On November 30, the Bakersfield Downtown Business Association breakfast allowed downtown businesses to gather and network with one another.

 

It featured Kevin Clerici, who is executive director of the Downtown Ventura Partners (DVP). DVP is a business improvement district in Ventura that encompasses over 30 square blocks and more than 300 businesses.

 

During his 5 years as director, DVP increased revenues by nearly 50 percent through outside contracts and leveraged hundreds of thousands of dollars in new investment in downtown.  DVP's budget in 2016 topped $1 million.  His approach is to build multiple partnerships to strengthen the community and to maximize limited resources.

 

The event was a town hall-style breakfast, with Clerici discussing improvement districts and how they work in Ventura for a Safe, Secure and Welcoming area for their downtown, followed by a question and answer session.  

 

For more information, contact the DBA at (661) 325-5892 or www.bakersfielddba.com.