The Durango Business Improvement District offers many programs for businesses, as well as information and services for anyone visiting downtown Durango. One thing that fulfills both is the Downtown Ambassador program.
BID’s Ambassador program starts today. If you are downtown for St. Patrick’s Day during the day, you will see them in their bright red uniforms. Ambassadors are here to help everyone find what they need.
The Ambassador program started in 2016 and has become something that BID will continue to offer for businesses and for downtown visitors for the foreseeable future. Ambassadors are a friendly, knowledgeable and welcoming presence in downtown. They can help you find a restaurant, a certain store, have ideas for things to do with your kids, and even know how to work the parking meters.
There are 10 ambassadors this year, and their shifts start this weekend to assist people out and about for spring break. Ambassadors will also work in April on the weekend of the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown, and the last weekend of the month. Ambassadors will work on weekends in May, and then will have daily shifts in June, July, August and September. Ambassadors will also work a few shifts in October, November and December. In total, ambassadors are scheduled for 950 combined hours.
The city of Durango and the Durango Chamber of Commerce have both contributed funding to help grow this important program. We also receive support from other businesses, including the Mac Ranch, which helped us obtain iPads for the ambassadors to make referrals to local businesses, make dining reservations, view maps and more. We also want to thank Paula at Advertising Innovations for helping us with our new uniforms.
Ambassadors are also extra eyes and ears for downtown. If they notice anything that seems off, they know who to contact to have it addressed. If you need ANYTHING while you are in downtown, please ask an ambassador in the bright red uniform.
I also want to remind everyone that our event season in downtown is nearly upon us! We just recently completed the Durango Film Festival and the Celtic Festival. Up next is the Durango Bluegrass Meltdown April 20 to 22. This is the 24th year of the Meltdown, which is put on every year by an all-volunteer team.
Taste of Durango, one of the biggest events in downtown, is on Sunday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is Durango’s showcase of our amazing restaurants. There are some new things for how Taste of Durango is going to work this year, such as pre-ordering tickets. Visit their website at TasteOfDurango.com to learn more.
The Durango Wine Experience will be May 3 to 5. It will once again feature seminars, wine dinners and unique tastings. The Walk About Durango is Friday night, and the Grand Tasting is Saturday at a new location – the Smiley Building grounds.
You will see BID’s ambassadors at all these events. If you need anything at all, just ask them!
Tim Walsworth is the executive director of the Durango Business Improvement District. Contact him at timw@downtowndurango.org.
