Borough Business Revitalization Committee Seeks New Members, Community Input

Note: The following news release is from the Hellertown BBRP.

The Hellertown Borough Business Revitalization Program (HBBRP) committee is a group of community volunteers who meet monthly to discuss initiatives that will enhance the quality of life in the borough or bring exposure to the town’s business district. Members currently consist of representatives from local groups, borough staff and council, and small business leaders. The group is assisted by a contracted employee of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce (GLVCC). 

Meetings in 2014 will be held the second Thursday of every month at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 will be the first meeting of the new year.

The committee meets for breakfast at Café Erica, 637 Main St., Hellertown.

Anyone is welcome to attend to participate in discussion on how to revitalize the downtown and help the small businesses. The HBBRP is seeking more representation from the small business sector in town.

Their projects have included the purchase of planters and seasonal plantings for Main Street’s town center area; the Patriot Project—which lined Main Street with American flags donated by local businesses and residents; acquiring benches, bike racks and trash receptacles for the town hall rehabilitation project; purchasing additional “welcome” banners for the Main Street poles; and replacing the mounting hardware and banner poles. 

The committee recently oversaw the design of the new borough logo, purchased a gateway sign for placement as you enter Hellertown from the west, and received grant funding to support the fountain restoration project at Borough Authority Park.

They’ve completed a “Restaurant and Attractions” guide to include in the Saucon Valley Farmers’ Market’s welcome packets; hosted “cash mobs”; and recently awarded their first “golden broom” to a downtown business that exemplified a clean and appealing property. 

The committee also coordinates the annual Saucon Valley Restaurant Week and the Borough Wide Yard Sale—both of which have grown in participation and attendance, and will continue as a tradition in their third year in 2014.

PROGRAM BACKGROUND

Hellertown was one of the original communities that participated in the Lehigh Valley’s Borough Business Revitalization Program—a regional Main Street program established in 2005 under the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber Foundation—with support from Lehigh and Northampton counties as well as Pennsylvania’s Department of Community & Economic Development. 

The program’s state funding ceased in 2010, and the BBRP successfully operated three additional years as a regional program under the Chamber. Participating boroughs from this program now continue their revitalization efforts in different capacities and with various plans for future growth.