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Downtown Boise events help small businesses

Posted at 6:07 AM, Jun 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-05 08:07:05-04

BOISE, Idaho — The summer-like weather in the Treasure Valley provides perfect timing for concerts and events in Downtown Boise. Wednesday is the first Alive After Five of the season, and this is just one of the events helping downtown businesses thrive.

It's no secret Downtown Boise is a bustling hub for events in the summer like Alive After Five, First Thursday, outdoor markets, concerts and more.

"That's bringing in a lot of people from business clients to conference attendees to tourists and the small businesses on the street level downtown definitely say that they see a huge economic impact from that," said Lynn Hightower from the Downtown Boise Association.

Hightower says with the number of events growing over the past five years means the number of conferences being held is growing too. "There's a real bottom line economic benefit to events especially when they're held in a downtown which is also the concentration of your business community and we're very, very fortunate and thankful to have that."

Mary Ann Mandel owns Olivin, an olive oil and vinegar tap room in Downtown Boise. Mandel says she receives more attention from people out and about. "Some of the parking is less concentrated. People have to walk out and then they get to walk by."

'Helps business because you know, if we're closed after the event is over and somebody walks by, they see out shop and think about us later, but the best thing is just seeing everybody roaming around and having a good time," said Dan Balluf, the owner of City Peanut Shop.

Balluf says Boise is definitely a tourist destination and the extra traffic is helping revitalize downtown.

"People are proud of our downtown so if their family comes into visit, they bring family members down and show off all their favorite shops. That's where we get a lot of our business in the summer is people showing off this beautiful downtown that we have," Balluf said.