Photo Credit: The Business Loop, Columbia, MO
“There was this hidden economy already chugging along that no one had capitalized on.”
Those words were like lightning bolts on the phone. I was talking to my client in Columbia, MO (The Business Loop – a community improvement district), and all of a sudden Carrie (the exec) said it about our work to bring small-scale manufacturing businesses into the community development project.
Carrie shared, “There are hidden, diverse, local businesses that downtowns may be overlooking because they don't fit our long-held idea of what "retail" is. At least that's how I felt--it was as if there was this hidden economy already chugging along that no one had capitalized on. I could see the path to success was much shorter if I expanded my sense of what makes a place economically vital.”
Let’s back up a sec.
Carrie’s goal is to create a destination on a 1.5 mile long section of a busy road north of downtown. Today it is a place full of parking lots, buildings set back from the road, and car dealerships. It is a place with a lot of asphalt, and no people.
But it is also a place where the property owners organized into an improvement district because this area used to be where families came together on the weekends to go out to dinner or stroll from one area to the next. People still remember what it was like to come to the neighborhood 40 years ago. They described how you could come to a nice white tablecloth restaurant with your family for a celebration.
These days the Wendy’s drive through is as nice as it gets.
But the team at The Business Loop saw more.
They understood that we found them a gold mine of businesses.
We found businesses in the community who never connected to business development programs, who didn’t feel like downtown was for them, and businesses owned by a diversity of people.
These were small-scale manufacturing businesses that worked in packaged food, home goods, clothing and accessories, jewelry and much more.
They needed low-cost space and wanted to be part of a community of businesses.
They were a ready-made audience of business owners who wanted to be a part of this growing area and who needed affordable spaces – who could be a part of local programming and showcase what is cool and unique about Columbia, MO.
We found businesses that could fill micro-retail or industrial spaces tomorrow.
All because we looked in different places, for different kinds of businesses, owned by different people, with different histories.
We worked with the local team to build connections to parts of the city that didn’t go to the downtown entrepreneurship spaces because they didn’t feel like they belonged.
We found small product businesses working from home but bursting out and in need of workspace. We met with the new Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to understand the challenges and needs specific to their community. We met business owners ready to spin out new food product businesses but with no place to go.
We sat with business owners one on one and listened to their stories. And we asked a lot of questions and listened carefully.
We lay the relationship groundwork for action.
And maybe that’s what Carrie reflected on later. Once we found this fountain of energy, this engine of commerce that no one tapped before, it gave her and the rest of the local team a chance to act at a speed they never accessed before.
Businesses already helped The Loop turn an empty lot into an artisan market for the holidays and a place where families came together for food and kids’ activities. The commercial shared kitchen will launch later this year. Zoning changes are underway. Development with pre-fab construction products is under consideration to create new commercial space affordable to product businesses.
A hidden economy? Maybe.
But definitely a place working towards a common goal – more opportunity for more people in a place for the community and by the community.
Most cities and towns have these businesses hidden in plain sight. If you’re curious about how to find these businesses to energize your economy and downtown, take the free training on how to build a strong economy and a thriving place which will help you get started.