is so much flux right now as we assess and think it through.

Could we buy our own benches and replace disintegrating trash can liners? Could we create little side street areas with benches and music where you can grab some food to go and enjoy the sun? Perhaps look into electric car chargers, a trolley, figure out how to add public bathrooms, get enough funding to make sure the area is clean and the weeds are not a jungle...

So again, these are "what ifs" for the team right now, but investing back into our community and helping small businesses stay here another 30 years is ultimately what this group is reviewing. Plus all of this is being determined by small businesses!"