EIN 34-1823835

Downtown Akron Partnership

IRS 501(c) type
501(c)(3)
Num. employees
10
City
State
Year formed
1995
Most recent tax filings
2022-06-01
Description
Downtown Akron Partnership is an urban development organization in Akron, OH whose mission is: Promote and build a vibrant and valuable Downtown Akron.
Total revenues
$1,495,105
2022
Total expenses
$1,651,785
2022
Total assets
$1,142,461
2022
Num. employees
10
2022

Program areas at Downtown Akron Partnership

Clean, safe & welcoming:dap provides cleaning and safety ambassadors through our $425,066.00 contract with block by block. Dap's clean & safe ambassadors enhance the Downtown quality of life with foot and bike patrols throughout the 42-block district and adjacent business member properties. Ambassadors patrol the neighborhood to remove trash, graffiti and safety hazards, report environmental issues and provide hospitality assistance including jump starts, lock outs, and fuel emergency support. The team power washes sidewalks, maintains ash urns, pulls weeds and checks in with local business owners. Ambassadors also clean and disinfect high touch areas as needed. Ambassador starting wage compensation was increased to support living wage for team members.dap funds an apd nighttime shift supervisor thursday-saturday in Downtown to coordinate police presence at nightlife venues, communicate concerns to dap staff, and provide dedicated service to the district. The total for contracted officers was $30,018.00. Dap collects crime data from weekly apd reports and the online lexis nexis community crime mapping system to look for patterns, revise the deployment of ambassadors or contracted officers, and send advisories to the district.through a grant from corbin foundation, dap ambassadors placed and maintained 235 hanging baskets, planter boxes and sidewalk planters throughout the district. This more than $100,000 investment was designed collaboratively with Downtown stakeholders, dap staff, and keep Akron beautiful with whom dap contracts to maintain additional in-ground displays Downtown. In 2022, dap continued the integration of native perennials and small trees into the displays to provide seasonal interest and a more sustainable greenscape. Throughout the 2021-22 fy, dap strengthened and grew our Partnership with community support services with the help of peg's foundation to work toward transitioning Downtown's unsheltered population to permanent housing. The program includes educating dap staff and ambassadors in engaging people in crisis, understanding access to available support services, collaborative tours through the district, and information sharing between organizations. As of 12/31/2022, 26 individuals had transitioned into permanent housing. Dap maintains towpath wayfinding signs throughout the Downtown corridor and creates maps for distribution to connect visitors to Downtown. Dap also contracted with Ohio goose patrol to deploy a dog patrol to help reduce the number of geese Downtown.
Member outreach & support: as the center of our urban core, the success of Downtown plays a critical role in the economic recovery of our region. Storefront businesses support the Downtown ecosystem through employment, improving safety, retaining talent, adding character and vibrancy to the neighborhood, and contributing to the local economy. Dap was honored to assist in three grantmaking efforts to assist small businesses in 2021. In alignment with dap's goal of promoting and building a vibrant and valuable Downtown for all people, the grants included an emphasis on support for storefronts, minority and women owned businesses.covid-19 relief efforts dap assisted the city of Akron in administering the city of Akron Downtown storefront relief grant, designed to support small business storefronts in their efforts to recover from the effects of the pandemic. In all, dap assisted 60 Downtown businesses in securing $236,000 in grant funds. District meetings - through 2021, dap hosted virtual quarterly district meetings to share information about Downtown projects and events, facilitate solutions to challenges and provide networking opportunities for Downtown businesses. Average attendance was 15 people per meeting. Promoting Downtown - dap works with members to celebrate Downtown as a valuable place. Through strategic marketing and management of Downtown resources, dap promotes the district as the premier place to live, work and play in the center of our city. In the fall of 2021, dap contracted evolve marketing to create an overarching campaign to promote Downtown, with the goals of increasing attendance to Downtown events, stimulating increased revenue at Downtown businesses and raising awareness of Downtown as a destination for all people to enjoy. Dap worked with evolve to develop a series of digital ads the company ran from november 23 through the end of 2021 and into 2022. The campaign on behalf of dap began with promotion of the Downtown winterblast kickoff weekend and grew to include holiday activities, affordable things to do in Downtown, and a holiday shopping guide. The evolve ads featured the message: "we made the plans. You make the memories." Each led to a series of evolve-created Downtown guides on the dap website: httpswwwdowntownakroncomguides The ads were placed on google, facebook, tiktok and snapchat. As an additional part of the campaign, dap developed the Downtown holiday hop. Holiday hop cards were available at participating businesses and also downloadable from the website. Customers making at least one purchase at six Downtown businesses returned their cards for a chance to win a $200 gift card to the Downtown business of their choosing. At the close of 2021, the evolve campaign ads increased traffic of users to the dap website (where businesses and Downtown events are promoted) by 148% over the previous year. Page views during the run of the ads increased by 327% over 2020. Dap worked with baker media group to create the 2021 Downtown look book, a departure from the Downtown guides of the past into a primarily pictorial 16-page book. Dap worked with 12 local photographers to present Downtown as a place for all people. Three of the photographers were black entrepreneurs, and three were female. The guide was a supplement to the august 2021 Akron life magazine, and 4,000 additional copies were distributed to hotels, rest stops and other places where tourist information is provided. Dap also distributed copies at northside marketplace and in welcome packets. Additional advertising and promotion throughout the year included eight print ads reaching a readership of 401,500.downtownakron.com unique users: 237,310facebook likes: 7,934twitter followers: 9,388instagram followers: 6,191linkedin followers: 1.609constant contact enews subscribers: 16.949akronstock photos: 3,300+quarterly updates were produced in april, july, october and january. All issues are housed on the dap website.
Knight initiatives: knight foundation funds were deployed toward tactical improvements, planning, programming and capacity support when and where needed. The work successfully inspired new public realm investments, enhanced investments in progress, mitigated impacts of construction underway, and cultivated engagement throughout our three-year Partnership. By co-deciding when and where opportunities for this work were best suited for dap involvement, we maximized the public benefit of knight support. We were able to accomplish more initiatives through partnerships and matching funds that increased dap capacity to convene stakeholders and work as an ally across sectors. Key outcomes include:1. Assist in retail incubation through contracted expertise, pos investment and pop-up support at northside marketplace.2. Create public space placemaking improvements with community partners.3. Program cascade plaza and other spaces with focus on mixing in place.4. Support initial Downtown juneteenth, halloween and sakura (cherry blossom) programming supporting programmatic transition to in-person events.5. Improve Downtown welcoming through art integration into pole banners, bus shelters, storefront windows and space improvements. 6. Improve main st and lock 3 winterscape through installation of holiday lighting.7. Support dap capacity through interns, consultants and staff support to accomplish the body of work.8. Sustain the Downtown programming committee. Knight support was used in multiple instances to guide public realm investment through planning and consultants, and private investment through stakeholder engagement. Through these efforts, dap came alongside city departments and stakeholders to integrate best principles into public spaces and, in some cases, help materialize those plans and program the respective spaces. Quantifying those investments and audiences engaged helps us demonstrate the broad impact of the work. Knight programmatic activity is supported by a multiyear grant from the john s. and james l. knight foundation. Revenue was received this fiscal year for this work, and carried over from last year as well. Revenue received is listed under contributed income.
Vibrancy & economic development: main street construction phase ii. Progress on the construction of the main st. promenade phase ii continued through the fiscal year. Dap assisted in main st. construction by providing the following:1. Facilitated connections between city engineers, construction teams and Downtown businesses2. Attended biweekly construction meetings to communicate district needs3. Provided traffic closure information and closure planning assistance to businesses4. Assisted in temporary signage design/creation 5. Design and update of wayfinding kiosk signage6. Provided print and digital marketing efforts to support businesses 7. Assisted with clearing construction debris as neededdowntown dora - the city of Akron launched its first designated outdoor refreshment area (dora) in Downtown in october of 2020. The dora allows customers to take alcoholic beverages outside within the boundaries of the designated area. Dap continues to support the dora through ambassador safety tours, programming, and oversight of the dora cup program as part of our commitment to Downtown vibrancy.business development - business is a vital part of the Downtown ecosystem. For fifteen years, business outreach and support has been part of dap's portfolio of service. In 2017, dap established additional goals and evaluation tools to help us support and grow Downtown's economy under the advisement of our business development committee. Dap meets retailers quarterly, and with professional services no less than biannually, to determine how we might best help each business succeed. Additionally, elevate greater Akron's (ega) business retention and expansion (bre) strategy combines with dap's outreach efforts to bring together economic development partners to better serve Downtown businesses. Dap commits a minimum of 2 hours of every week to this coordinated effort. In 2022, dap attended 54 ega bre meetings, conducted 267 quarterly retail check-ins, and 180 general business retention visits. Dap provided site selection assistance to 41 businesses and connected with 61 prospective businesses, often referring business owners to resources within the northeast Ohio entrepreneurship ecosystem such as elevate greater Akron, small business development center, seed clinic, Akron urban league, ecdi, hfla of northeast Ohio, bounce and local government.dap hosts an online site selection form to facilitate the process of entrepreneurs and businesses looking for space in Downtown. Dap continues to maintain Downtown available commercial listings on the lois (location one information system) database on downtownakron.com to engage entrepreneurs interested in locating their business Downtown. In 2022, the platform had 567 visitors, 1,004 sessions, 5,472 page views and an average session length of 4:30 minutes.start Downtown - burton d. morgan foundation funded phase 6 benefited five new businesses in 2022. The phase 5 cohort reflects 4 black owned business, 4 women owned businesses, and 4 retail storefront operations - capital talent group, ernie's catering, velvet vintage, perfect pour, and street craftery. Each business received 15 hours or more of engagement from dap including marketing and connections to community resources and assistance providers. Residential development Downtown continues to see an increase in residential development and occupancy. Dap conducted 18 visits with residential property management, distributing 500 welcome packets to help better serve Downtown residents. Programming Downtown: dap worked closely with artists and instructors throughout the year to rethink traditional programming while remaining committed to supporting and celebrating arts and culture as a critical part of the Downtown experience. We continue to convene district partners in a virtual, bi-weekly Downtown programming call. Now with more than 20 organizations participating, the group is collaboratively helping rebuild Downtown vibrancy. Spring - dap welcomed spring with our first sakura cherry blossom celebration, bringing more than 1000 people Downtown. We also supported curated storefront in the installation of band, a digital art installation by ian brill in cascade plaza's vacant hotel property. The installation was celebrated with an in-person event on the plaza complimented by a virtual live stream. Summer dap programmed cascade plaza, main st. at lock 3 and the northside green, providing Downtown programming six days per week, all summer long. Programs included fitness classes such as yoga, line dancing and zumba; and recreational activities such as skate nights, recess and music from buskers that drew over 3,500 people to Downtown. 2021 brought the debut of our dap try-cycles to public spaces and events with games and activities to enjoy. Dap was honored to work with the community to bring juneteenth celebrations Downtown, accompanying west Akron's juneteenth festival, founded in 1998 by elder gerald r. carter. Dap contracted local black musicians to perform in Downtown restaurants and sing gospel music on cascade plaza, where the evening ended with roller skating. 2021, the Akron pride festival was hosted Downtown for the first time. Dap was pleased to support the festival's larger footprint, which drew 30,000 people, by sponsoring fireworks, beverage sales and mini dance parties featuring hip hop dancers from illstyle rockersall made possible with knight foundation support. Dap fostered new events to strengthen our relationships with students at the university of Akron. Dap partnered with university k-pop fans in a k-pop skate night that drew over 250 people and with zpn to create fall in love with Downtown on cascade plaza with the help of knight foundation. Downtown was honored to welcome back the start and finish lines of the Akron marathon this year. Dap provided marathon support as a liaison to businesses and residential properties as well as by staffing information tents on race day.cascade plaza was the site of a new celebration in november: the gilmore girlsinspired smells like snow coffee festival. The festival drew approximately 1,200 visitors. With support from knight foundation, dap contracted with edison lighting to install twinkle lights in the new trees along the main st corridor to illuminate Downtown over the winter months. Dap also sponsored fireworks for the much-loved holiday tree lighting ceremony and supported the installation of historic displays in main st. storefronts. Dap invested knight funds to update benches and furniture in the parklet on north high st., and to complete the furniture of the outdoor seating areas in the northside green. Dap partnered with akronym brewing to equip their biergarten, which opened in commerce park. The temporary summer patio permit program was renewed by the city, and dap assisted businesses through the process of applying. Dap provided bistro tables for businesses with the permit again in 2021. As more residents began calling Downtown Akron home, so did more dogs. To accommodate our growing canine population, dap invested in five new dog-waste stations to supply bags and a container for disposal to public spaces Downtown. In july, with the help of 80 volunteers from goodyear, dap was able to refresh the paint on the love the wall mural, which bookends both sides of the street on s. broadway between rosa parks dr. and selle dr. The mural is over 1,000 total feet long and 10 feet tall at its highest point. Working with guide studio, the new Downtown heads-up directional wayfinding maps for pedestrian kiosks throughout the neighborhood and along the towpath were updated. Towpath inserts were printed and installed. The main st. pedestrian wayfinding was installed in 2022. Dap contracted groundswell design group to create space-enhancing furniture (moveable swings, chess tables and other items) for cascade plaza. Design was ongoing through the end of 2021, with plans to install in summer 2022. Dap also coordinated volunteers to refresh the painted stairways in lock 2.
Engagement & strategy: dap represents and advocates for Downtown across a number of local and regional partnerships designed to drive equity, economic growth and placemaking. Elevate greater Akron (ega) is an economic development plan for the greater Akron area is designed to create a transformative, high functioning and collaborative economic development system for greater Akron. Dap serves the Partnership as a member of the steering committee, economic development working group, refocus on Downtown, spark! Akron, opportunity Akron and new bre teams of elevate 2.0. Ega's work is based on an equitable approach that is both necessary and fundamental to building long-term, sustainable economic development in Akron. The program partners intentionally strive to expand access to opportunities for the benefit of all residents, with the belief that when the greater community succeeds, the entire region succeeds. Consensus and strategy are imperative to successful community building. Dap routinely engages board members and stakeholders in the design, planning and implementation of our work. Established and ad hoc committees met in 2021 to guide business development, marketing, covid-19 grant making, dora, board nominations, residential services, beautification, finance, programming and governance. In 2021, dap joined the legacy cities program (offered through the lincoln institute on land policy) with peer cities dearborn, mi, and trenton, nj, to build equitable practices into the city of Akron's rubber city match program as it expanded into Downtown. Working with representatives from the city of Akron office of integrated development, bounce and Akron urban league, dap learned new practices for implementing equitable practices across the scope of our services as well as new strategies for measuring success that we intend to implement in 2022. Dap is honored to attend the monthly Downtown operations group meetings convened by the city of Akron's office of integrated development. During these meetings, representatives from city departments work together to address issues and determine Downtown's best and most efficient path forward through shared information and collaboration.successful public transit is a critical part of an excellent, equitable Downtown for all. As part of their efforts to draw opportunity to Downtown Akron, metro is partnering with the city of Akron and other community partners to study the potential for transit-oriented development near areas of robust transit service in Akron. The overall goal in studying the market potential is to use access to transit as a way to create opportunity for quality living-wage jobs in Akron. Dap was thrilled to represent Downtown on the committee of professionals assembled to guide this work throughout 2021. Dap assisted the city of Akron in expanding the rubber city match program into Downtown Akron. The program pairs new and expanding businesses with Akron's top real estate opportunities, providing funding and technical assistance along the way. In 2021, the program brought seven interested entrepreneurs into the Downtown neighborhood, with three continuing to move forward in the program and another entrepreneur looking for Downtown space as a result of site tours.
Other (civic commons, member outreach & support, general & administrative):reimagining the civic commons demonstrates that transformative public spaces can connect people of all backgrounds, cultivate trust and create more resilient communities. Dap continued to participate in this national, multi-year initiative funded by the rockefeller, kresge, knight and jpb foundations. This year, primary civic commons developments in planning and programming helped strengthen the connection between Downtown and summit lake. Notable Downtown projects include planning for the renovation of lock 3, the sakura/cherry blossom festival in april, and bimonthly guided bike rides from lock 3 to the summit lake farmers' market. Phase i of the lock 3 olin plan rehabilitation is scheduled is to break ground in fall of 2022 and be completed by summer of 2023. Fundraising for the project is ongoing.

Who funds Downtown Akron Partnership

Grants from foundations and other nonprofits
GrantmakerDescriptionAmount
John S. and James L. Knight FoundationTo Support and Build Capacity Within Downtown Akron Partnership To Enable New Efforts To Develop Engaging Public Spaces in Downtown Akron With Biederman Redevelopment Ventures.$683,333
Burton D Morgan FoundationTo Provide Lease Subsidies for Start Downtown Participants$19,900
Akron Community FoundationFor General Operating Support$16,000
...and 1 more grant received

Personnel at Downtown Akron Partnership

NameTitleCompensation
Suzie GrahamPresident and Chief Executive Officer
Dominic CarusoCommunications Director
Kelli FetterDirector of Engagement and Events
Kimberly BeckettDirector of Business Relations
Malcolm CostaChairman$0
...and 7 more key personnel

Financials for Downtown Akron Partnership

RevenuesFYE 06/2022
Total grants, contributions, etc.$471,200
Program services$1,008,010
Investment income and dividends$617
Tax-exempt bond proceeds$0
Royalty revenue$0
Net rental income$0
Net gain from sale of non-inventory assets$0
Net income from fundraising events$0
Net income from gaming activities$0
Net income from sales of inventory$0
Miscellaneous revenues$15,278
Total revenues$1,495,105

Form 990s for Downtown Akron Partnership

Fiscal year endingDate received by IRSFormPDF link
2022-062023-05-12990View PDF
2021-062022-05-11990View PDF
2020-062021-05-05990View PDF
2019-062020-12-01990View PDF
2018-062019-12-07990View PDF
...and 8 more Form 990s
Data update history
May 17, 2023
Received grants
Identified 1 new grant, including a grant for $683,333 from John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
May 12, 2023
Updated personnel
Identified 4 new personnel
May 9, 2023
Used new vendors
Identified 1 new vendor, including
August 2, 2022
Received grants
Identified 1 new grant, including a grant for $6,000 from Mary S and David C Corbin Foundation
November 12, 2021
Used new vendors
Identified 2 new vendors, including , and
Nonprofit Types
Trade associationsBusiness and community development organizationsCharities
Issues
Community improvementEconomic developmentBusiness and industry
Characteristics
State / local levelCommunity engagement / volunteeringTax deductible donations
General information
Address
103 S High St 4th Floor
Akron, OH 44308
Metro area
Akron, OH
County
Summit County, OH
Website URL
downtownakron.com/ 
Phone
(330) 374-7676
IRS details
EIN
34-1823835
Fiscal year end
June
Taxreturn type
Form 990
Year formed
1995
Eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions (Pub 78)
Yes
Categorization
NTEE code, primary
S31: Urban, Community Economic Development
NAICS code, primary
813910: Trade Associations
Parent/child status
Independent
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