Lifeline for downtown businesses

A number of promising projects are in the works or on the verge of moving forward in downtown Cedar Rapids and its fringes. There's the high-priority plan to upgrade and expand the U.S. Cellular Center. Restore the Paramount Theatre. A new public library will be built. A self-taxing new medical district that could raise health care collaboration and services to a new level. Housing improvements and additions. Cleanup and repurposing the old Sinclair packing plant site. A new federal courthouse rises on the southeast edge.

All important advances with more to come in this community's efforts to rebound from the 2008 flood devastation and throw off shackles from the national recession that settled in right after our disaster. These projects, of course, will take years to complete.

Meanwhile, many reopened and new small businesses in the downtown core and nearby struggle daily to survive. Their pain was aired during a forum sponsored by The Gazette, gazetteonline.com and KCRG-TV9 on Monday.

An overflow crowd at the Museum of Art listened intently to a panel of community leaders, business owners and a research scientist from Iowa State University. Then audience members peppered them with questions and comments.

The immediate upshot: The community as a whole is not aware that many recovering downtown small businesses are at risk of failing within months, or that many have already have folded with thousands of jobs lost.

Their initial efforts to reopen after the flood were impressive. But they've leveraged all of their resources, they're much deeper in debt, and government disaster assistance has been slow and/or too little. Customer traffic is not where it needs to be yet. And uncertainty as to when permanent flood protection will finally be built add to their worries.

ISU's Dave Swenson told the forum crowd that Cedar Rapids area's overall economy is strong with many resources. Moving the downtown area ahead is doable.

But in the months ahead, awareness and buying local are critical to small business survival.

Heather Younker can attest to the effects of getting the word out. She joined the new 3/50 project - which invites residents to spend $50 among three locally owned businesses each month - and advised customers by e-mail that her Brewed Awakenings coffeehouse would likely close without more customers.

The response, she testified during an emotional testimony at Monday's forum, was remarkable.

It's one example of making a difference right now. Locally owned businesses are vital to building a healthy, vibrant, unique downtown. The downtown is critical to the city's tax base, job offerings and identity. Supporting small businesses in the months ahead can help anchor a brighter future for the entire community.