Sumner Downtown Association Looks Forward to Fresh Start in New Year

The , which represents the city core, is in a state of transition.

In 2011, the SDA did not receive city funding. Arla Holschuch, who was parachuted into Sumner as executive director, retired less than a year after she was hired. Fundraisers to fix Sumner’s downtown murals have been less than fruitful.

Still, SDA members say they are hopeful and see opportunity as quaint Main Street moves into 2012, especially considering the organization’s new 501c3 non-profit status and its existing base of community support. These factors make the SDA’s vision of making Sumner into a tourist destination like Leavenworth attainable, says Barbara Ford, association board president.

“It’s really gaining momentum,” said board vice president Marlene Grantham.

The group hopes to prove this to the Sumner Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) today, when they ask for $22,000 in support. If received, these funds would primarily be used to improve and promote Rhubarb Days and expand it into a two-day event. LTAC funds come from a lodging tax charged by Sumner hotels and must be used to increase tourism.

“The LTAC funding will be key to raising Rhubarb Days in 2012 to a higher level,” said Dale Loseth, interim SDA office manager. “We want to make it our signature event.”

Looking into the new year, SDA has three goals – hire a new director, boost membership and promote the Rhubarb Pie Capital with a signature event to bring more dollars into the city.

Overseeing the expansion of Rhubarb Days will be a task for the new program manager, said Barbara Ford, association board president. SDA will begin the hiring process for a new director Dec. 15 and hopes to fill the position by the end of January.

While Holschuch’s retirement was unexpected, the association took it as an opportunity to reorganize and re-evaluate its goals.

“Starting Oct. 1, our focus has been for the fourth quarter, to immediately go into hiring mode didn’t make sense to us,” said Ford. “We felt like we needed to get everything on track so we can hire someone who is walking into a well-organized downtown association and can start moving forward, instead of fixing the past.”

Ford credits Loseth for manning the office in the afternoons and keeping things on track while the board tweaks its goals, bylaws, rules and regulations.

“He is generously there on a temporary basis,” said Ford.

The outstanding achievement of Holschuch’s leadership was earning a 501c3 status for SDA as a public charity. This opened the door for the SDA to receive money from local businesses that, in turn, gain a Business and Occupation (B&O) tax credit for 75 percent of the amount they donate.

The SDA has been busy educating the business community on the tax credit program and the effort seems to be paying off, said Loseth. But, businesses have until Dec. 31 to commit funds, so the association won’t know how successful they’ve been until early 2012.

“We’re getting a number of larger places and smaller places in town that are starting to commit funds,” said Loseth.

Ford noted that Sumner’s charm is in it’s branding as the Rhubarb Pie Capital, a title local businesses thrive upon.

“We want to be more involved with radio and TV and get the word out about how awesome Sumner is,” Ford said, noting the association wants to make Sumner into a tourist destination like Leavenworth.

SDA hopes that a new year with fresh leadership and community funding will then bring more events and customers to town. Sumner’s Wine Walk draws an average 2,500 people to downtown alone. Crowds at the Old Cannery Bridge Lighting, Santa Parade and Daffodil Festival can translate into more sales tax revenue, which could mean B&O taxes for SDA that lead to hanging baskets, mural restoration and better event promotion for the city.

The SDA is not just for businesses, either. Interested residents can join for $10. The more members and volunteers the association has, said Ford, the stronger it becomes.

“I’ve found people in Sumner are very proud of their town, what it represents and all the neat things going on.”