Rogers City Council members on Monday reviewed a $71 million proposed budget for 2022 which included ending the $100,000 contract with Downtown Rogers, Inc. (DTR, Inc., a Division of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce). The City's Community Development Department will continue funding concerts in Railyard Park and contracting with a private company to manage the Farmers Market, previously operated by DTR, Inc.
Even though DTR, Inc. will discontinue downtown events programming, it will continue to be an active Division of the Chamber, helping to sustain growth of the Go Downtown Rogers brand and support its communication channels that were formerly managed by the Rogers Downtown Partners (RDP) merchant association (who announced earlier this month that it will dissolve at the end of the year). Go Downtown Rogers communications include a weekly newsletter, website, social media and community events calendar. "This marketing support ensures that there is still one voice to the community for promoting downtown events and programming, downtown merchants, and downtown development news," said Brad Phillips, SVP of Marketing Communications for the Chamber.
Mayor Greg Hines said he thinks it is time to put the Frisco Festival on halt, reset and decide what Rogers wants moving forward. "One possibility would be planning smaller events spread throughout the year that are less disruptive to merchants and bring a steady flow of people to downtown," he explained. Raymond Burns, President/CEO of the Chamber said the festival is not what it once was and has seen a dip in attendance in recent years. "I think there's a question as to whether the festival is necessary and serves the purpose it originally did," he added. "The concerts on the new Butterfield Stage in the park attract more people to downtown."
The City and Chamber will continue to collaborate with downtown organizations to figure out what these changes will mean moving forward. These organizations include Rotary Club of Downtown Rogers, Arkansas Public Theatre (APT), Rogers Historical Museum (RHM), Rogers Experimental House (RXH), downtown merchants and schools. Burns said, "The Chamber will continue to provide events programming for the monthly Art on the Bricks Art Walk, which is sponsor supported, and look for opportunities for additional programming that make financial sense like the Rogers Cycling Festival and the Diverse Taste of Rogers."
As part of its Economic Development mission-work the Chamber's Downtown Development Division is the primary point-of-contact for economic development in Downtown Rogers and provides resources and help implementing the Downtown Rogers Initiative Plan. This work focuses on increasing the number of businesses, employees, and residential properties in the downtown core. It also cultivates strong relations with existing businesses and government entities, identifying opportunities to activate underutilized properties, connecting potential partnerships and facilitating business relations to maximize resources for downtown and the surrounding community.
