Downtown Evansville EID 2023 Annual Report

OUR MISSION

The EID builds a more active and inclusive Downtown Evansville.

We enhance resident, consumer, investor, worker, and visitor experiences in Downtown Evansville.

Photo: TYMEALLO Studios

2023 ANNUAL REPORT

Dear Neighbors, As the Downtown Evansville Economic Improvement District (EID) reflects on 2023, an overarching theme is our role as a connector in our neighborhood.

The EID connects through our areas of focus in our 450 parcels: • Clean, Safe, & Beautification: Creating and maintaining a welcoming and vibrant Downtown for all people (an estimated 998,000+ people visited our neighborhood in 2023) • Events & Marketing: Encouraging economic development and consumer spending, activation, and promoting our neighborhood • Economic Development/Business Recruitment & Retention: Setting the stage for continued growth and expansion of the Downtown business community And new businesses opened last year! Evansville’s first food hall, a Mexican restaurant, a nightclub, an event venue, and several financial service businesses opened their doors.

We rolled out the red carpet with assistance on grand openings, press releases, and content on social media – all ways to connect them to new consumers and generate awareness.

A variety of temporary road closures created challenges for everyone. The EID installed “Open for Business” banners, communicated the closures with the public, and organized direct mail and digital marketing campaigns to share the message that Downtown is OPEN for business. We also organized special contests to reward individuals who frequented Downtown Businesses. These efforts helped connect our businesses to the community and encourage consumer spending.

Last February, after a vehicle drove into the Peephole Bar & Grill the EID connected Peephole staff to a local contractor who secured the building and created a virtual tip jar for impacted employees. When the popular business reopened, we amplified their reopening through our highly engaged social media (58,000+ followers and counting).

A special thank you to our board of directors, property owners, businesses, residents, sponsors, volunteers, and event attendees for helping us create connections in 2023. We are grateful to work alongside you and look forward to deepening these connections in 2024.

Sincerely,

Adam Trinkel Executive Director Photo: TYMEALLO Studios

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2023 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE John Lamb, Chair German American Bank Stephanie Engelbrecht, Vice Chair Engelbrecht Enterprises Lucero Tennis Kieffer, Secretary Jackson Kelley Johnathan Pope, Treasurer YMCA Phillip Roberts, Chair Emeritus Baird Wealth Management BOARD MEMBERS Kelley Coures Department of Metropolitan Development Larry Donald Downtown Neighborhood Association Dwight Emmert Resident Todd Gile Trinity United Methodist Church Dr. Kimberly Haywood-Pfender Evansville Eyecare Associates Randy Hobson 2nd Language Anna Jordan Ten Adams Jeff Justice Hafer Stacey McNeill Bally’s Evansville Tresa Miller Grateful Threads Fabric & Furnishings Jim Moore One Main Financial Amanda Schmitt CenterPoint Energy Stephanie Terry Children’s Museum of Evansville Kendra Vanzo Old National Bank Heather Vaught Memo & River City Coffee + Goods Photo: TYMEALLO Studios

EID Staff Adam Trinkel, Executive Director adam@downtownevansville.com

Joshua Driskell, Clean & Safe Manager joshua@downtownevansville.com

Alli Turpin, Graphics & Events Coordinator alli@downtownevansville.com

Laura Gobert, Marketing & Events Coordinator laura@downtownevansville.com

sponsors Community partners contributed over $100,000 in financial support in 2023. Please join us in thanking them for their generosity!

ADOPT-A-BLOCK SPONSORS Clark Security Edward Jones Steve Harding Home Outlet/E.C. Barton & Co. Pinnacle Contractors Riverside Capital Management Group Jim Back CFP© Financial Advisor & Daniel Schweikhart Financial Advisor Signarama Stephanie Morris Homes

EVENT SPONSORS A Downtown Christmas Engelbrecht Enterprises F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors Astound Broadband Donaldson Arms Gerling Law Dog Day Downtown German American Bank Biscuit Belly Earthborn Holistic Pet Food F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors Gerling Law Office of the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Pet Food Center Romain Subaru

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Fireworks on the Ohio Bally’s Evansville Explore Evansville Ruler Foods Giant Oil, Inc. On the Fly Convenience Stores Riverside Capital Management Group Jim Back CFP© Financial Advisor & Daniel Schweikhart Financial Advisor Baird Wealth Management Clark Security Liberty Federal Credit Union NOMAD Technology Group Prairie Farms Halloween Stroll and Trunk or Treat Car Show Donaldson Arms Astound Broadband MY 105.3 WJLT

Sidewalk Sale Heritage Federal Credit Union F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors Small Business Saturday Heritage Federal Credit Union Wine Walk Series Romain Cross Pointe Edward Jones Steve Harding F.C. Tucker Emge Realtors Gerling Law Rumble Boxing Yoga Series The Post House

GENERAL SPONSORS Deaconess Hafer

HOLIDAY DÉCOR SPONSOR

Night Market Series Deaconess Astound Broadband

Santa’s Mailbox Riverside Capital Management Group Jim Back CFP© Financial Advisor & Daniel Schweikhart Financial Advisor

NoCo Makers Market

IN-KIND SPONSORS

Grateful Threads Fabric & Furnishings Gerling Law Santa Stroll Riverside Capital Management Group Jim Back CFP© Financial Advisor & Daniel Schweikhart Financial Advisor

American Grease & Septic Hamlin Equipment Rental Midwest Communications (104.1 WIKY) Mulzer Crushed Stone Raptor Con Townsquare Media (MY 105.3 WJLT & 99.5 WKDQ)

Clean, safe, & beautification

3,120

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1,300

10

3

260

empty tree wells enhanced on 6th Street

“messes” cleaned up

1,890

28

bags of litter collected

Our clean, safe, and beautification efforts have a major impact on our Downtown businesses and neighbors.

Enhancing the beauty of our neighborhood and creating a more vibrant Downtown helps us attract new businesses, consumers, and workers.

Our services are designed for their safety and peace of mind.

new planters installed

trellises added on Main Street

annual flowers planted

graffiti “tags” removed

cubic feet of mulch spread

471

hours of additional patrols

NEW IN 2023 We created a resource guide for our neighborhood.

The guide provides contact information for: • • • •

safety & emergency response mental health & addiction support housing & shelter services clean & safe resources

The EID’s snow removal contractor pretreats sidewalks before a winter weather event.

Our security contractors, Erik and Matt, from Evansville’s Finest LLC.

Events Our events welcomed more than 50,000 people in 2023. Each event is an opportunity to showcase our neighborhood, make lifelong memories, and encourage economic development through consumer activity in our shops and restaurants.

We thank our sponsors and volunteers for their support in creating these enhanced experiences.

Wine Walk Series presented by Romain Cross Pointe (2 events) Our venues, restaurants, and shops hosted 1,000+ events in Downtown Evansville in 2023.

Sidewalk Sale presented by Heritage Federal Credit Union Market on Main (16 events)

We promoted these events through: • our website calendar • printed bi-monthly events calendars • weekly events graphics on social media

Yoga Series presented by The Post House (17 events) Fireworks on the Ohio presented by Bally’s Evansville Night Market Series presented by Deaconess (2 events) Dog Day Downtown presented by German American Bank NoCo Makers Market presented by Grateful Threads Fabric & Furnishings Halloween Stroll and Trunk-or-Treat Car Show presented by Donaldson Arms Small Business Saturday A Downtown Christmas presented by Engelbrecht Enterprises Santa Stroll presented by Riverside Capital Management Group Jim Back CFP© Financial Advisor & Daniel Schweikhart Financial Advisor

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Thank you to everyone who came in and shopped small today. It makes a huge difference in the life of a small business to have a day like today (record breaking).

I appreciate your support and will be looking forward to the next time you come in!”

“ Vicki Bohleber Owner of Posh on Main

Mary Allen Owner of Sixth + Zero

‘THANK YOU’ can’t fully express our gratitude for everyone who shopped small today! Every hello, hug, sale and conversation means so much!

Please know we see you and we appreciate you!

PS. It was a RECORD sales day!”

Marketing

In August, we debuted our updated website designed to be more mobile and user-friendly. The new features include: • • •

an enhanced event calendar an embedded social media feed linked to our accounts and a business directory organized into 46 categories

Our marketing efforts initiate conversations online, gain both local and regional exposure, and increase activity for our Downtown businesses and developments. We share the story of our neighborhood through our social media efforts, media appearances, and newly updated website.

UPDATED WEBSITE

TOP WEBPAGE VIEWS HOMEPAGE 30,000+ A DOWNTOWN CHRISTMAS 3,200+

18,633 Users from August - December 41,447 Page Views from August - December

EARNED MEDIA

68 TV Appearances

61 Print Articles

DOG DAY 2,100+

SOCIAL MEDIA

58,000+ FOLLOWERS ACROSS ALL PLATFORMS

FACEBOOK

LINKEDIN

35,478 FOLLOWERS 21% GROWTH

2,885 FOLLOWERS 34% GROWTH

INSTAGRAM

TIKTOK

12,273 FOLLOWERS 11% GROWTH

3,645 FOLLOWERS 149% GROWTH

X (FORMERLY TWITTER)

THREADS

3,039 FOLLOWERS

1,364 FOLLOWERS

DIGITAL BILLBOARDS

VINYL BILLBOARD

Multiple messages focused on shopping & dining small and our holiday events

General messaging focused around our 20+ shops and 50+ restaurants

Time period: November - December 2023

Time period: August 2023 - February 2024

Locations: Lloyd Expressway & Green River Road, Newburgh, and Henderson

Location: Highway 41 & Lynch Road

Total impressions: 1,058,325

Weekly impressions: 145,939

economic development

BUSINESS RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

Business growth in Downtown Evansville is a direct result of the efforts of the Downtown Evansville Economic Improvement District.

Three tools in our economic development toolbox are relationship building, Placer.ai, and community development & sharing our story.

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Relationship Building

We create connections with Downtown property owners. Through these relationships, we connect potential buyers to property owners for tenants (or a buyer). Collaboration is key to relationship building. We partner with organizations like the Indiana Small Business Development Center and the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership to connect with businesses looking to start or grow their business Downtown.

Placer.ai

is the newest tool in our economic development toolbox.

2 Placer.ai A location intelligence and foot traffic data provider, Placer.ai, gives us data and insights on visitors to Downtown Evansville – understanding where people are coming from, where they are going, their length of stay Downtown, and various other demographics and psychographics. We use this data to better understand the type of consumers who visit Downtown and their preferences.

Community Development & Sharing our Story

traditional work of an improvement district keeps our neighborhood on track for growth. Litter and snow removal allows 3 The people to move easily from building to building. Security patrols keep everyone feeling safe. Landscape and beautification efforts create a neighborhood that intrigues, drawing people along through it. Advocacy and effort in expanding beyond Main Street has paid off in new businesses and residences in the North of Court Street (NoCo) area, and along 4th and 6th Streets. We share the story of our neighborhood and businesses through many platforms, specifically through our active social media presence.

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While we continue to work on attracting new businesses, join us in celebrating the new and expanded businesses that opened in 2023, and those planned for 2024.

new businesses

Open in 2023 Commercial Title ECP Consulting Edward Jones Steve Harding La Mexicana Main Street Food & Beverage (4 restaurants) McClarney Financial Group Parlor Doughnuts Flagship Location & Headquarters Salon Redefined Warehouse 410

Expansion High Score Saloon

Coming Soon Catanese Real Estate ECHO Housing and Community Development Hush JD Sheth Foundation Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub Thai Delicious

New Residential 67 Units at Market Street Living

2023 budget Revenue

Event Participation $36,745

Expenses

Contractual Revenue $34,028

Economic Development $71,159

Merchandise Revenue $3,504

Events & Marketing $289,245 Sponsorships $128,795

Clean & Safe $199,464

Total Revenue

Total Expenses

$766,487

$788,872

Assessments $585,800

General & Administrative $206,619

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about us

SHOP DOWNTOWN EVANSVILLE MERCHANDISE

300+

BUSINESSES SUPPORTED IN DOWNTOWN EVANSVILLE The Downtown Evansville Economic Improvement District (EID) organized monthly meetings with businesses in the district to communicate EID-led initiatives, neighborhood events, and serve as an open forum to discuss ideas and potential collaborations.

EID SERVICE AREA

Parcels within the EID boundaries fund our work through an annual assessment levied on tax bills. Properties that front Main Street pay a higher rate, commensurative with the additional services they receive.

Shopify

In 2023 we launched a Shopify store to streamline sales of Downtown Evansville merchandise.

This has helped better track our inventory and has allowed us to expand sales beyond our events.

2023 sales: $1,279.70

Total orders: 38

Site visitors/sessions: 1,234

Top selling products:

- 827 of those sessions came from a mobile device - 585 of those sessions came from Facebook

1. Solar Eclipse Glasses 2. Pride T-shirt 3. Eco-Tote Bag

GET INVOLVED Become a sponsor: Adam Trinkel, adam@downtownevansville.com

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Volunteer with us: Laura Gobert, laura@downtownevansville.com

DowntownEvansville.com MAIN STREET BENEFIT ZONE

318 Main Street, Suite 401 Evansville, Indiana

OUR vision We will be acknowledged as the most vibrant urban district in the region, filled with unparalleled opportunities in which to live, work, learn, dine, invest, and play among great public spaces, happy people, and thriving businesses. We will be a resilient neighborhood, which cares for its own, as well as one that drives individual, family, organizational, city-wide and regional growth, prosperity, and development.

Photo: TYMEALLO Studios