Our Story


Our mission is to cultivate and amplify a vibrant Downtown Hillsboro community.

We envision a thriving district of collaborative partners who embody community as an essential component of a vibrant and resilient Downtown Hillsboro, with HDP serving as the conduit for connections, engagement, and idea realization.

We believe a vibrant cultural district and town center is vital to our community and local economy. It enhances our quality of life and provides a sense of place, pride, and connection for us all. Hillsboro Downtown Partnership is ready to be the driving force to make this, and more, happen for our residents and visitors.

OUR COMMITMENT

Each and every day, we strive to cultivate the cultural, tangible, and economic development of Downtown Hillsboro.

We connect people with resources to help them achieve their aspirations within the Downtown Hillsboro community, whether that is as a student, resident, leader, entrepreneur, or investor.

We understand that we have been entrusted as the caretaker of the collective identity of Downtown and are honored to care for this precious community asset.


OUR VALUES

 A beautiful day on Main Street downtown displaying several buildings.  On the left there is an iconic bold red and gold Venetian sign

Our role as a nonprofit organization allows us the flexibility to be equally proactive and reactive. Our relationships within the community help us access resources and community input swiftly and effectively. Our organizational flexibility, compassionate leadership, and progressive governance model empower our partners to effect change together with us.

PROGRESSIVE: We are creative, innovative, and sustainable – without sacrificing quality over quantity.
COLLABORATIVE: We listen deeply to bring our community together, recognizing that teamwork is essential to working toward shared goals. 
UNASSUMING: We offer support with humility and enter relationships without preconceived assumptions. 
AUTHENTIC: We tell the truth, do as we say, and ask for forgiveness when we make mistakes.
RESILIENT: We prepare for the unexpected while adapting to the changes around us.

OUR STRUCTURE

We are affiliated with the Main Street America program and are a participating community within the Oregon Main Street Network. Structured under the guidance of the Main Street Approach we have adopted transformation strategies for our organization that are implemented through comprehensive work in four broad areas, known as the Four Points:

  • Organization
  • Economic Vitality
  • Promotion
  • Design

To describe this in a sentence; a Main Street program will consist of a stable and engaged organization that helps cultivate economic vitality, which they promote to draw residents and visitors, while also intentionally designing and activating common spaces that will entice those visitors to stay as long as possible and return over and over again.


OUR FUNDING

PMG PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER OERTELL – Neal Glaske holds a glass of beer behind the counter at the Noble Hop Bierhouse in Hillsboro. It also offers wine and nonalcoholic beverages like kombucha and CBD drinks.

From 2015 through 2019 Hillsboro Downtown Partnership was primarily funded by an Economic Improvement District (EID). This EID and the associated funding sunsetted in March 2020 but allowed us many opportunities to clarify our role and scope while it lasted. Anticipating the loss of this annual funding source we were implementing a new revenue strategy when Covid struck.

Fortunately, in late 2020, we were granted enough funding from four separate CARES Act sources to sustain our programming and staff into 2021. In 2021, we are rolling out and fine-tuning an updated strategy taking into consideration the “new normal.” It will be a combination of sponsorships, grants, donations, and service fees. You can find our financials on Guidestar.


OUR PARTNERS

We partner with our community to cultivate Downtown Hillsboro into a destination for locals, investors, and explorers. We couldn’t achieve all of the results and accomplishments that happen on a daily basis Downtown without a community of partners. Here are just a few:

OUR FOUNDATION

Hillsboro Downtown Partnership is a community development organization that was established in 2015 to bring together the diverse groups of stakeholders in Downtown Hillsboro, Oregon. We function to build on the foundation and legacies of our predecessors by adapting to an ever-changing world while recognizing the results of past efforts and initiatives. The word “partnership” in our name reminds us that we are not alone in our work to maintain and continuously develop this district for the surrounding community’s benefit. We incorporate it into our work by partnering with individuals, organizations, businesses, property owners, and government entities whenever possible.


Our founders set us up for success by establishing HDP as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Historic Hillsboro Downtown Partnership | Federal Tax ID 47-2354839