Our Mission

To nurture and support the vitality of downtown Brattleboro through art, commerce, recreation, and education.

ABOUT THE DBA

Founded in 1999 as Building a “Better Brattleboro” and then renamed in 2014 to Downtown Brattleboro Alliance (DBA), we are the official non-profit Designated Downtown Organization for the Town of Brattleboro. We are one of 23 downtown organizations in the state of Vermont. This designation provides access to grants, technical assistance, and networking opportunities. Our programming is funded by grants, donations and a special assessment tax on downtown properties in the Downtown Improvement District.

The DBA works with members, including the downtown property owners, to develop a work plan and budget. Before submitting these to the town, DBA members vote and approve the work plan and budget.

The DBA represents more than 90 businesses and organizations and is led by a volunteer Board of Directors which includes local business owners, property owners, educators, and town representatives.  The DBA has a staff of 4 and many incredible volunteers. 

MORE ABOUT US

The DBA works with members on a variety of subjects and projects. Below are some of the benefits that the DBA provides to its community.

  • We work with downtown property owners and members, to develop a work plan and budget. Before submitting these to the town, DBA members vote and approve the work plan and budget.
  • We provide relationship-building and guidance for local businesses to partner on mutually beneficial projects. We also are open to collaborating with organizations and individuals in the community!
  • We support consensus-building among local businesses on decisions where unity benefits the entire downtown district.
  • We support and provide innovation and leadership in approaches that build the local economy. Check out the Everyone Eats project.
  • We help with event creation and promotion of existing events in Brattleboro.
  • We foster change-making through projects and local collaborations. We hope to influence people to use and think about local spaces and places differently through town beautification initiatives like the Downtown Flower Program.
  • We support thought leadership and collaborations with community leaders, to drive positive innovation in rural downtown development.

How to Support the DBA

The DBA is supported by you! The more paying members we have, the stronger we are as an organization, and the more we can do for our community. You can support the DBA and Downtown Brattleboro in many ways, but here are two important ones to consider:

If you are within the DID lines become a paying member to receive voting privileges. We rely on paying members to guide our annual budget with their votes. Connect with us on our social media to see what we’re up to

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION

DBA is committed to fostering a diverse and representative community of volunteers, staff and participants. We aim to create programming that is uplifting, safe and open to all with an appreciation and respect for a full spectrum of individual differences – cultural, racial, religious, socio-economic, or based on sexual identity, gender, physical, developmental or intellectual ability.

A NOTE FROM THE DBA

Since the pandemic, DBA continues to help our members navigate the constantly changing landscape of shutdowns and reopenings, evolving safety mandates, reduced revenue, a deluge of essential information, and the shared trauma of a global health crisis, which have made for an unthinkably difficult time for all downtown business owners. We created programs like the 48-hour Gift Card Challenge, the Nourishing Artists program, and Everyone Eats! to support our community during this pandemic and support you all financially as you try to find your path to move forward.

Through the one2one Project, we offered continued guidance and strengthened the mutual support network that we have nurtured. Despite unprecedented circumstances, we are committed to keeping our town vibrant!

While some of our favorite pre-COVID events might not be coming back for a while, I would be remiss not to mention the fun we had this past summer and fall with Gallery Walk and BrattleBOO in collaboration with our local shops and organizations.

And we continue to support you by beautifying Main Street through our flower program and promoting downtown happenings on social media, in our newsletter, and through Planagogo.

DBA is committed to fostering a diverse and representative community of volunteers, staff and participants.  We aim to create programming that is uplifting, safe and open to all with an appreciation and respect for for a full spectrum of individual differences – cultural, racial, religious, socio-economic, or based on sexual identity, gender, physical, developmental or intellectual ability. 

There are many reasons to value DBA, and everyone has their favorite. Find more about what on our Facebook page. Whatever your reason, we’d love to have you join us!

A Year of Growth

We’ve had incredible growth this year. One of our biggest achievements has been growing taking over Gallery Walk and successfully reimagining and relaunching the community event.

NEWS & UPCOMING EVENTS

April 27: Creatives Town Meeting at HatchSpace 5:30-7:00
May 6: Gallery Walk in all of downtown! 5:00-9:00
June 3: Gallery Walk in all of downtown! 5:00-9:00

Board Meetings – Third Wednesday of Every Month

We will meet from 12:30pm – 1:45pm on Zoom.  The standing meeting ID for our Zoom meetings each month is: 810 125 8347.

STAY IN THE LOOP

For the latest news and happenings in Downtown Brattleboro and in the DBA, please email us, join our newsletter, or visit us on Facebook!

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