Milwaukee Downtown Inc

Programs: Holiday lights festival and street decorating - the milwaukee holiday lights festival has helped to establish downtown milwaukee as a premier midwestern destination, dazzling guests with new displays and an abundance of family-friendly events. Milwaukee downtown is the lead coordinator in procuring and installing decor, producing several events, and marketing everything within its boundaries during the six-week festival. The festival includes over 90 local schools decorating a tree with handmade ornaments to create community spirit park; park decorations in cathedral square, pere marquette and zeidler union square; a kick-off extravaganza to turn on the lights for the first time - show includes dance acts, singers, elected officials, fireworks and more; santa's mailbox, where children receive a personalized letter back from santa; the jingle bus, a 40-minute guided tour of milwaukee with a focus on the decorated parks in a heated coach usa bus; cocoa with the clauses, a free opportunity to snap festival photos; an annual ornament honoring a downtown landmark; and a comprehensive brochure for activities to do during the holiday season.

events and marketing programstaste & toastthe monday-friday event features cocktails, mock-tails and small plates at over 25 establishments at a high value to the consumer. The event takes place during first quarter to drive patrons into restaurants and bars during a slow time. A new event in 2015, surveys indicate that increasingly more diners are using taste & toast to sample new eateries. Downtown dining week for eight days at the beginning of june, consumers enjoy a prix-fixe menu for lunch and/or dinner at 35+ restaurants. Lunch is $12. 50 and dinner is either $25 or $35 depending on the value of the meal. An estimated 75,000 patrons participate in downtown dining week annually. Downtown employee appreciation week our thank you to the downtown workforce includes daily free lunches, after-work events including volleyball and trivia, employee recognition events, prizes and more. We work with over 20 local restaurants to provide free lunch to workers, collaborate with local businesses and non-profits to have booths that have valuable information and prizes for the workforce and secure over $30,000 worth of product to give away all week long. Social media marketingwe utilize facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube in a variety of ways to connect with our consumer, communicate important information, share pictures and events and share survey links for all of our events. Community collaborationwe work with many community partners to make our events possible, including city and county workers, non-profits, student organizations, sport teams and more. Public relations/marketingstrategies utilized to communicate bid #21's mission and achieve organizational goals. Tactics include press release development, media coordination, website maintenance, newsletters targeting internal and external audiences, and media placements. Brandinga hyper local multimedia campaign to brand downtown as a destination to work, live, play and visit by elevating the awareness of the plethora of things available within the central business district.

sculpture milwaukee - this program is a privately funded arts and education initiative that brings world class art works to milwaukee's wisconsin avenue, the historic and economic heart of the region. Sculpture milwaukee is free and open 24-hours a day to residents, employees, school groups and visitors from around the region and globe. Sculpture milwaukee provides a unique cultural experience, adding to the economic revitalization of the downtown area. A small team of paid experts is supported by a large team of volunteers from the business and creative communities to install, interpret, protect and tour the 20+ art works on view. Sculpture milwaukee continues to invest in and grow our educational partnerships with area non-profit organizations, from the milwaukee art museum and jazale's studio to true skool and ex fabula, organizations that reach into the diverse communities of the region.

economic development - the organization promotes downtown as the top destination for businesses to locate and/or expand through a wide variety of strategies and programs. Strategies include creating collateral and communication pieces such as the downtown area investment map, mke streetcar investment opportunities guide, mke blueprint magazine, real results newsletter, skywalk map, and monthly business spotlights to tell the downtown development story. Milwaukee downtown is a go-to resource for accurate market data that is used by developers, investors, businesses and the brokerage community. Through the ceo call program, staff gathered data from business executives about the positives and challenges of doing business in downtown milwaukee, which will ultimately provide a point of direction on new and existing initiatives. In addition to working with city of milwaukee staff on incentive programs such as facade, white box, and signage grants, bid #21 staff is successfully implementing its own incentive program to attract business downtown that was created in partnership with first bank financial center named the milwaukee downtown business development loan pool. Staff also promotes the use of the downtown pace loan pool, better buildings challenge, and became a trustee of the kiva zip loan program. Milwaukee downtown is a strong advocate for economic development projects and programs that are consistent with the organization's strategic plan including the milwaukee streetcar, the couture, the development around the fiserv forum, wisconsin avenue initiatives, and the preservation of the historic tax credit program. Milwaukee downtown staff also is placing added emphasis on supporting the nighttime economy and hospitality industries through public art, branding, and connectivity projects. Staff also regularly updates lists of property available for lease/sale, and proves to be a go-to resource for downtown economic development information.