Title Sponsor

Welcome Remarks

Robert Zuckerman, President of Downtown New Jersey, opened the conference with a year in review for the organization and downtown revitalization.

Keynote Address

Hanna Love – Brookings Metro

As the heart of our nation’s economy, downtowns have the unique potential—and imperative—to act boldly and inclusively to rebuild stronger than before. Love’s keynote focused on win-win solutions that downtowns of all sizes can adopt to broaden who benefits from the productivity and prosperity that downtowns produce. These included strategies to diversify land use mixes downtowns, make them 24-hour destinations through arts, events, placemaking, and programming, and to maximize the survival of small businesses while cultivating new and diverse small business ownership downtown.

Panel Discussion

Our keynote speaker was joined by a panel of local experts to discuss “Think Big, Act Small” opportunities for NJ’s downtowns.

Panelists (Speaker Bios):

• Melissa Hodge, Executive Director, South Orange Downtown
• Hanna Love, Senior Research Associate, Brookings Metro
• Natalie Pineiro, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority
• Nate Storring, Co-Executive Director, Project for Public Spaces

Moderator:

• Laura Torchio, Advisor & Director of Placemaking, NV5

Powerpoint Slides >

Session Sponsor

New Jersey is in the heart of the country’s most important economic corridor with infrastructure, consumers, and a workforce that makes the state a destination for large-scale events. Travel is on the rise, and tourism and hospitality industries are getting back to normal. Big events are coming our way, including the 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution, the World Cup, and another total eclipse – are you ready?

In this session, panelists discussed how large-scale events can provide an economic boost and showcase downtowns, and provided insights to prepare for more visitors and harness their spending power.

Panelists (Speaker Bios):

• Sara Cureton, Executive Director, NJ Historical Commission
• Christie Huus, EVP of Public Affairs & Special Projects, New Jersey Economic Development Authority
• Lauren LaRusso, NY/NJ World Cup 2026 Host Committee, Co-Host City Manager
• Dawn Mackey, Executive Director, Metuchen Downtown Alliance
  

Moderator:

• Tara Dowdell, President, Tara Dowdell Group

No PowerPoint slides were used during this session.

Each year, Downtown New Jersey recognizes New Jersey’s best downtown projects and programs completed within the last two years, as well as individuals dedicated to downtown revitalization. Downtown Excellence awardees are considered exemplary models worthy of emulation.

For more information about the awardees and pictures of the ceremony, please visit the 2023 NJ Downtown Excellence Awards webpage.

Session Sponsor

Downtown practitioners are increasingly called upon to make data-informed decisions and recommendations. At the same time, there is an exponential increase in the complexity, volume, and variety of data sources; accompanied by diminishing trust in unreliable, crowd-sourced, and AI digital data. In this session, panelists discussed how best to use and communicate findings from downtown economic development data sources, and explored case studies of specific applications to illustrate real-world examples of downtowns drawing from Big Data.

Panelists (Speaker Bios):

• Justin Copenhaver, Founder/CEO, Urality
• Jason Gleason, Executive Director, Montclair Center
• Courtenay Mercer, PP, AICP, Principal, Mercer Planning Associates
• Anthony Smith, Executive Director, Lincoln Park Coast Cultural District

Moderator:

• Chris Watson, Director of Planning and Development Services, Murphy Schiller & Wilkes

Powerpoint Slides >