Longview Business Nonprofit Plans Harvest Festival as Fall Gathering and Employee Fundraiser | Local business

The Downtowners, a longtime Longview nonprofit group, is hosting a Harvest Festival in downtown Longview from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, with the goal of showing visitors why they should visit downtown again and again.

The festival is based on an event of the same name held in the mid-2000s, according to Lindsey Cope, president of “Parks and Recreation” Downtowners (whose name sounds like sit-com lead Leslie Knope).

The festival is set to include events such as a free concert featuring a country singer, a truck show, a pie-eating contest, a children’s haunted house and a petting zoo with a pony named Lil Sebastian.

The plan is not just to have fun, but to earn at least $20,000 in sponsorships, to hire a permanent DownTowers employee, and to plan additional events to downtown shops, restaurants and stations. The annual event will continue to provide staff support, as well as financial support whenever possible, Cope said.

Cope said she worked as an employee of the Coltz Economic Development Council, an independent 501©4 to help attract people and businesses downtown. Every county in Washington has a similar organization dedicated to local economic development, funded in part by the Washington State Department of Commerce.

For the past four years, Cope has served the Downtown Board as an employee of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council, and the paid staff member’s commitment has paid off, said Brad Whittaker, owner of Realty ONE Pacific Group, whose business is on Commerce Street.

Whittaker said downtown grew after buying the nearly 100-story office building in 2018, and Downtowners added a new senior membership level of $2,500, up from $50 previously.

“A developed downtown is very important,” he said.

Whittar Realty Co. doesn’t take advantage of foot traffic like store festivals, but people drawn to downtown may end up buying properties nearby and returning to it. He contributes to the “long game” of Downtowners, and sees how other vibrant urban areas like Vancouver and Hood River “create an energy that makes people want to go,” he said.

Whittaker said a permanent, dedicated employee should lead the charge to grow downtown, not a part-time volunteer.

Over the past four years, Cope said she’s helped add regular events like Small Business Saturdays to draw customers downtown. Now, at least double the number of permanent members attend monthly Downtowners meetings.

The overall team has grown from eight paid members at $25 to 50 at $75 around 2018, Cope said. The new membership levels range from $100 to $2,500 and offer benefits such as being added to the DowntownWorths website, appearing on local radio commercials and receiving advertising for a grand opening or grand opening event.

Coop is the mom-and-pop shops that make up most of downtown, dedicated not only to their businesses, but to their neighborhoods, helping to create a sense of place that attracts more businesses and residents.

“There’s something very exciting about having such a vibrant downtown,” he said.