Get to know the Niwot Business Association

Most Niwot residents know that the Niwot Business Association (NBA) offers business support and networking, and also hosts Rock & Rails with the Niwot Cultural Arts Association on summer Thursday nights, as well as sponsoring other community events such as the Great Pumpkin Party, Enchanted Evening and the Holiday Parade.

Fewer residents know the NBA is responsible for things that are easy to take for granted. Tasks such as changing street light bulbs, paying the electric bill for the lights, hanging banners throughout town, placing and maintaining flowers in the business district, decorating for the holidays, and running the website Niwot.com.

While these tasks cover a lot of activity, they don't fully explain the NBA's scope and impact. This month, the NBA announced that its current officers, Eric Bergeson (president), Deb Fowler (vice-president), Nancy Bureau (secretary) and Mary Coonce (treasurer) had been re-elected for the coming year. As the NBA begins a new cycle of planning, administration, and activity, it's a good time to review some NBA basics.

NBA funding and structure

The NBA's current president, Eric Bergeson, is the owner of Niwot Wheelworks and The Wheel House on 2nd Avenue. He explained that the nonprofit association is supported by a mix of membership dues, event proceeds, and funding from the Niwot Local Improvement District (LID).

Administered by Boulder County and overseen locally by a nine-member advisory board, the LID charges a 1% sales tax for all goods bought in the district boundaries, which include the downtown 2nd Avenue area and Cottonwood Square.

The LID board members comprise a mix of Niwot residents, local business owners, and representatives of the NBA and the Niwot Community Association. They meet monthly to discuss district business, manage proceeds from the tax and make decisions around spending. According to Bergeson, the board's NBA representative, "We make recommendations, and the Commissioners approve it, but they give us considerable latitude in the process."

He said funds from the LID account for about 70% to 75% of the NBA's total income each year, or around $140,000. In addition, funding comes from the NBA's share of the net proceeds from Rock & Rails, membership dues and other activities accounting for approximately $50,000 a year.

Roughly 162 local business owners belong to the NBA, and pay an annual membership fee. Membership is open to anyone with a business in the Niwot Community Service Area, including home-based Niwot businesses. Officers constitute the board of directors, and are elected annually. Committee chairs are appointed by the board, and together with board members, make up the Executive Committee, which meets monthly.

As NBA secretary and owner of Left Hand Animal Hospital, Dr. Nancy Bureau said, "There are people who think that things just happen. It's great that they appreciate all that Niwot has to offer, but it's helpful when they see all the projects the NBA supports either through being a champion, through volunteerism, or through funding."

Many members work full time and then volunteer for additional, sometimes substantial but often easier, NBA-related projects. "It's impressive what a small community can put together, organize, and do to help each other," Bureau said.

Infrastructure, marketing and events, and economic development

Bureau said, "The NBA makes Niwot a place where people want to live, want to be, and want to explore. It tries to make Niwot friendly for families, and individuals. For people who want to bike and who love art. It tries to bring everything together as a community."

To fulfill its purpose, the NBA focuses tasks in three main areas: infrastructure, marketing and events, and economic development. In addition to some infrastructure tasks already mentioned, there are larger infrastructure projects the NBA is responsible for. Past projects include the gateway Niwot sign on Highway 119 and the mural on the former Excel Electric building. Recent projects include construction of the parking lot on Murray Street and restoration of the tree carvings on Niwot Road.

The association also increased the community event schedule this year, based on a need to promote businesses that have been under stress due to pandemic related restrictions. The effort was aimed at keeping consumers in Niwot and the surrounding areas aware of what businesses have to offer and to keep businesses active.

The other role the NBA plays involves being a business and economic development champion. Recruiting new businesses into town is a parallel activity to sustaining the customer flow for those that are already here. "We want to have all our shop spaces filled. We want things to be active in town. We believe that the more we have, the better it will be for everyone," Bergeson shared.

To that end, the association has dedicated one of three paid positions to hiring an economic development director. Catherine McHale, a seasoned marketing pro has contracted with the NBA to showcase the town's benefits to potential new businesses that would benefit from Niwot's vintage, community-focused environment and its proximity to Boulder and Longmont. She brings a range of high-end corporate experience to the position, including time spent at Apple. Her work is directed by the Niwot Future League (NFL), an NBA subcommittee which includes Bergeson. The other paid positions are a social media administrator and a web page/newsletter administrator supervised by McHale.

Looking forward

With all of the work it does for the community, the NBA offers a unique perspective on how Niwot has weathered challenges from the past year and is positioned to grow to look forward. Bergeson said that overall, "We're doing ok. We've lost businesses, like Lucky Pie, but we've added some as well. LID revenues are actually up a bit from the prior year."

In comments he made when presenting the NBA budget to the LID Board last Tuesday, Bergeson stated, "I'm calling 2021 a year of leveraging opportunities. We all know the story of last year, we don't have to relive it. But there are some lessons we learned. And, you know, I think there are opportunities in every situation."

In a phone call the day after the meeting, Bergeson outlined some concrete goals the association is focusing on as it looks to the future:

• Work more closely with commissioners and county staff to make town improvements.
• Look to brighten the areas around Cottonwood Square and 2nd Avenue. This includes more lighting to create warmth to draw people in.
• Cooperate with the county on improvements to the block that runs along Cottonwood Square and continue the sculpture park across the street. The work would support further connections between Cottonwood Square and 2nd Avenue businesses.
• Continue with events that have been working well for businesses and the community.

Continue with events that have been working well for businesses and the community.

A call for volunteers

An additional goal that both Bergeson and Bureau talked about for 2021 is to increase the organization's capacity by creating a directory of volunteers that is broken down by skills and interests. "There are a lot of people who have expressed two or three hours on a Saturday to do something. There's plenty of need. Every bit is worthwhile. If we can organize on matching people to tasks, we could get a lot more done."

He shared that now is a good time for anyone to make their volunteer availability known. Those interested can reach out to volunteer coordinator Jenn Porter at [email protected].