In the vibrant city of South Bend, there is never a dull moment within the vast array of exciting events, from captivating plays and live music performances to bustling festivals throughout the year. As the lead source of all things downtown, a small but experienced team at Downtown South Bend, Inc. (DTSB) works behind the scenes to bring news, arts, entertainment, and dining experiences for Michiana residents, visitors, and business owners.
“We have a great relationship with the city and the people within the city government,” said Kylie Carter, senior director of marketing and events. “We work closely with the city government because we have the same goals. The downtown is the heart of the city – if you do not have a good, strong downtown, you are not going to have a good, strong city.”
DTSB, an independent organization from the city government, focuses on four main areas: clean and safety, events, business support, and advocacy. Each area focuses on the downtown business community and promotes the community’s safety and interests.
“The first area of focus is ensuring that downtown is clean and safe through our ambassador program,” said Carter. “Ambassadors in their red coats and shirts go around and plant our downtown flowers, pick up trash, put up street banners, act like walking info booths, and offer hospitality services. The second area, which I do, is events. Events are geared toward making downtown fun — inviting and forging positive memories and associations with the downtown.”
The first two areas focus on ensuring that downtown is a welcoming and engaging space for all. DTSB’s E-newsletter promotes about 20 upcoming events each week, including a medley of plays, live music, art booths, and First Friday events. DTSB’s social media presence caters to almost 30,000 followers and provides press releases to showcase the DTSB businesses and events.
“We want kids and families to come downtown and join these events,” said Carter. “We want people to stay and attract talent to keep downtown vibrant.”
DTSB’s third area of focus, business support, offers incentives and resources for a diverse range of businesses. Supported businesses in downtown South Bend extend from Eddy Street to Chapin Street, Sample Street to Memorial Hospital of South Bend, and to the river on the north end.
“I work to retain and support our business community downtown,” said Courtney Kubly, director of business development. “We have about 400 businesses, ranging from a business of one or two employees to over 100. I work with landlords to help find tenants for their spaces. I do all of our ribbon cuttings for new businesses or anniversaries. I also help facilitate our riverfront liquor licenses and aid with our exterior enhancement grant program in collaboration with the city.”
Kubly works to make the city more business-friendly by listening to concerns and helping to provide the necessary resources, like permits, and licenses. Listening to businesses and concerns from the city ushers in the fourth area of focus: advocacy and policy change. These two factors help shape the future of downtown South Bend.
“Shaping downtown is critical, and we work to help minimize incidents,” said Carter. “For example, we advocated to get dedicated, downtown safety patrol officers to regularly patrol the area. They are friendly, neighborhood police who regularly check in on businesses. We have seen a huge shift in unwanted activity. DTSB also works to be accessible to problems that happen outside city hours on Monday through Friday and on weekends.”
As a small, but passionate team, DTSB shares a sense of gratitude in supporting event organizers and local businesses. The team’s mission is made possible through financial support from the city and fundraising through event sponsorships and community partnerships. The team also exudes a strong commitment to promoting future collaborations.
“We have a very small business with a couple of employees,” said Kubly. “Some of the funding comes from our businesses. We encourage our business to make a contribution to the work that we do by being a community partner to us. We come in at maybe a $250 annual commitment and then it can go up $5,000 to $10,000. For future sponsorships, we want to express that it does not have to be a downtown business to sponsor our downtown programming.” For a gateway into downtown South Bend’s entertainment, culture, and community spirit or to support the DTSB team’s mission, visit downtownsouthbend.com.