Everyone anticipates that their retail spending will increase dramatically in preparation for the holiday season. But what very few realize is the potential impact where they spend their retail dollars. Deciding to purchase gifts and holiday specialty items at locally owned business like those found downtown greatly benefits the entire Bozeman community.

“Studies from small towns in Maine to sizeable cities like Austin, Texas found that locally-owned independent businesses create about three and a half times the local economic activity as chains do. A study released in 2004 looked at the local economic impact of 10 independent businesses and 10 chains in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago and found that the independents generate 70 percent more local economic impact per square foot than chain stores,” said American Independent Business Alliance director Jennifer Rockne. “It is just the fact because home town businesses pay local employees, use the goods and services of other local independent businesses and give back to community institutions far more than national chains.” Rockne concludes.

Making a conscious decision to support independent businesses like those found downtown can have a surprisingly significant difference. A recent study demonstrated that shifting even a modest amount of consumer spending from chains to locally owned businesses would have a major impact on the West Michigan economy. Local Works: Examining the Impact of Local Business on the West Michigan Economy, which was conducted by Civic Economics, found that, if the 600,000 residents of Grand Rapids and surrounding Kent County were to redirect just 10 percent of their total spending from chains to local businesses, it would create nearly $140 million in new economic activity for the region and 1,600 new jobs.

Borrowing the findings of this West Michigan study, you could extrapolate what a similar shift in spending would equate in Bozeman. Given that Bozeman commercially supports approximately 60,000 area residents, if 10% of their spending was redirected from national chains to locally owned businesses, it would create $14 million in new economic activity. This “reinvestment” into the community would also create 160 new jobs equating over $3 million in new wages. The collective impact of residents making a concerted effort to support independent businesses reaps enormous benefits for the entire community.

Therefore, the Downtown Partnership is asking every citizen to come together in support of downtown Bozeman by demonstrating that their personal spending decisions can have a positive impact for the entire community. In fact, the Downtown Partnership urges people to think about the impact of their gift purchases. During the busy holiday shopping season, all of the locally owned downtown businesses are asking Bozeman to in-source the holidays and shop locally.

Bozeman stands to gain in every way by supporting our local community-based businesses. They provide all of us with essential goods and services, well-paying jobs, and continued support for charitable groups and special events. Independent businesses are a critical to Bozeman’s social, cultural and economic health, so shop, dine and seek professional services downtown throughout the holiday season.

After nearly 10 years in the making, the City of Bozeman’s first parking garage is scheduled to open for the public just after the beginning of the New Year. The $12 million facility – to be named “Bridger Park Downtown” – will accommodate 435 vehicles at its location between Tracy and Black avenues along Mendenhall Street, just half a block north of Bozeman’s popular historic Main Street.

The parking garage will also serve as the primary hub for the City’s Streamline public bus system. The north and west sides of the facility will be enhanced by approximately 10,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space. The City sold the commercial space to a private developer to further fund construction of the building.

Bridger Park Downtown will be the central component of the downtown parking district which will be branded with a new downtown parking logo: a white bold capital “P” on a bright blue square background. Within the coming year, a comprehensive downtown parking sign plan will be implemented to better direct people to the variety of parking options downtown.

“We’re really excited that in early 2009, we’ll have a brand new, high-tech parking facility that will meet Bozeman’s needs far into the future,” comments Paul Burns, Bozeman’s new parking manager. “It’s been a long time coming, but the community will be proud of the result, and I expect it to significantly improve the parking choices downtown.”

The facility will feature five floors of elevator-serviced parking. In lieu of traditional parking attendants, the garage will operate with a state-of-the-art equipment package designed to facilitate a user-friendly experience.

“Our primary customers will be those individuals who need to park downtown on a daily basis,” Burns said. Employees, employers and residents are among those who are anticipated to pay just over $1 a day to keep their car off the streets and out of the weather.

In addition to greatly expanding downtown’s leasable parking inventory, the Bridger Park Downtown will provide patrons the opportunity to park longer than two hours. “Downtown Bozeman is one of the few historic commercial districts in Montana to offer free two-hour on-street parking to its visitors and customers,” notes Chris Naumann, executive director of the Downtown Bozeman Partnership. “The centrally located garage will offer convenient, unrestricted parking for residents and tourist alike to enjoy all that downtown has to offer at the nominal cost of 50 cents an hour,” said Naumann.

Long days of construction of the new garage this summer have resulted in one of the larger man-made structures in Gallatin Valley. According to General Contractor Tony Martel, the building comprises over 6,500 cubic yards of concrete and over 400 tons of steel. Plus 25,000 cubic yards of dirt had to be removed from the sight in preparation. “The basic design parameters for building one of these structures haven’t changed much in 30 years, but it still produces an impressive end result.”

The challenge for Burns and the City is now to educate the public about how to locate and use the facility. Those interested in signing up for a permit to park daily in the garage can call the City’s Parking Clerk at 406-582-2337.

It won’t be long before downtown’s parking choices will be significantly expanded – and not a moment too soon, Burns said. “Downtown’s growing at a fast clip, and our job is to ensure that parking choices keep pace with progress.”

Downtown Dollars are a great gift idea for friends, family and employees.  These gift certificates are accepted by every business in downtown Bozeman.  Regardless of the recipients’ interests or needs, Downtown Dollars can be used by anyone…the options are almost limitless:  restaurant meals, books, shoes, clothing, sporting goods, salon services, art, furniture, music, wine and much more.

Downtown Dollars are also a powerful community economic stimulus tool as they support locally owned independent businesses.  Over 60 cents of every dollar spent at a downtown business is reinvested into the community compared to less than 20 cents of every dollar spent at a national chain.

Downtown Dollars can be purchased at the Downtown Bozeman Partnership office with check or cash.  Companies can request to be invoiced.  The office is open from 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday.  Feel free to call in advance to insure either Chris or Ellie will be available to assist you.

Join us in Downtown Bozeman Friday, December 19th, and Saturday December 20th from 10am to 6pm for a “Good Old Fashioned Holiday Shopping Experience.” Santa will be roaming Main Street while carolers sing, chestnuts roast and all the friendly downtown businesses welcome you in!

Come experience a Holiday Shopping tradition of over 100 years along Historic Main Street in Downtown Bozeman. With the beautiful lights, holiday décor, outstanding customer assistance and the fresh outdoor air, downtown offers a relaxing and enjoyable shopping experience for everyone during the holidays and throughout the year! During this specific weekend, we will be welcoming downtown shoppers even more by giving away $1500.00 in Downtown Dollars to a few lucky shoppers, offering in-store specials and goodies, photo ops with our beloved downtown Santa, and creating a special holiday shopping experience! So, come downtown to complete all your holiday shopping and see what the Holiday Shopping Event is all about!

Along with our presenting sponsors; The Bozeman Daily Chronicle and The Downtown Bozeman Association, we would also like to thank the gracious contributing sponsors; 95.1 “The Moose” and KBZK “Bozeman’s News Station”. More information contact the Downtown Bozeman Association at 586-4008

For a second year, Downtown Bozeman will be the place to be on Halloween evening! Join us from 3-6pm on Friday, October 31st for a spooktacular, safe evening of traditional trick of treating in downtown! So, parent’s let your kids enjoy the brisk outdoors on Halloween night in Downtown Bozeman and gather goodies at over 75 businesses! Hot drinks will be available at the Downtown Visitor’s Center at 224 East Main Street. See you there!

Also, stop by the new City Hall at 121 North Rouse for tours following the downtown trick or treating event or head to the Emerson Cultural Center for some other Halloween activities including live music, crafts, and junior carpenters. Visit www.bozeman.net or www.theemerson.org for more information regarding these activities.

This event is free and open to the public and will go on snow or shine.

More information about Downtown Trick or Treating please call 586-4008 or visit www.downtownbozeman.org/events.html

The Ellen Theatre, in the heart of Bozeman’s historic downtown district, was built by the Nelson family in 1919 at 17 West Main Street, just west of the Golden Rule Building. Designed by renowned architect Fred Willson, the theatre was named for Ellen Trent Story, wife of Nelson Story who, in the mid-1800s, helped bring cattle ranching to the area. As a sign of the family’s wealth and prestige, no expense was spared in the construction of this 700-seat grand showplace, including perfect acoustics, a stunning crystal chandelier and a grand balcony.

In 1930, the theatre was closed for a few months for a lavish remodel. A more modern art-deco marquee replaced the original lattice and stained glass version. At the same time, the interior of the auditorium was given a remarkable makeover, with ornate plaster moldings, gold-leaf carvings, red satin wall panels and decorative jeweled accents. Over the next few decades, Montana State University utilized the theatre, along with local acting troupes, town bands, and local school pageants. In the late 1950s the marquee changed again, keeping up with the times and became neon. The Ellen Theatre continued to be an important community gathering place, hosting symphony concerts, school plays and even weddings.

By the 1970s, the Ellen was generally relegated to showing first-run movies. Once in a great while, a film festival or special event would bring the theatre back to life. In 1992 and 1993, the world premieres of two feature films, “A River Runs Through It” and the original “Jurassic Park”, were shown at the Ellen. Before the screening of “A River Runs Through It,” director Robert Redford addressed the packed house and commented how lucky the audience was to live in such a beautiful place and to have such a beautiful theatre in the historic downtown.

Unfortunately, the Ellen, along with other historic theatres across the country, suffered decades of declining use and disrepair. The world of TV, megaplexes, DVD rentals and video downloads by-passed Bozeman’s magnificent theatre to a bygone era. However, there is a happy ending. In 2005, with the Ellen still under lease to Carmike Cinemas, Montana TheatreWorks purchased the building with the express mission of returning the grand theatre to its former glory.

In 2008, the lease with Carmike was terminated and renovation went into high gear. The number one priority is to make sure the building is safe and up to code. One of the first upgrades being completed involves improvements to the electrical system with the help of Vos Electric. Three Rivers Engineering and Martel Construction are assisting with the design and installation of a new heating and cooling system.
 
Most visibly, the lobby is being reconfigured including the relocation of the women’s bathroom which to date has been on the second floor. Architect George Mattson and Martel Construction are making this work possible. Another big project to be completed in the future will be the recreation of the original stain glass marquee (see picture).

Long-term plans are for year-round entertainment, including theatrical productions, concerts, lectures, school performances and various other live events. Montana Theatreworks will be presenting Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” as the Ellen Theatre’s premiere production, opening December of 2008. This will be the first live theatrical performance to grace the Ellen stage in over 30 years.

If you would like to be a part of these exciting renovation efforts, Montana Theatreworks will be hosting volunteer Saturdays on September 6, October 4 and November 8. Each three-hour work party will begin at 9:00am and consist of dusting, mopping, scrubbing, vacuuming, polishing and more, including the repair and replacement of broken seats, so please bring work clothes and lots of elbow grease. If you care to bring along assorted cleaning supplies, rags, or other work and cleaning tools, that will certainly be appreciated. This is a great way to lend community support for the restoration of one of Bozeman's most beautiful buildings.

For more information please visit www.theellentheatre.com

We are pleased to announce that on Friday, October 10th from 6:30 to 7:30pm on Main Street from Bozeman to Rouse Avenues, we will be throwing a Pep Rally in Downtown Bozeman to show our Bobcat Spirit and help the football team get pumped up for the big homecoming game!
 
The MSU football coaches, players, spirit squad, drumline and alumni help the community get excited!  The spirit squad will throw 100 gold rush t-shirts into the crowd.  There will be free hamburgers, sausages, and hot drinks and photo opportunities with the MSU mascot Champ!  So, come downtown to the Cat/Griz Pep Rally and show your Bobcat spirit!  Go Cats!!!
 
Presented by:
The Downtown Bozeman Partnership, Rocking R Bar, First Security Bank, MSU/Chamber Relations Committee, and MSU Athletics

This event is free and open to the public and will go on snow or shine.

The Downtown Business Improvement District board is funding the replacement of over a dozen Black Ash trees. The BID is working in conjunction with Cashman’s Nursery and the City of Bozeman Forestry Division to complete this tree replacement program this fall. The tree replacement work will be coordinated in an effort to minimize any disruptions to the businesses and the adjacent sidewalks.

Most of the Black Ash trees planted in the downtown district have died due to disease. Black Ash were identifies as a recommended “boulevard” tree by the City of Bozeman Forestry Division, but the species has been hit hard by a non-native pest, the Cottony Ash Psyllid. These very small insects (3mm in length) have slowly migrated from the east coast, where they were first detected in the early 1920’s. The insects were detected in Minnesota back in 1993. Now there are outbreaks as far west as Montana.

Ryon Stover, City Forester, laments that saving the Black Ash was not an option. Mitigating the infestation involves a very intensive pesticide spraying regiment that must be exactly timed with the insect’s life cycle. Very few communities have had success in eradicating the insects, but thankfully the pest only affects Black Ash. Therefore, the most effective solution is to replace the young Black Ash trees that have been attacked.

Several tree species will be used to replace the dying Black Ash in order to provide a broader variety that will ultimately be more resistant to non-native pests and disease. Cashman’s will be planting Patmore Green Ash, Prairie Spire Green Ash, Thornless Honeylocust, Northern Hackberry and possibly a few Brandon Elm. Thanks to the generous support of the Downtown Business Improvement Board, Main Street will once again be lined with healthy trees.

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