Toolkit Home | Legacy Businesses Programs | How Do You Start
How do you start a legacy business program?
There is no standard process for initiating a legacy business program, which means you can chart your own course, and this toolkit provides models to get you started. A good first step is to connect with a small community-centered nonprofit, organization, or group, as they provide pathways for community collaboration, connections to the local government, and funding, all of which are crucial elements in the early phases. Note that you do not need significant funding to take the first steps.
Langston Boulevard Alliance | Arlington, Virginia
In my work with the Langston Boulevard Alliance in Arlington, VA, we interviewed twenty-three legacy businesses located along the Langston Boulevard corridor. Langston Boulevard faces ongoing redevelopment and gentrification due to its desirable location near Washington, DC. Several of the business owners interviewed own their properties, but for those who do not, the rising cost of rent was their top concern, posing a serious threat to their ability to stay rooted in the community. There was also concern from both renters and owners that the ongoing large-scale redevelopment would not include smaller commercial spaces, leaving them with fewer options in the neighborhood if they were displaced.
Case in point.
Connections to community groups or civic organizations are necessary to launch a legacy business program. If the program is created to benefit the community, then they should be a part of the process. Community connections can help you identify which legacy businesses are most significant to the community culture and heritage. They can be the program's biggest supporters and promoters, helping launch and grow it. Because of their existing connections with the local government, they can also serve as advocates for integrating the program with city organizations.
Below are perspectives from the professionals who helped launch their legacy business programs from the beginning.
Here are perspectives from the professionals who helped launch legacy business programs in their communities:
San Antonio, Texas
I spoke with Shanon Miller, San Antonio’s Historic Preservation Officer, about the origins of the San Antonio Legacy Business Program. She said that the effort started with just a couple of people in her office. They were able to get the program off the ground through collaboration with the San Antonio Economic Development Department and the World Heritage Office. Legacy businesses in her program gain a competitive advantage for funding that becomes available through those offices. She feels lucky to have started the
Case in point.
San Francisco, California
Desiree Arnanda is the Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Tucson, Arizona, but she originally started at San Francisco Heritage. She was there when the San Francisco Legacy Business Program was just getting started. The program began when SF Heritage considered expanding its view of heritage beyond buildings, recognizing that historic designation could only preserve the physical fabric. Yet the businesses the buildings housed, rather than the buildings themselves, were what made them significant. Around 2011, multiple cases in San Francisco arose in which what we now define as legacy businesses were being evicted or pushed out of their longtime homes because they could no longer afford to operate due to the city’s rapid gentrification. According to Arnanda, a few SF Heritage staff members were inspired by a program in Buenos Aires called Barres Notables, which aimed to preserve legacy bars and restaurants, and they used that as the foundation for a new project. They hosted a community forum, then wrote a policy paper emphasizing the importance of legacy businesses, and subsequently launched the Legacy Bars and Restaurants program in 2013. By 2015, the program had been incorporated by the City of San Francisco as an official initiative.
Case in point.
Steps to follow.
Each program will have its own local issues to resolve and needs identified, and as you launch your own legacy business initiative, it is important to create an outline and map out your first steps to address these concerns. Fortunately, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has a list of seven steps to help you get started.
Step 1. Determine Businesses That Matter
Collaborate with community representatives to gain a deeper understanding of which types of businesses are most significant to the community and why. Determine if your organization has a specific focus for the program, like SF Heritage’s initial focus on bars and restaurants. For example, in one of the historic neighborhoods in San Diego, called Barrio Logan, the community’s emphasis is on Chicano art galleries.
Step 2. Recognize Places of Value
Once you know what types of businesses are significant, you can determine which businesses qualify. Again, work with the community to determine the metrics for qualification and any guidelines for submission. Then, use community input to create an initial list of businesses.
Step 3. Define the Problems Your Legacy Businesses Face
Work with legacy businesses in your neighborhood to develop an understanding of the problems and threats they are facing. This is important to understand which components are crucial to your program, including funding and policy. See the Defining Problems section of the toolkit for more information.
Step 4. Study the Effects
To the best of your ability, quantify and qualify the impact and value that the legacy businesses bring to your community. Are they culturally significant? Do they support local traditions, art, or music? Are they a component of the style and character of the neighborhood? Do they support the local economy? Utilize your community contacts to identify areas of interest for your own research, then be sure to share the findings back with the community for their input.
Step 5. Work With Elected Officials (and/or City Officials)
Collaborating with the city will be crucial to the success of your program, and you will need support and buy-in from the outset. Share the outcome of your first four steps with the city and outline the importance of the businesses to the community. Use the stories of the people in the businesses to help you sell the effort, as legacy business programs rarely fit neatly into existing municipal programs and can be overlooked otherwise. Elected officials may be more likely to connect with the human and community story, especially if they have ties to the neighborhood. This early step can help to produce the inclusive and equitable policies and legislation needed to solve the problems your legacy businesses face.
Step 6. Mitigate Opposition
Identify which groups and organizations may be part of a legacy business program in the future. These could be the planning department, economic development, historic preservation, and so on. Share your findings and project with them early to answer any questions they might have and garner initial support. Emphasize that your project does not have any funding or staffing impact on their teams and promote cross-functional collaboration. These conversations can help mitigate any future opposition to the project and open up alternative pathways for funding.
Step 7. Generate Support
Get the word out to the community early and often. Use your social media channels, website, and email lists to promote the project. In my work at the Langston Boulevard Alliance, initial public support for the early legacy business interviews we did led to the project being continued with alternative funding even after our initial grant ended. You should also consider reaching out to partners and hosting events to promote legacy businesses.
Langston Boulevard Alliance | Arlington, Virginia
Early in the People & Places Project, the Langston Boulevard Alliance co-hosted a popular event with Arlington Economic Development, featuring some of the area's legacy business owners as speakers. The human stories behind the legacy businesses shared at that event went a long way toward garnering community support.