Stronger Together Through Hope: Weekly Message from Maggie Campbell, President/CEO of DAMC

While I’m never surprised by the ingenuity of our Downtown Arlington businesses and cultural partners, these last few weeks have been nothing short of inspiring. In less than a month’s time, they have completely reimagined and reconfigured their operational models so they can continue to serve their customers, clients, audiences, and employees during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Equally inspiring has been the response from our incredible community. While remaining committed to flattening the curve, you have lifted them up through your continued patronage, acts of kindness, and unending hometown pride. You give us hope, Arlington! And we hope the feeling’s mutual.

Now, let’s get together (virtually) and celebrate our amazing City with some toe-tapping fun!

WATCH PARTY: LEVITT LIVING ROOM SERIES AND DOWNTOWN DELIVERS

Ready for some live music? Since we can’t yet gather in Downtown, Downtown’s coming to you.

Although much of their 2020 summer music season is being rescheduled for the fall, the Levitt Pavilion just announced that the show can go on! The new Levitt Living Room Series of live-streaming concerts will keep us entertained and connected with one of our favorite Downtown traditions.

The free online series will take place every Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on the Levitt’s Facebook page as a Facebook Live event, or you can join us on our Facebook page for our exclusive Watch Party which will include live community chat!

The Levitt Living Room Series kicks off this coming Tuesday, April 21 with a performance by fan favorite Brad Thompson. 

In addition to great music, what else do we love about the Levitt? We love packing a picnic basket full of our favorite foods, wine, beer, and desserts. You can still enjoy that picnic at home, thanks to the Downtown restaurants and bars that participate in our Downtown Delivers platform. You’ll find a variety of to-go ordering, curbside pick-up, drive-through and/or delivery services, and most participants offer pre-ordering online. Lawn chairs not included.

Visit our Downtown Delivers page for more information.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS 

New information about COVID-19 business resources is being released on a daily and even hourly basis. It can be tricky to figure out where to turn for information, particularly as details emerge.

DAMC is maintaining a listing of resources at the federal, state and local level available to business, non-profit and cultural arts institutions. You can find that listing our COVID-19 webpage at downtownarlington.org/covid-19. 

In particular, I’d like to highlight three that are top of mind this week:

SBA Paycheck Protection Program Update 

Earlier this month, the Small Business Administration announced the expansion of its Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to include self-employed individuals. This was good news for Downtown Arlington which, like many downtowns across the country, relies on a healthy small business ecosystem. 

Today the federal government acknowledged that the number of applications for PPP assistance has outpaced the funding set-aside. For now, the SBA is no longer taking applications, but discussions about another $250 billion in program funding are already well underway in Washington D.C. Qualifying entrepreneurs who missed out initially are advised to consult their banking institutions and hopefully get ready for next announcement.

Chamber Offers Business Leaders Series Online

For a local take on a number of topics, I highly recommend you tune into to the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce Business Leaders Series Online. This Facebook Live series, which takes place weekdays at 1:00 p.m., takes a close look at hot topics of the day including COVID-19 funding sources, business resilience strategies, and other current events. The series is free and open to Chamber members and non-members alike.

Downtown Arlington Launches #WFHTips Contest

For those who are new to working from home, maintaining productivity can be extra challenging. Even a small staff like ours at DAMC had to perfect the art of working remotely. What is your best Work From Home (WFH) tip for maintaining work-life balance and keeping your boss happy? Using #WFHTips, share a lighthearted 30 second video of your idea on the Downtown Arlington Texas Facebook page, and you’ll be entered to win a $20 gift card of your choice from one of Downtown’s restaurants! Winners will be announced every #WFHWednesday.

SPREADING KINDNESS 

The sacrifices we’re making on a daily basis are slowing the spread of COVID-19 and literally saving lives. But one thing our community never sacrifices on is the will to spread kindness.

Join us in celebrating acts of kindness that took place this week in Downtown Arlington, including:

• Hurtado Barbecue shared an incredible gift of kindness Tuesday by giving away nearly 200 meal kits to anyone in need. The kits included fresh fruits, pulled pork, tortillas, black beans and other essentials. Plans are already in the works for another meal kit giveaway.
• Salter Bros. Coffee Roasters teamed up with Social House Arlington Wednesday to drop off coffee and meals to healthcare workers at Arlington Memorial Hospital.
• The next time you take a drive down Abram Street in Downtown, look for two beautiful new tributes to our hometown heroes, including first responders and healthcare professionals. First, our popular Dream sculpture is washed in a lovely shade of blue light. Adjacent to the sculpture, arranged in the shape of the Red Cross, are the flags which typically adorn our Veteran’s Day festivities. These creative installations, which will be on display through mid-May, are gifts from Paul Fulks and 3Di Sign + Design.

If you see acts of kindness taking place in Downtown, please share the good news! Tag photos on social media with #ArlingtonKindness and @cityofarlington

With hope and gratitude,

Maggie Campbell
President and CEO
Downtown Arlington Management Corporation