The Hillsboro Downtown Partnership (HDP) focuses on promoting and marketing Downtown, the design and appearance of Downtown, as well as business retention and recruitment. Here’s information about some of our partners, resources, and other support we provide.
During this unprecedented time of turmoil in our hyperlocal business economy, we continue to look for ways to support businesses and connect them to resources. Our Economic Vitality Committee has compiled this list of resources for our Downtown businesses.
Hillsboro Downtown Partnership (HDP) is honored and humbled to be the distributing agent of the Hillsboro Community Foundation (HCF) Community Relief Fund for Business Fire Relief to support the recovery of the businesses that were impacted by the fire at Weil Arcade.
We are making our best efforts to distribute these funds in a way that meets the intentions of the collective donors until the funds are exhausted.
The Economic Development Department advocates for businesses locating or expanding in Hillsboro and creates a favorable business climate for companies to succeed. In 2010, the City adopted a Downtown Urban Renewal Plan, providing financial means to accomplish key capital projects in the district. The City has a Downtown Storefront Improvement Grant Program, which is designed to provide assistance and incentives for commercial property or business owners to enhance the design and appearance of their storefront façades.
Resources for Hillsboro Businesses
Hillsboro Community Development is comprised of Building, Planning, Transportation, and Affordable Housing and supports the community in planning for and creating a strong and vibrant Hillsboro community through thoughtful planning, development, administration of policies, and targeted implementation of programs and projects. The staff can provide resources on everything from what constitutes a permitted use for a specific piece of property, to requirements related to density, setbacks and subdivision of land, not to mention how to drive, walk, or bike within the City.
The Portland Community College Small Business Development Center has helped thousands of businesses over the past 30 years. SBDC combines one-on-one advising with programs taught by business experts, giving clients the resources, they need to grow their businesses. They provide help for your business, no matter what stage, business education every step of the way, and one-on-one business advising for your specific needs.
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce is a membership-based organization dedicated to maintaining a healthy and balanced business climate with Hillsboro and throughout Washington County. It is the leading advocate for small businesses on public policy issues, as well as a forum for networking, education, and promotion. We encourage you to sign up for their email newsletter and check out their calendar of presentations and forums.
www.washingtoncountychamberor.com
Tualatin Valley Creates is our county’s non-profit arts agency, with the vision of fostering the growth of robust art and culture ecosystem throughout Washington County. TVC drives the development of inclusive, resilient, creative communities using arts, culture, heritage, and humanities, which includes the economic ties with our business industry. Connect with TVC for ways to tie your business and offerings into the creative economy.
Mercy Corps Northwest embodies its mission by working together to build just, productive and resilient communities across the Pacific Northwest. They invest in communities, uncover equitable access to resources, and charge toward a vision of breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty for good. They know that when they invest in potential – individuals and families are given the ability to thrive, and not just survive.
SCORE is run by about 70 volunteers who have in-depth, practical experience running and managing businesses. They’ve been there and done that. Each has chosen to give back to their community to help others start and grow their businesses. These volunteers are ready to help you personally, by counseling you at no cost. Portland SCORE also provides high-quality workshops on topics of importance to small business owners.
OEN helps entrepreneurs start-up and scale up by connecting them to peers and mentors, startup funding opportunities, and hands-on training. A nonprofit, membership-driven organization with a 28-year track record, OEN is Oregon’s only organization that supports scalable startups from every industry across the state.
Livelihood NW’s mission is to foster business sustainability and growth for historically under-served entrepreneurs within local communities. They provide exceptional business development support services to promote lifelong learning, empowerment, and positive economic impact. In collaboration with various community partnerships, and supported by program grants and giving, Livelihood NW offers a variety of free and low-cost programs. This allows them to remove or reduce the most significant barrier to receiving support for many entrepreneurs: Money.
Business Oregon is the state’s economic development agency. Business Oregon invests in Oregon businesses, communities, and people to promote a globally competitive, diverse, and inclusive economy. Staff and programs are available to support a range of business needs, including financing, incentives, brownfield issues, importing, and exporting.
Travel Oregon inspires travel that drives community enhancement and economic development. In an effort to support their partners in tourism in a time when up-to-date information is crucial, Travel Oregon has created a toolkit that points to resources from national and state public health organizations to give you all the information you need around COVID-19.
From business registration to public records searches, the Secretary of State’s Office is an Oregon State’s clearinghouse of information. Knowing that a small business owner is all of the departments of a big business rolled into one, they also provide resources and support to help small businesses navigate government.
Building on Main Street’s 40-year history of cultivating a strategic and comprehensive approach to problem-solving through innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, the National Main Street Center features a wide range of free resources for Main Street leaders, including recovery planning tools, research, advocacy efforts, and best practices and examples from around the Network.
Looking through a lens that focuses on local self-reliance, ILSR believes that communities are healthiest when they possess the authority, capacity, and responsibility to chart their own course. They have been sharing resources and case studies that show how small businesses can find the silver lining and come out of this crisis more resilient than ever.
Strong Towns supports thousands of people and small businesses across the United States who are advocating for a radically new way of thinking about the way we build our world. Their initiatives are based on the belief that in order to truly thrive, our communities must value resilience over efficiency and start building our world based on how our places actually work and what our neighbors actually need today.
These calendars are specifically created for business use and are not intended for distribution to the public. They encompass a big-picture look at holidays, events, and other activities that will help businesses plan out their own events, promotions, hours of operation, and staff schedules. We update these as additional information becomes available, so please check the date at the bottom of the document to see if you have the most current version.
If an effort to increase communication about events happening Downtown, we reach out to the coordinators to gather information pertinent to businesses that may be affected. Information about each event is updated annually, so please request an updated version if the event is less than three months out.
The Hillsboro Downtown Partnership maintains an online list of businesses Downtown. This list also feeds into the Downtown Hillsboro App, which is free to download in both the Apple and Google Play Stores. This listing is at no cost to businesses Downtown. If you would like to be added or your information needs to be updated, please fill out the promotional information form linked below.
Our efforts to extend the hours Downtown include adding decorative lighting to rooflines and under awnings. We have been able to complete two phases of this project and maintain the lighting since 2018. If you are interested in adding decorative lighting to your building or have noticed that some of the existing lights need maintenance, please email the details to our Beautification team.
In late spring and fall, we invite local artists to paint temporary murals on assigned business windows while competing to win a prize and being highlighted for their work. Voting, a virtual map/guide, and a scavenger hunt around each season’s theme activate the temporary art installations and thus Downtown. If your business is interested in hosting an artist for the upcoming season, fill out the application linked below.
Used to restore or reconstruct the facades of historic buildings that have been heavily altered over the years with the purpose of returning them to their historic appearance and potentially qualifying them for historic register designation.
Small business grants from private funding sources seem to exceed capacity for applicants before they are even on our radar, but we will provide links to upcoming grant opportunities as we hear about them. If you qualify, apply for these as soon as possible! possible!
The Red Backpack Fund (female entrepreneurs)
The HartBeat of Main Street GrantOur County and City are working on ways to distribute both their own funding programs and redistribute funds coming directly from the Federal Government. These programs have only been accepting applications for a couple of days at a time.
City of Hillsboro Small Business Emergency Grants
Our State is also distributing funds coming directly from the Federal Government. In an effort to ensure that funds are reaching underserved individuals and businesses, these programs have mostly been demographic or industry-specific.
The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief + Resiliency
From SBA to crowdfunded loans, we will keep this list updated with low/no-interest loan options. Please consider one of these business loans before resorting to the use of a high-interest credit card. Many of them include free business consulting services.
Kiva Crowdfunded Business Loans
SBA Corona Relief Option
