The simplest answer to the question is that the Downtown Foundation and the Chamber have different missions. The Chamber seeks to be the ânumber one business advocate in the Walla Walla Valley.â
The Downtown Foundation exists to âpromote the history, culture and commerceâ of our downtown.
Both missions are laudable and highly compatible. My business was a member of both organizations for decades.
The difference is that the Downtown Foundation follows a program specific to the needs of a thriving downtown. The Foundation works the model of the national Main Street program which includes design, economic vitality, promotion and organization. Each of these four points creates a distinct work plan.
Tom Scribner: Again, why not combine Downtown Foundation, Chamber?
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Downtown Walla Walla Foundation ends business memberships, switches to donor model
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The Downtown Walla Walla Foundation will switch to a donation-based funding model in 2021 and eliminate business memberships, Executive Director Kathryn Witherington announced.
Her reasoning for the change is threefold, with an element of dwindling pools of money and other funding sources due to the pandemic in the mix:
âFirst, it is our mission to promote the history, culture, and commerce of downtown as a whole, not just those stakeholders who choose to be members,â she said in a release. âSecond, we believe our businesses have enough financial worries without feeling obligated to be members.
âAnd finally, our work is about what we all do together. Our services are available to any and all downtown businesses, regardless of their ability or desire to pay a membership fee.â