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Vergennes Downtown Future Promising

photo by Mike Cameron Leanne Tingay of The Vermont Downtown Program explains a visual of the Vergennes plan to memebers of the Vergennes Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday May 7th, 2008

photo by Mike Cameron Leanne Tingay answers questions from members of the Vergennes Area Chamber of Commerce after her presentation on May 7th, 2008.

Tuesday May 13, 2008

By Mike Cameron

    At their Wednesday morning May 7th  business meeting, Vergennes Area Chamber of Commerce members were given a lively presentation on the Vermont Downtown Program by Leanne Tingay a downtown specialist who came to Vermont by way of Erie Pennsylvania with an impressive record for turning around downtown areas that have had difficulty keeping up with today's suburban shopping trends.

    “Most purchases are made between the hours of 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.  The malls are open,” said the nationally certified downtown specialist who is now the point person with the Vermont Downtown Program.  That opening salvo got everyone's attention.

    Tingay then asked those in attendance; “What did most of the veterans do when they returned from World War Two.  They did two things.” The answer, as history tells us was to find ways to purchase a home and find ways to finance an education.  The move to the suburbs was on in the post WWII era as returning vets purchased new homes outside the city limits in most of the country Tingay explained further.

    Since 1945, national trends have continued to erode downtowns all across the country but the dawn of a new era has begun and Leanne Tingay is an important part of it.  

    Tingay works with cities like Vergennes to find ways to bring new ideas and people together to make downtowns more attractive and viable through the Vermont Downtown Program.

    Her experience in other states like Arizona and Pennsylvania has given her a wealth of knowledge in areas like Design, Promotion, Economic Issues, and Organization.

    Helping communities like Vergennes utilize these marketing tools and helping them to   apply for funding through available matching grant capital is helping municipalities to realize the important resource value of our downtown areas.

    The process has worked in other parts of the country and it has already begun to work here in Vermont.  

    Tingay is also a strong advocate of technology particularly the internet as a key tool to achieve downtown revitalization goals and to keep them connected to cutting edge ideas.

    She also praised local officials and business leaders in Vergennes for their leadership in finding ways to utilize the funding available in the Vermont Downtown Program for their city.  “Vergennes has taken a big advantage of the Vermont Downtown Program and as a result we are now going to be able to go much further, much faster,” she said.

    The program that began in 1998 as part of the Downtown Development Act recognizes that “vital downtowns are critical to the well-being of Vermont's communities.”

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