Rogers losing big downtown booster

City shifting funds from event planning to cultural and arts programming

ROGERS — A nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting downtown is about to dissolve. The Frisco Festival, one of downtown’s best-known events, might not happen again.

Despite these recent developments, there is still plenty of support for the area and plans for the future, according to Raymond Burns, Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

Several downtown business owners said they are excited about what the changes may bring.

They are sad to see the Frisco Festival go for nostalgic reasons, but they don’t think it positively impacted their businesses, they said.

Rogers Downtown Partnership, a merchant’s organization also known as Go Downtown Rogers, announced earlier this month it plans to dissolve at the end of the year. The partnership is responsible for communication through its website, newsletter and social media pages, as well as downtown events such as Bikes on the Bricks and Oktoberfest, according to board president Rick McLeod.

Downtown is thriving and there are other organizations working to bring people to the area, so the partnership’s board began to question its relevance, McLeod said.

During an annual budget review meeting Monday, the city announced it’s ending a $100,000 contract for event planning with Downtown Rogers Inc., a division of the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.

The money will be shifted to culture and arts programming, said John McCurdy, city community development director. The city’s Community Development Department plans to continue downtown events such as the concerts at Railyard Park and will hire a private contractor to manage the farmers market, according to Mayor Greg Hines. However, it will not fund the Frisco Festival and Christmas parade in 2022.

This year’s Christmas parade is still planned for Dec. 3, Burns said.

Even though Downtown Rogers Inc. is discontinuing events programming, the nonprofit will continue to be an active division of the chamber, Burns said. Part of that will be sustaining the Rogers Downtown Partnership’s Go Downtown Rogers brand, including its website, newsletter and social media communication, he said.

Communicating with stakeholders is a big part of the partnership, McLeod said.

“We feel great about that being kept going by such a good organization as the chamber,” he said.

Rogers Downtown Partnership is still in talks with the Rogers Downtown Rotary Club to continue its events, said McLeod, who also serves as Rotary Club secretary and spoke on its behalf.

The club wants to make sure it has enough volunteers to do the events well before it moves forward, he said.

FRISCO FESTIVAL

Hines said he thinks it’s time to put the Frisco Festival on halt, reset and decide what Rogers wants moving forward.

The two-day festival, established in 1984, celebrated its 36th year in August.

During the festival, the city hears a lot of complaints from downtown merchants who are concerned about streets shutting down and loss of business, Hines said. The money the city is spending on the festival is designed to help downtown businesses, not hurt them, he said.

Instead, Hines proposed the possibility of planning smaller events throughout the year that are less disruptive to merchants and bring a steady flow of people downtown.

Burns said the festival isn’t what it once was and attendance has dwindled over the years.

Dom Smith, a lifelong Rogers resident, said he is sad to see the festival go, but as co-owner of the Dandy Roll, a home goods store on Walnut Street, he isn’t upset.

During the festival, foot traffic in the Dandy Roll doesn’t decrease much when Walnut Street is shut down, but the ratio of people who come in to make a purchase goes down, Smith said.

“I think it draws a large amount of people to downtown for the first time, but they are downtown to see things rather than to buy things,” Smith said, adding that bringing people downtown for the festival gives businesses good exposure.

The festival requires Smith to increase staffing without much return on investment, he said. Shoplifting incidents also increase, Smith said.

Smith likes the idea of creating smaller events that bring foot traffic, but not so much traffic that businesses are overwhelmed and don’t see a return on investment, he said.

Smith said Downtown Rogers Inc., which was previously Main Street Rogers, did a fantastic job running the farmers market and he is sorry to see them go.

“I also understand the city is investing more money into the park and downtown area,” he said.

Downtown businesses as a whole are supportive of city events, but big festivals are not necessarily in the best interest of the businesses, said Melissa Turpin, co-owner of Honeycomb Kitchen Shop on Walnut Street. Turpin is also a chamber board member and former Rogers Downtown Partnership board member, she said.

While it’s good to get new people into the area because they may come back later, the Frisco Festival weekend is not a big moneymaker for small businesses, she said.

It’s sad to see the festival end because it has been a part of Rogers for a really long time, but people are more interested in the new concert series, she said.

Ten years ago, downtown needed a merchant’s association to advertise and draw people downtown, but now the area has grown thanks to the efforts of organizations such as Downtown Rogers Inc. and to the city’s efforts with the new Railyard Park, stage, facilities and events, she said.

“It’s not a necessity to get people to come. People are coming on their own because of what downtown Rogers has to offer,” Turpin said. “As long as business owners stay committed to offering unique and great shopping, we will continue to grow downtown.”

Turpin said she thinks there are still more changes to come but said she is excited to see what they may be.

“I know the city is working hard to make downtown Rogers a desirable spot,” she said.

CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP

As the changes unfold, Burns said he expects 2022 will be a building year and a learning year.

The city and chamber will continue to collaborate with downtown organizations to figure out what the changes will mean, he said.

Other organizations that support downtown include the Rotary Club of Downtown Rogers, Arkansas Public Theatre, Rogers Historical Museum, Rogers Experimental House, downtown merchants and schools, Burns said.

The chamber will also continue to provide events programming for the monthly Art on the Bricks Art Walk, which is sponsor-supported, and will look for opportunities for additional programs that make financial sense, like the Rogers Cycling Festival and the Diverse Taste of Rogers, he said.

The chamber has a contract with the city for economic development, which includes the chamber’s downtown development division, Burns said.

Karen Wagaman runs the division and helps implement the long-term strategy for the Downtown Rogers Initiative Plan to get people to work, live and open businesses in the area, Burns said. The initiative also cultivates relationships with existing businesses and government entities, identifies opportunities to activate underutilized properties and connects potential partnerships and business relationships, according to a news release last week from the chamber.