“The Downtown Collective is dedicated to supporting our local downtown businesses, owned and operated by our local Portland community. We have formed to help organize, educate and support the business community downtown today to help rebuild for a brighter tomorrow.”
After enduring months of unprecedented challenges, a group of Portlanders and businesses have banded together to form the Rose City Downtown Collective. The group’s mission is to advocate clean-ups, host volunteer opportunities, and provide resource connections for businesses in order to organize and revitalize the city.
Recently, the organization issued an open letter to the City of Portland calling on City Hall to step up and help restore Downtown; 300 members of the community have this signed this urgent letter and more continue to join the cause. The letter urges elected officials’ support to “help keep and rebuild jobs, the local economy and the spirit of downtown.” It goes on to illustrate that “just like its citizens, Downtown Portland is hurting right now. The pandemic has forced many of our great restaurants, local retailers, and local businesses to shutter, stay closed, and even relocate. The repercussions left by COVID 19 paired with over five months of nightly vandalism will affect business and life downtown for years to come… The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated.”
One of the individuals who spearheaded the effort is Melvin Mark’s CEO Jim Mark. In an article by KOIN 6 he explained, “We want to see the vibrancy come back; we want to have family businesses look at Portland as a place where they want to form their businesses. Safety is a big element. We need to come down to a place where we know we can walk and shop and come to our offices safely.”
RCDC plans to combat these issues by working with SOLVE Oregon to promote area-wide clean-ups and create other channels for volunteer opportunities. In addition, the group will help connect vandalized businesses to funds, materials, and resources that can help repair damages and graffiti.
Now more than ever, local businesses and our city needs the help and support of its community members in order to overcome this year’s hardships and emerge a stronger Portland. We encourage you to learn more and get involved by visiting rosecitydowntowncollective.com.