Missoula Downtown Association

 

Established in 1975, the Missoula Downtown Association (MDA) is a private non-profit, membership-based business organization dedicated to promoting, supporting, and enhancing the vitality of Downtown Missoula for the betterment of the community.

 

Mission: To retain and promote Downtown Missoula as Western Montana’s center of business, culture, and entertainment; provide a forum for mutual solutions to common problems Downtown; encourage preservation and enhancement of the area’s physical beauty; and create public awareness of the historic and cultural significance of Missoula’s unique Downtown to the community as a whole.

 

What do you enjoy most about doing business in Missoula?

• The MDA affords me the chance to make a real difference in Downtown through partnerships with many organizations (both for and non-profit), through relationships in the community, and through public events. I’m happy to be part of an organization that makes a real difference in the lives of Missoulians and those who visit our great city.

 

What do you want others to know about the MDA?

• The MDA played a large role in creation of the Downtown Business Improvement District in 2005. The Downtown Business Improvement District of Missoula (BID) enhances the vitality of downtown Missoula by facilitating commerce, promoting investment, enhancing streetscapes, conducting maintenance and improving security and safety for the Downtown Business District, the City of Missoula, and the people of Montana.
• The MDA also created the Missoula Downtown Foundation (MDF) in 2010. The MDF is a public benefit corporation organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes of supporting and promoting activities such as the enhancement of the arts and culture, livability, economy, safety and infrastructure of the greater Downtown Missoula area. The sustainability of the foundation is predicated on grant funding, the Friends of Downtown campaign, event sponsorship and development of public and private resources in support of Downtown Missoula.
• All three organizations are part of the Downtown Missoula Partnership which was formed in 2014 to better serve each organization’s constituencies through better collaboration of resources, better recruitment and retention of employees, and a higher level of efficiency among staff.

 

What interesting trends are you seeing in our business community today?

• Many great small and large businesses are setting up shop in Missoula and promoting quality of life to their prospective and incoming employees. This is a great feeling as the MDA has played a role in quality of life in Missoula. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

 

What’s on the calendar that we should be aware of?

• The MDA is putting on the Montana Downtown Conference on October 23-25 in Downtown. As host this year, the MDA will share our successes, highlight other Montana cities successes, and collaborate on how our great state will continue to grow as a destination for investment, development, and living. This is a great opportunity to sponsor and highlight your business as a partner in building Missoula to other Montana communities.