DOWNTOWN DORMONT KEY ISSUE WORKSHOPS   

Dormont is one of the 43 business districts located within Allegheny County that are eligible for the Allegheny Together Program. This program year, Dormont and Carnegie were the two new community applicants selected by the county to be added to the program-- bringing the current number of participating towns to ten. All of the participating communities are being provided a host of planning and management services through Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) and Town Center Associates (TCA) via the Allegheny Together Program.

The Key Issue Workshops were held as a component of kicking-off the program in Dormont. The workshops help to identify important issues facing downtown Dormont in three downtown revitalization focus areas, including: architecture and design; business development; and community life. TCA gave a presentation on each focus area, which was then followed by a lively discussion with the audience. The workshops provided a backdrop of the Allegheny Together Program as it relates to these critical areas of revitalization, while also providing the opportunity for the public to express their ideas, concerns and recommendations regarding specific related issues.

Members of Council, property owners, business owners, and other community members were present to identify and discuss ideas, concerns and opportunities. Each workshop was very well attended and demonstrated the community's sincere interest in the revitalization of downtown Dormont, and their recognition of the significance of the business district to the entire community.
 
TCA incorporates the input from these workshops into the creation of a Long-Range Plan. Then, the Long-Range Plan will be broken down into annual Strategic Action Plans based on the issues raised in all three workshops, as well as on information learned through the planning and analysis programs. TCA looks forward to supporting the community in the effective implementation of the Strategic Action Plans. 

Allegheny County Economic Development and Town Center Associates (TCA), in partnership with Sustainable Pittsburgh, offer an innovative "Sustainable Business Designation Program" to recognize downtown-based businesses that are making efforts to implement sustainable business practices. Through the support of Allegheny County Economic Development, the program has been launched in all the Allegheny Together communities and will be introduced to the newest communities, Carnegie and Dormont this summer.

The Sustainable Business Designation recognizes businesses for implementing actions that are simultaneously good for their bottom line, the environment, and the social fabric of their communities. Businesses that incorporate sustainable practices into their operations are showing their intentions to improve their performance, and as such, stand out as valuable contributors to their local community business districts.

This Sustainable Business Designation is reflected for each qualifying business in the business directory for their town, available at DowntownFirst.net. The "Sustainable Business" designation helps consumers to identify and choose businesses who are committed to sustainability and who view sustainability as core to their mission and business model.

Sustainable Pittsburgh staff will be visiting each business owner to personally let them know about the program. They will provide the business owners with information on resources available to businesses to assist them in implementing more sustainable practices: ultimately saving the businesses money, and having a more positive impact on the environment.

PHLF is excited to be working with Dormont and Carnegie as the two newest members of the Allegheny Together program. Both communities have assets and strengths that make them great places to shop, dine, and conduct business. Currently our work in Dormont and Carnegie is focused on compiling an array of important planning documents that will help guide the downtown revitalization efforts in years to come. Each community will receive an overall Strategic Plan, Parking & Traffic analysis, Zoning and Ordinance review, and Design Guidelines. Together, these documents are designed to offer practical solutions to key issues in Dormont and Carnegie. We look forward to sharing our work with the communities and implementing the plans.

The new Dormont First program makes it easy to choose Dormont businesses, first! Dormont First is part of an innovative new regional program called Downtown First, which is designed to promote and support the downtown business districts in our region. 

Visit www.downtownfirst.net, and select Dormont, and you'll find an entire program focused on marketing downtown Dormont businesses. Downtown First promotes downtown Dormont and encourages residents and visitors to enjoy the wonderful businesses that downtown Dormont has to offer.

One of the first services offered through Dormont First is an online Business Directory, found at www.downtownfirst.net. The directory also provides an opportunity for individual business owners to enhance their directory listing with an advanced webpage system, through which they can offer coupons, discounts, information about special events and products/services and more! Downtown First also offers business owners a FREE individual business webpage. Visit www.downtownfirst.net to learn more.

Downtown First is a downtown business support and promotion program created by Town Center Associates.

DowntownProperties.net is a business recruitment tool being offered to communities by Town Center Associates.  The website is a central source of information of properties available for sale or lease in your downtown.  Properties in the business district can be listed on DowntownProperties.net at no charge to building owners and/or real estate professionals. 

Please visit www.downtownproperties.net for an easily accessible listing of property availability in Allegheny Together communities as well as other downtown-based Western Pennsylvania communities.  If you have a property located in your community's downtown which does not already appear on the site and you would like to have it listed, please call Town Center Associates at 412-577-7447.

STAY UP TO DATE ON DOWNTOWN DORMONT
With Our Quarterly E-Newsletter  

You are reading the Dormont FOCUS: your quarterly downtown e-newsletter. By using e-newsletters instead of print newsletters, we can send the information about our downtown revitalization efforts to a greater number of people and save paper--a win for the community and the environment!    

To receive your copy of the e-newsletter via email, simply send an email to tca@towncenter.info and indicate your email address, as well as the name of the town or towns for which you'd like to receive the e-newsletters. You can also call Town Center Associates to sign up at 412-577-7447.               

Please also take a moment to forward this email along to your friends, colleagues, family and neighbors, and encourage them to sign up today! This will help to inform (and involve) more citizens about the revitalization efforts taking place in our downtown.