Mayor meets with downtown merchants

Responding to the question: Can government help the business climate?, By Roger Gavan WARWICK - It’s called brainstorming. Throw out any idea, no matter how ridiculous or sensible, and who knows, the answer to a particular problem may suddenly surface. On Tuesday evening, Sept. 26, Warwick Mayor Michael Newhard met with the movers and shakers in the downtown business community, along with Warwick Town Supervisor Michael Sweeton and representatives from several community organizations including the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Warwick Independent Business Alliance. Frank De Berry, who is in charge of Business and Economic Development for the Warwick Chamber, served as moderator. De Berry is director of Water World Operations at Mountain Creek, N.J. “In light of some recent business closings,” Newhard said in an interview after the meeting, “my Citizens’ Advisory Committee had asked if there was anything that government could do to help local merchants.” The Mayor’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee is a group of village residents, both newcomers and old timers, who extend the mayor’s reach to hear and report about any problems in the community. “I thought it was a good question,” Newhard said. “I wanted to see if government could help. And we have a lot of different organizations working to improve the business climate. Perhaps it would be a good idea to bring everyone together under one roof.” During the two-hour, heated meeting, participants were able to identify some weaknesses and agree on a vision for the future. “It was a great first step,” said Deborah Blomfield, chair of the Warwick Independent Business Alliance. “We’re beginning to clarify the way different organizations can act to achieve a common goal.” For example, reported Blomfield, the IBA, would soon make a market assessment to learn the shopping needs and desires of local residents. At the same time, the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce would survey business owners to find out what improvements they would like to see in the downtown business district. Newhard also suggested that they dust off some of those costly studies that were performed in the past and then put aside. The same task force plans to meet again in October. “We’re not creating a new organization,” said Newhard. “We just want those already in place along with our business owners to work together more efficiently. This meeting was just a kick-start.”