Commercial Drive Business SocietySuite #4 - 1726 Commercial DriveVancouver, BC V5N 4A3

COMMERCIAL DRIVE BUSINESS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER - SPRING/summer 2017 EDITION

22 amazing blocks with over 300 shops & restaurants

The Commercial Drive Business Society (CDBS) serves approximately 650 members made up of business and property owners in the Commercial Drive BIA. The BIA area extends from Adanac Street to 13th Avenue, along Commercial Drive and approximately one block East and West of Commercial Drive.

Check thedrive.ca to keep up with the Commercial drive business society and their efforts on your behalf!

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@CommercialD

@CommercialD

TheDrive.ca

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 AGM Packages will be will be distributed by hand and mail and arrive in your mailbox this August.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

NEW WEBSITE TheDrive.ca With over 1,000 unique site visitors each week and an ever-growing reach via social media, our new-ly-launched website is set to take off! Be sure to check it out: TheDrive.ca

ONLINE STORE TheDrive.ca now features an online store offering exclusive stylish ‘Drive Wear’ merchandise; complete with our newly-branded and trademarked logos. Members receive discounts starting at 50% off sug-gested retail pricing. Apparel can be purchased for your own personal use and/or for retail sale by your

ONLINE MEMBER SERVICES TheDrive.ca/doingbusiness This initiative available at TheDrive.ca is your direct online link to doing business in the Commercial Drive Business Improvement Area. This page provides essential member information and new ways to better serve you. Keep checking back for ongoing developments.

PROPERTY FOR LEASE OR SALE Space List - available at TheDrive.ca/doingbusiness is a real estate listing site link that automatically searches the internet and adds the listing to our website; allowing one the opportunity to seamlessly lease or purchase or just to discover incredible spaces and render smart decisions about where to locate ‘On The Drive’.

BIZ MAPThe CDBS is working with Small Business Canada/BC and the City of Vancouver in developing a current mar-ket evaluation of our business and retail district. The CDBS was instrumental in securing a grant in excess of $5,000.00 to go towards this project. The ‘Bizmap Renewal Project’ is an excellent resource and will provide pro-

business. All you need to do is enter the promo code. The public can also purchase here!

BLOGGERS Check out this awesome, newly-created section on TheDrive.ca. Blogs will feature our various member businesses, while highlighting where to shop, where to dine and what to do, while on ‘The Drive’. It’s news-worthy, enlightening and fun at the same time.

PHOTOGRAPHER Our exclusive in-house photographer at our newly-re-launched website TheDrive.ca is currently making the rounds up and down ‘The Drive’; capturing all of the

amazing storefronts, the incredible array of merchants and the surrounding neighbourhood; showcasing key events and all that is happening within the BIA.

‘ON THE DRIVE’ - TSN RADIO FEATURE Airing bi-weekly on ‘Just Here for the Beer Radio’ on TSN – 1410, host Joe Leary and your Executive Director Nick Pogor are working in concert to promote your amazing venues as part of a newly-created and exclu-sive one-of-a-kind radio concept called ON THE DRIVE. The produced audio content of your segments will also be distributed through our numerous social media channels. A Blog and Video component of ON THE DRIVE is in the works.

spective businesses looking to locate in our area with an economic profile. Look for this invaluable informa-tion coming soon to TheDrive.ca/doingbusiness.

MARKET YOUR BUSINESSTheDrive.ca/events serves as the place to advertise your business, events, sales, specials and promo-tions, etc. This calendar is set up to allow our mem-bers to upload additional information for customers to view and ultimately connect with your business. You can also share your calendar items automatically to TheDrive.ca/events. Simply put, this exciting new endeavor will enable you to reach infinitely more customers and with much easier access than ever before.

marketing TOURISM VANCOUVER PASSPORT CHALLENGE - April – June, 2017

The Commercial Drive Business Society recently partnered with Tourism Vancouver to market our unique and historic neighbourhood to close to 30,000 individuals working within the tourism industry. This exciting initiative further helps establish and ‘brand’ ‘The Drive’ as a premier tourist destination, allowing participating Lower Mainland Tourism employees to visit and experience all that our participating members have to offer. The expe-rience is then passed on to tourists from far and wide. This program works and helps get our word out!

WHERE MAGAZINE: May – Dec 2017Bringing the world to The Drive! The CDBS Shop, Dine and Explore advertisements inspire and encourage tourism throughout 36,000 local hotel rooms and tourism ‘hot spots’; prominently featur-ing our neighbourhood; ‘The Drive’ as a premier tourist destination.

JULY 1 - CANADA 150 CELEBRATION

JULY 9 - CAR FREE DAYcarfreevancouver.org

JULY 16, AUGUST 20 + SEPTEMBER 17 SUMMER SERIES

JULY & AUG – FRIDAY NIGHT SERIES

AUG – VANCOUVER FOODSTER BRUNCH CRAWL

OCT 31 – HALLOWEEN ON THE DRIVE

NOV 25 - CHRISTMAS ON THE DRIVE

EVENTS ON THE HORIZON – SAVE THE DATES!

Check thedrive.ca to keep up with the Commercial drive business society and their efforts on your behalf!

COMMERCIAL DRIVE BUSINESS SOCIETY NEWSLETTER - SPRING/summer 2017 EDITION

marketing

‘VANCOUVER WHITECAPS ITALIAN HERITAGE NIGHT’ - July 5, 2017The CDBS is working with Vancouver Whitecaps FC to promote the BIA and ‘Little Italy’. Visit TheDrive.ca/Little-Italy for our ongoing social media contest – we are giving away a pair of Whitecaps FC tickets every day in June! This campaign will lead us into a major promotion for the 2018 World Cup.

FESTIVALS AND eVENTSWe are keeping Grandview Park safe and secure for all to enjoy by partnering with community partners and stakeholders to create events that are free, safe and provide family fun.

ITALIAN DAY 2017What a day it was! Amore was in the air. This much-anticipated annual event was organized by the Italian Day Festival Society in conjunction with the Commercial Drive Business Society and collaborating partner, The Italian Cultural Centre (Il Centro); invaluable support of sponsors, community businesses and the City of Van-couver without whom the event would not be possible. Each year the event grows exponentially along with attendance, business revenues, media coverage into a heralded landmark event. With over 350,000 estimated attendees this year alone, Italian Day on The Drive remains Vancouver’s largest and most celebrated cultural street festival of its kind. We look forward to next year!

OUTREACH AND ADVOCACYThe CDBS currently participates and/or partners with the following projects and groups as a stakeholder and/or advisory position:

• Fortis BC Coquitlam to Vancouver Gas Line Proj-ect - Spring 2018

• TransLink - Millennium Line Broadway Sky Train Extension -

• West Bank Development - Safeway Site Develop-ment

• City of Vancouver - Broadway + Commercial - Plaza Exploration

• City of Vancouver - Safety and Security Business Concerns Advisory Group

• City of Vancouver Transportation 2040 Plan• Britannia Community Centre Renewal • Grandview-Woodland Transportation Stakehold-

er Group• Boffo Development and Kettle Friendship Society

Facility Construction• Vancouver Park Board, Grandview Woodland

Community Policing• AAA Bike Lanes – 2019 - City of Vancouver • Neighborhood Bike Lane Surveys are in progress

(see below)

SAFETY + SECURITYFASTEST WAY TO REPORT NON EMERGENCY ISSUES - REQUEST CITY SERVICES VIA SMART PHONE! CALL 911 FOR ALL EMERGENCIES.

VanConnect App is a simple one-stop solution for connecting with Vancouver City Hall, 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Using this City of Vancouver Smartphone app you can readily request service to repair a pothole or cracked sidewalk for instance – by submitting a short description of the issue and uploading a picture. The app automatically “knows” where the issue is located and issues a report to the corresponding department and in-forms you the instant your request is resolved. The CDBS employs a private security firm to assist in day- to-day Security & Safety on The Drive.

Before calling the CDBS Security team, please make the effort to document the incident by taking a picture if possible and then report in this order:

1. Non-emergency police line – 604-717-2932 (ask for a reference number) 2. VanConnect App> Submit New Service Request > Street and Sidewalks >Location + Description 3. CDBS Security Team: 778-866-7489 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 12pm to 8pm)4. security@thedrive.ca (attach a picture, provide details and police reference number)

BE DILIGENT – REPORT IT! • ILLEGAL VENDING, BUSKING AND PAN HANDLING• CAMPING, SLEEPING AND TRESPASSING ON PRIVATE & CITY PROPERTY

STREET ENHANCEMENTLITTLE ITALY RECOGNITION INITIATIVESThe heart of Drive is ‘Little Italy’ and has long been the heart of Vancouver’s Italian community and is home to the largest concentration of Italian shops and busi-nesses in Metro Vancouver. We are currently working with Fortis BC and City of Vancouver Planning and En-gineering to bring signage, painted crosswalks, street blades and many other initiatives to further recognize ‘Little Italy on The Drive.’

• LED Tree Lights • Painted Crosswalks • Street Name Signs • Large Format Signage at 1st/Commercial

NEW BANNERSWith our new logo in full form, the newest banners blanket The Drive with bright beautiful reds.

LED TREE LIGHTINGThe CDBS is working with City of Vancouver Electrical and Operations and Engineering working towards an installation some time before the New Year. This capi-tal project; six years in the making, will see a landmark LED installation that will illuminate ‘The Drive’ like never before! City of Vancouver electrical work is near completion and reports will follow shortly after.

GRAFFITI REMOVAL The CDBS team works 365 days per year to remove graffiti within 72 hours of notification. Report all inci-

dents of such graffiti infractions to graffiti@TheDrive.ca and in most cases we will remove it free of charge.

PRESSURE WASHING – SIDE WALKSAnnual pressure washing of sidewalks in the Com-mercial Drive Business Improvement Area takes place each spring and has been under way since May. Our contractor works from 6am to 9am and provides a truck with a completely-independent water supply; meaning fewer disturbances to your businesses. This detailed power washing service includes all sidewalks - up to the alley ways. Utilizing a hot water power wash system, a scrubber brush attachment removes all manner of dirt, gum, grease, debris and organic matter.

RESIDENT SURVEY AAA BIKE LANES

222 - total residents surveyed so far.

87.6% own a bicycle.

96.1% are aware of the existing bike routes in the immediate area.

70.2% would prefer the existing cycling infrastructure is optimized before new AAA cycle lanes are even considered for Commercial Drive.

77% do not support the City plan to build AAA bike lanes on Commercial Drive.

61.8% prefer to cycle on slower sidestreets.

Jerry Dubrovolny, City of Vancouver, stated: “The Com-mercial Drive Complete Street Project will not move ahead until at least 2019”.

Commercial Drive Complete Street ProjectShare concerns about this City plan by email: commercialdrive@vancouver.ca

JULY 1 - CANADA 150 CELEBRATION

JULY 9 - CAR FREE DAY carfreevancouver.org

JULY 16, AUGUST 20 + SEPTEMBER 17 SUMMER SERIES

JULY & AUG – FRIDAY NIGHT SERIES

AUG – VANCOUVER FOODSTER BRUNCH CRAWL

OCT 31 – HALLOWEEN ON THE DRIVE

NOV 25 - CHRISTMAS ON THE DRIVE

SAVE THE DATES!