Your Voice Shapes Our Community

 

On February 19 and March 13, dozens of people joined for community conversations about the future of the town center at Germantown. In addition to meeting our neighbors and Germantown supporters we discussed what we believed are important components for a successful town center and our vision for Germantown.

Did you miss the events? We still want to hear from you! Take our brief survey  to share your input. The survey is available in print in English, Spanish, Chinese, and French by emailing zdavis@ggchamber.org.

And, join us for our next community meeting (info coming soon!)  for another chance to be part of this dynamic process. 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The next followup to our Community Visioning Workshops will be scheduled soon for late April. The Germantown Town Center team at the Chamber and partners will present the survey data to-date, draft mission/vision/values statements based on that data, discuss challenges in community engagement in Germantown, and will present conceptualized logos based on your feedback from the mood boards at the 3/13/25 meeting. We will continue the early phases of the “branding” process at this meeting!

 

 

 

BACKGROUND: 

In 2024, The County awarded GGCC a grant to determine the feasibility of a Business Improvement District (BID) or an Urban District (UD) in Germantown Town Center. With the funding, GGCC is charged with the following:

      1. working with the businesses in the Town Center to determine needs for services that could help the business community to thrive
      2. working with the businesses and community stakeholders to determine what the community would like to see in the Town Center
      3. working with the County government to determine geographic boundaries and potential funding models for the Town Center

Depending on budget availability, the grant to GGCC is renewable up to 3 years, at which point, we need to have determined the feasibility of a BID or UD and filed appropriate project applications.

 

In year one (May 2024-May 2025): GGCC started the project with the following:

      1. Personnel & Community Engagement: We hired a dedicated project manager for Germantown Town Center – Zeina Davis – who will work with business owners and stakeholders in the Town Center on various initiatives
      2. Placemaking: We brought back Oktoberfest to the Town Center, and over 4200 people attended (based on placer data); we supported other events in the Town Center, such as Celebrate the Seasons
      3. Branding: Through a competitive RFP process, we have hired two agencies to guide the community through a branding exercise, which will culminate in a new logo and brand design guidelines for the Town Center in Spring 2025.

Year #2 will focus on understanding the potential boundaries of a Business Improvement District for Germantown Town Center, building out a website to be used as a marketing tool for local businesses and the County, learning more about what services the businesses community needs to thrive, and implementing more fun placemaking events to bring new people to the Town Center area.

 

RESOURCES:

Click here for a status update from the February meeting.

Click here for the most recent status update presented after Oktoberfest

Visit Germantown Town Center on Instagram! 

 

 

PAST PUBLIC MEETINGS & EVENTS:

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