DISCOVER TROY
Downtown business community gathers to look ahead to future
TROY, N.Y.>> The downtown business community gathered Wednesday to celebrate its successes and share ideas for the future at the Troy Downtown Business Improvement District’s annual meeting and Discover Troy event.
The evening, held at Takk House, included a small business expo, a panel discussion on development, a review of last year’s annual report and voting on new board members.
Wednesday’s gathering was a chance for BID members to networks and connect, as well as commend their community’s past accomplishments.
“The renaissance of Troy is not a sudden phenomenon or fad, but the result of much hard work, time, dollars, sweat, vision and maybe just a little faith by local business leaders, officials, residents, developers and entrepreneurs before us, who got the ball, or in this case, the proverbial egg, rolling,” said keynote speaker Jeff Mirel of The Rosenblum Companies, which is currently working on redeveloping The Record’s former site at 501 Broadway.
A panel of Troy’s entrepreneurs spoke about the development of Troy, at the event held amidst National Economic
Development Week. Garry Brown of Brown’s Brewing Co. told about starting his brewery here in 1990, before many other downtown businesses. His decision to come to Troy was largely because of the Hudson River, and the affordable real estate, he said.
Panelist Bill Gamble of Pinhole Press explained that he was drawn to the location because his company could be in close proximity of other businesses at similar stages of growth, something he learned was valuable from being in an incubator at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The only downside of Troy’s development that the panel identified was difficulty parking in the downtown district, as Bianca Dupuis of The Broken Mold Studio on River Street mentioned.
With more people expected to move to Troy in coming years, Tom Rossi of Redburn Development thinks it’s important to offer different types of housing within the city, he said during the program.
In the meeting portion of Wednesday’s event, the BID’s executive director Katie Hammon reviewed highlights of the organization’s 2016 year, in which areas of focus were marketing, beautification, special events and business development and retention.
Financially, the BID took in about $520,000 and spent $445,000, making about $75,000 in net income for the year. Special events brought in the most money, more than half of the BID’s total income, with the most profitable being Rockin’ on the River, Makers Market, Troy Pig Out and Chowderfest.
In addition to hosting 36 special events, a total of 17 businesses held ribbon cuttings with the BID in 2016.
Furthermore, the BID launched its Raise. Plent. Grow. initiative, raising $23,000 to help grow Troy’s urban tree canopy.
Four new board members were welcomed by the BID as a result of the annual election. They were Mirel of The Rosenblum Companies, Heidi Sicari of Takk House, Alisha Rogers of Judge Development and Jinah Kim of Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen.
More information about the Troy Downtown Business Improvement District and its upcoming events can be found at www. downtowntroy.org.