Downtown Business Owner "Coffee Klatch"

Two "coffee klatches" were held for downtown business owners; invitations were sent to businesses that had their physical locations in downtown Milwaukie, as determined by the City's business registration records.

The coffee klatches were held at two times on Tuesday, April 30:

• 8:00-9:00am
• 6:30-7:30pm

Business owners were asked for their thoughts on the following questions:

Issue Identification

1.  As a business owner in Milwaukie, do you also happen to live in the city?
2. What is it about Downtown Milwaukie that attracted you to do business here?
3. Where else have you considered opening up a business?
   • How does Milwaukie stack up to those other places?
4. How will light-rail impact your business?
5. Is parking an issue for your business? If so what kind of challenges does it present?
6. Feedback from our outreach activities suggests that community members believe a unified, business-driven vision for downtown would have a really positive impact on the city’s image.
   • Do you think this vision exists? If not, why?

Solution Seeking
1. An initiative that could help resolve that issue (e.g. improvement district)?
2. What would it take in Milwaukie to make that happen?
3. How would this impact your business in Milwaukie?

See the attachments for meeting materials and a summary of the discussion.