EUREKA REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

Eureka launches business support initiatives

Donna Tam/The Times-Standard Posted: 09/08/2009 01:15:17 AM PDT

 In an attempt to help grow the local economy, the city of Eureka is hoping to improve its communications with area business owners. The city has launched the Business Support Program, an effort consisting of four initiatives to help the city gather more information and increase business awareness of ways the city can help. The four initiatives are a business assessment survey, an enterprise zone educational workshop, an e-mail newsletter campaign, and an update of the city's redevelopment Web site.

Judy Harrison, a consultant to the city who specializes in business growth, said it is a cooperative effort for the city, and the first step is encouraging business owners to take the assessment survey. ”We've had a pretty good turnout so far but really want to blow the socks off of this and have a huge response,” she said, adding that the survey will provide the city information to better help it develop programs and provide assistance. ”We just want businesses to know that the city cares,” Harrison said.

“We want to know what they need and we want to keep them here.” Redevelopment Director Cindy Trobitz-Thomas said the information helps the city direct its limited resources toward programs and services that can help the most. Although local businesses, especially those in Old Town and downtown, seem fairly stable considering the economy, Trobitz-Thomas said, there is still room for growth. Advertisement Quantcast ”There's not a whole lot of transition here, but we have some industry that might be on the edge because of the recession,” she said. “We want to be able to tell them about things they can tap into.”

Beverly Sousa, owner of Bev's Real Kids and secretary for the Henderson Center Merchants Association, said the city has had a good discussion with the association regarding its initiates. She said she found it helpful and would welcome the city's efforts, especially the enterprise zone workshop and the e-mail newsletter. ”An e-mail would be great,” she said. “You would get the information and you could kind of go over the information at your leisure.”

Harrison said making it easier for business owners to communicate with the city is what the city wants to achieve because it wants to be a catalyst for growth. ”The businesses are the core of a good economy, so the healthier the businesses the healthier our economy,” she said.