2023 Annual Report
dear stakeholders,
2023 was a year of notable growth for Downtown Everett and the organization. Our efforts to revitalize downtown spread through launching new programs and strengthening existing ones. With more residents moving downtown, locals frequenting businesses, and visitors discovering attractions, the promise for downtown is evident.
The annual report provides a glimpse into our commitment and successes. A major focus was supporting small businesses. We launched the storefront enhancement grant to fund projects that improve the appearance of building facades. In addition, the market survey provided fresh data for what kinds of businesses people want to see downtown. We enthusiastically welcomed new businesses throughout 2023, including a cocktail club, steakhouse, event space, and more.
Our streets are cleaner than ever and keeping downtown clean and safe is a top priority. Our Clean Team serviced the nearly 40 block Downtown Improvement District 7 days a week. In addition, our team managing the city owned Everpark Garage maintained it as a convenient option for parking. Our crews strove to make downtown welcoming for residents, employees, and visitors. We can only imagine what downtown would look like without their daily presence.
Downtown placemaking efforts are tangible and noticeable. With the help of volunteers, we planted the downtown flowers for the fourth year and even expanded the program by adding hanging baskets. One more block of holiday lights lit up downtown and banners expanded down Rucker Avenue. This work sets the table for a series of popular events drawing people from across Everett and the region. As our signature events such as Salty Sea Days, Sip & Shop, and Downtown Trick or Treating grew, we launched Cookie Crawl in December, to draw people into downtown during the holiday shopping season.
As part of Washington Main Street, we are eligible to raise vital funding through the Main Street Tax Credit Program. We continued to surpass our fundraising goal with more businesses contributing. Additionally, our partner organization, Downtown Everett Partners provides a way for the community to make charitable contributions. This combined funding allowed us to expand our programs and capacity.
At the end of 2023, our board president Patrick Hall passed the baton to Michael Finch. We’re thrilled to welcome Michael to the role and thank Patrick for 5 years serving as board president. Fittingly, Patrick was recognized as a 2023 Washington Main Street volunteer of the year for his ongoing dedication.
Our commitment to advance a vibrant and thriving downtown is stronger than ever. Our team of staff and volunteers is eager to put our many programs into action as we move forward.
Sincerely,
Liz Stenning Executive Director
the main street approach
Main Street is a nationwide economic development program designed for revitalizing historic downtowns. In January 2021, Downtown Everett became a designated Main Street Community, joining a growing network across the state. Washington Main Street helps communities revitalize the economy, appearance, and image of their downtown districts using the successful Main Street Approach, a comprehensive revitalization strategy built around a community’s unique heritage and attributes. The Main Street Approach has four focus areas, called the Four Points, which drive our revitalization efforts: Design, Economic Vitality, Organization, and Promotion.
the four points
Design - cultivates and activates an inviting, accessible, and people-centered atmosphere that celebrates the historic character of Downtown Everett.
Economic Vitality - strengthens existing businesses and attracts new ones to draw residents, visitors, and investment that creates a healthy, diverse, and thriving economic hub for the entire community to enjoy.
Organization - collaborates with residents and businesses to improve our organizational capacity in conjunction with Downtown Everett’s growth.
Promotion - celebrates and shares downtown’s thriving arts, entertaiment, and dining experiences by promoting community developments and activities happening in and around downtown.
main street tax credit incentive program
Donations to the tax credit program help us continue to focus our energy on providing vital support to the district, and our businesses.
When a business pledges to donate to the Downtown Everett Association through the Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program (MSTCIP), they are able to redirect their tax dollars back into our community - assisting us in our efforts to support economic vitality, promote local experiences, cultivate a strong organizational network, and steward public spaces and historic places.
The MSTCIP is unique to Washington State and offers a path to quadruple a business’s donation to designated Main Street Communities. In 2023, the DEA raised $187,000 through the Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program!
A complete list of 2023 MSTCIP donors is available at the back of this report. Learn more dteverett.org/mainstreet.
design
flower program
In the spring, dozens of volunteers joined us to plant nearly 3,000 flowers in 260 planters around Downtown Everett. This was our fourth year running the Downtown Flower Program, and we continue to grow the program each year.
Thanks to generous donations from the community, we purchased flowers for the 2023 program. In addition, we added 16 new hanging flower baskets! Financial contributions to our partner charitable organization, the Downtown Everett Partners, are critical to keeping the Downtown Flower Program growing and thriving.
street-pole banners
We added eight new street pole banners to Rucker Ave this year. Our banners add vibrancy to the district and provide a welcoming touch.
unreinforced masonry survey project
Many historic buildings in Downtown Everett and throughout Washington State were built with Unreinforced Masonry (URM). These buildings – which represent a significant era of Everett’s history and continue to serve as homes of our local businesses and community activity – can represent a significant risk in the event of a major earthquake. In partnership with the Emergency Management Division and Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, the DEA was selected to pilot a volunteer-led effort to map URMs. Volunteers gathered on a Saturday in April to collect visual data to update the state’s existing - but incomplete - building database.
holiday lighting program
We expanded our holiday lighting program once again with the addition of one more block of tree lighting on Colby Ave. The program was made possible by a generous donation of time and materials from Valley Electric to bring power back to the vintage street poles. Our goal is to add one block of tree lights each year.
public safety task force
Public safety conversations are critical to the vitality of Downtown Everett. In 2023, we convened downtown property and business owners for meetings with City of Everett staff and the Everett Police Department. DEA advocated for state and city legislative changes to address public drug use, street civility, and vandalism.
economic vitality
storefront program
The Downtown Everett Storefront Enhancement Grant, launched in 2022, is intended to provide financial support to business and property owners who embark on projects to improve the appearance of their building facades, storefronts, and window displays with the aim of improving the downtown district’s visibility, attractiveness, safety, and shopability. In 2023, $40,000 was awarded to 11 businesses to fund improvements such as lighting, cafe seating, and new signage. 2023 was the first that this type of grant was awarded to local businesses.
entrepreneur education series
This year, we continued our series of free seminars and workshops focused on the needs of small businesses in Everett. Speakers have presented on retail sales strategies, social media tools, and event season marketing for small business owners with more topics planned for 2024.
ribbon cuttings
We continued to offer ribbon cuttings in 2023. Our ribbon and giant scissors are at the ready for new downtown businesses looking to celebrate their openings!
new businesses
2023 brought a mix of exciting new businesses to Downtown Everett:
• Restaurants - STRGZR, the Monte, Luca Italian, 16Eleven, the Colby Club
• Personal Care/Health & Wellness - Kindred Healing Space, Genoa Healthcare, Crescent Chiropractic
• Services - Heritage Bank, H&R Block, Compass Health, Ant’s Community Garage, Kimley Horn, Stop Claims Corp.
top prospects survey
In 2023 we worked with a consultant, Downtown Professionals Network, to develop a survey to help us gain insights into what types of retail and restaurants people want. The survey was an overwhelming success with nearly 900 respondents! The survey also provided demographic data and general perceptions of downtown. The results helped us shape our business recruitment strategy.
organization
fundraising mixer
We hosted a successful fundraising mixer in March with support from the Organization Committee. Current and potential donors learned more about how they can support DEA programs over Happy Hour at Narrative Coffee.
volunteers
office updates
This year, 168 community members volunteered for 906 hours! Volunteers serve in long-term roles on our board and committees, as well as short-term roles supporting our Downtown Flower Program and events like Salty Sea Days and Downtown Trick-or-Treating.
2023 Volunteer of the Year
Scott Wraspir is our 2023 Volunteer of the Year. Scott is president of P3G, Inc., providing strategic sourcing and marketing services. Scott serves on the Promotion Committee and chaired the Salty Sea Days Task Force. Scott racked up over 100 hours of volunteer time across various committees, task forces, and events this year!
We’ve moved! In July, we relocated a few blocks north on Colby Ave to the Alexander Building at 1511 26th St. This historic home is a wonderful fit for our organization and has provided a welcoming environment for hosting gatherings. The move also creates room for our organization’s continued growth.
DEA staff, board, and committee members attended the Washington Main Street annual conference in Vancouver in the fall to learn best practices from other Main Street communities. Our Marketing Manager, Madison, presented on learnings from our URM survey pilot project alongside representatives from Washington State Department of Architecture and Historic Preservation and Emergency Management Division. Patrick Hall, our Board President, was recognized as Volunteer of the Year!
promotion
events
We continued our slate of popular community events in 2023, starting with a spring Sip & Shop in early May where attendees enjoyed tasting wines while exploring downtown boutiques. In July, we continued our Salty Sea Days block party in a new location near the Everett Municipal Building featuring a beer garden, live music, and family-friendly activities. With support from the Downtown Everett Partners (DEP), Downtown Trick-or-Treating returned with a street festival and trick-or-treating at downtown businesses. We hosted a second Sip & Shop focused on Wintertide shopping, once again growing attendance from the previous events. We launched a new event, the Cookie Crawl, in partnership with the City of Everett as part of their Wintertide festivities. The family-friendly event sold out weeks in advance, bringing hundreds of people into downtown boutiques and galleries for holiday shopping while promoting a dozen of Everett’s wonderful bakeries.
DEA also provided support for other City of Everett and partner events through marketing, cleaning services, tabling, and business outreach. DEA sponsored Fisherman’s Village Music Festival, Cruzin’ 2 Colby, Everett 3on3, and Upper Left Beer Fest & Food Truck Festival.
our digital community
DEA utilizes Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to reach our audience.
• Social followers: 3.7K
• Social reach: 131K
• Newsletter subscribers: 2.4K
2023 finances
expenses: $1,023,014 revenue: $1,094,353
fundraising
The Main Street Tax Credit Program (MSTCIP) is the primary source of fundraising income. The program is unique to Washington State and offers a path to quadruple a business’s donation to designated Main Street Communities. In 2023, the DEA raised $187,000 through the Main Street Tax Credit Incentive Program.
grants
DEA was able to secure funding through the Everett Forward Grant, Washington Main Street economic vitality grant, and City of Everett lodging tax grant. Grant funds supported the Storefront Enhancement Program, a downtown market survey, and Salty Sea Days.
field operations
clean team services
Downtown Everett property owners, including the City of Everett and Snohomish County, pay Downtown Improvement District (DID) assessments annually to fund enhanced cleaning services.
The Clean Team cleaned or removed a total of 2,398 tags in 2023, a 3% descrease from the 2,477 tags removed in 2022. The crew completed 423 biohazard responses this year and returned 111 shopping carts to stores throughout Everett. The Clean Team disposed of 8,231 total bags of trash and 889 bags of recycling.
686
avg. bags of trash emptied per month vs. 657/month average in 2019 vs. 600/month average in 2022
200 or removed per month vs. 206/month average in 2022
avg. graffiti tags cleaned
vs. 125/month average in 2019
everpark garage
Everpark is owned and maintained by the City of Everett and managed by the Downtown Everett Association. Throughout 2023, the DEA worked with the City of Everett on final preparations for a garage automation project planned for early 2024.
2023 donors
Anderson Hunter Law Firm
Bahnmiller Construction Inc.
Bayside Floor Supply
Black Forest Mushrooms LLC
Blume Keeney
Burkett’s
Cafe Makario
Coastal Community Bank
Diamond Parking Services, LLC
Erickson Furniture Co
Funko
Goldfinch Brothers Inc.
Harmsen LLC
Heritage Bank
KRKO/KXA North Sound Media
Peoples Bank
Perteet, Inc.
Port of Everett
Puget Sound Energy
Screenprinting NW
Thompson Financial Services
Wolfe Fire Protection, Inc.
Wolfe Plumbing, Inc.
Sip
Anisoptera
Jordan Stephens Board Vice President Anderson Hunter Law board of directors: 2023
Patrick Hall Board President Everett Historical Commission
Craig Skotdal Board Treasurer
Skotdal Real Estate
Erica Weir Village Theatre
Danielle Lothrop Angel of the Winds Arena
Tyler Chism City of Everett
Michael Finch CenturyPacific, LLLP
Corey Margolis Board Secretary Angel of the Winds Arena
Dan Gaffney Moss Adams
Stephanie Wright Snohomish County
Holly Pohland Burkett’s
Dan Eernissee City of Everett Co-Chair ratepayer advisory council
Lang Nelson BlueSteal LLC Co-Chair
Melody Warouw Skotdal Real Estate
staff
Liz Stenning liz@downtowneverettwa.org Executive Director
Program Manager
Dana Oliver dana@downtowneverettwa.org
Everpark Facility Supervisor
Keith Becker keith@downtowneverettwa.org
Tia Winch Imagine Children’s Museum
Alan Dorway First Presbyterian Church
Madison Vasquez madison@downtowneverettwa.org Marketing Manager
Stephanie Prothero stephanie@downtowneverettwa.org Business Administrator
Cody MacDougall cody@downtowneverettwa.org DID Field Supervisor
425-258-0700 1511 26th St Everett, WA 98201
@dteverett downtowneverettwa.org
