RACINE, Wis. — Downtown Racine Corporation and the Business Improvement District are officially separating their operations starting Oct. 1.
The Downtown Racine Corporation, a nonprofit, and the Business Improvement District, which is taxpayer funded, have operated hand-in-hand for years, with the DRC managing the BID's finances.
WATCH: Racine business owners hope to see continued support ahead of BID-DRC split
Moving forward, the BID will need to find and create a new legal and financial structure, while the DRC said it will continue to focus on promoting downtown and its members.
Dontay Coleman, a business owner new to dowtown, opened Super Juice on Sixth Street about two months ago.
"I chose the downtown area, because, I mean, who doesn't want to be downtown," Coleman said.
"It's going really well. We've been getting a lot of different foot traffic," Coleman said.
The success of downtown is tied directly to his own.
For Coleman, he thinks "downtown needs more business support as a whole."
Coleman was one of 88 business owners, employers and property owners who contributed to a survey distributed by the BID to understand area needs before crafting their 2027 budget. Survey results also included responses from 103 city of Racine residents.
Of the downtown business owners, employers and property owners surveyed, 47% said they'd like to see BID resources support business recruitment and retention.
"A lot of businesses open, but they don't stay open," Coleman said.
Safety, cleanliness and advocacy for downtown businesses were the next three priority areas identified in the survey by business and property owners.
In the past, the DRC has assisted in addressing some of these areas through finance management, but that will not be the case in several weeks.
"There's a lot of ways they work together, which has always been great, and I hope that that will continue as well even though there is more of a separation now," said downtown business owner Michelle Schimian.
Schimian is a DRC member and former BID board member herself. She said she hopes the two organizations continue to find a shared vision for downtown even as they formally separate.
"If we can find our common ground, that will help us the best," Schimian said.
DRC Executive Director Kelly Kruse addressed the change in an email to downtown merchants.
"We value the many years of partnership and believe there will continue to be opportunities for the two organizations to collaborate when it benefits our downtown businesses, property owners, and community," Kruse said.
BID Board Chairperson Amanda Cosgrove Paffrath said the transition is a time for the organizations to "divide and conquer" to better support downtown.
"The more people that are involved, and the more voices and ideas that are shared around moving downtown forward, the better," Paffrath said.
Schimian said the collective mission remains clear.
"We all have the same goal of wanting to see the city thrive," Schimian said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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