Welcome members of the Downtown Stratford Business Improvement Area (BIA)! If you are a business owner or a property owner in the downtown area, you are an automatic member of the BIA.

A BIA is an association of businesses and commercial property owners within a specified commercial area who join to promote the economic development of our downtown area through various marketing, beautification, safety and advocacy initiatives. With the support of the municipality, BIAs are enacted through special legislation and once formed, are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, comprising area business tenants and commercial property owners and one city counselor, and funded through a member-based property tax levy. BIAs promote their members, bring customers, stimulate the economy, and support the community. The social wellbeing of the BIA is very important and many BIAs offer programs that deal specifically with homelessness, graffiti, crime prevention, cleanliness, safety, transportation, accessibility, density, green spaces, and other issues.

As downtown champions, the Board and BIA staff strive to promote and advocate for a better downtown through partnerships, programs, promotions and events. Our levy funding allows us to ensure a solid operation and the ability to leverage funding to contribute to these priority areas.

We have collected numerous resources here to help you navigate operating a business downtown. This is a “living, breathing” section of our website that we plan to regularly add to. Should you have a need for information that is not here, please reach out to our Membership Liaison at [email protected].

Thank you for contributing to the vibrancy and health of Downtown Stratford!