Downtown Bend Business Association scales back budget as events canceled

Businesses, stakeholders prioritize spending

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Downtown Bend is home to many festivals and fundraisers, but with many of these events canceled because of COVID 19, the Downtown Bend Business Association is being forced to prioritize spending on certain programs.

DBBA focuses on the program development, advocacy, marketing and cleaning and beautification of downtown Bend. The organization has announced that its annual budget will be cut in half this year because fundraisers like Oktoberfest, festivals and other revenue generating programs have been cut.

Last year, DBBA's budgeted income was just shy of $400,000, and the canceled events, and fundraising events made up almost half of that.

Friday evening concluded the survey period for downtown Bend businesses owners and stakeholders to vote on what they feel spending should be prioritized on.

“Right now, what we’re doing to make sure we are looking at this long term (and to) cut down our budget and don’t count on money that we are not certain can be there," DBBA Executive Director Mindy Aisling said Friday.

"If we operate really conservative like that, then that’s going to make sure we can do whatever longevity this takes, because we really don’t know if this going to be over soon or if this will last another couple of years.”

The DBBA Board of Directors will meet next week to review the budget, which will be voted on in June. You will be able to visit the Downtown Bend Business Association website to see the programs for the year and their budget, once finalized.