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THE LITTLE ITALY STORY
Creating a Successful Business District and
Vibrant Urban Neighborhood
September 24th, 2010 | 8am to Noon | Porto Vista Hotel
Little Italy San Diego

About the Conference:

Little Italy has become one of the most vibrant pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods in the San Diego region. Its eclectic blend of architecture and street life builds on a rich history of community and ethnic heritage, while inviting a diverse pattern of growth and infill into an existing ‘in-city’ neighborhood. With India Street as its centerpiece, the Little Italy Business Improvement District has skillfully promoted property owner contributions toward community improvements and maintenance, including such things as sidewalk improvements, special lighting, street cleaning, security, street beautification, marketing, community events, and many more. Learn the revitalization strategies that New City America Inc. (NCA) and the Little Italy Association have used to earn the recent title of “Smart Growth Community of the Decade” by the Urban Land Institute.

About New City America Inc.:

NCA organizes and empowers communities through the formation and management of business and community-benefit assessment districts in order to address specific neighborhood issues. Special-assessment districts create opportunities to transfer and sustain the management of public services from governments to community-based organizations. Self-management of these districts by nonprofits creates good-paying local jobs, leverages public resources, reduces crime, and maintains economic security for commercial areas. As entrepreneurial enterprises, these districts are conspicuous illustrations of creative thinking at the local level, channeling private-sector energy toward the solution of public problems. NCA has formed 55 districts to-date, all of them in California.

Speaker

Marco Li Mandri , President New City America, Inc.
Company President, Marco Li Mandri, has been involved in business district formation and revitalization efforts since 1993. As a former President of a business improvement district, Marco entered the BID arena as a stakeholder first, and later as a professional consultant. In 1992, Marco formed the Marco Group, a business dedicated to the formation and administration of Business Improvements Districts in Southern California. In 1997, the Marco Group evolved into New City America, Inc. and established itself as the premier company dedicated to business district economic revitalization throughout the West Coast.

Marco’s special skills are in adapting to various communities' needs and developing strategies to organize historic, ethnic, arts and culture, institutional, transit-oriented, blighted, rural, and urban commercial districts. Marco has spoken at national conferences including panel presentations at National Main Street, the International Downtown Association, National LISC Urban Forum and the International Economic Development Council. Marco is frequently called upon to discuss business district revitalization efforts with the local NPR affiliate in San Diego - KPBS public radio, Public Radio in Los Angeles and KPFK in the Bay Area. Marco has been interviewed by National Public Radio/Washington, KCBS in San Francisco and appears frequently on all major TV news channels in San Diego.

Speaker:

Sandi Contrell, Coordinator of ArtWalk
Sandi has been an artist since childhood. While art is more of a hobby for her than a business, she has always painted, and has worked with various mediums over the years. While attending SDSU, Sandi studied art, with the original goal of pursuing a full time career as an artist.

While still at SDSU, she was offered a part-time position at San Diego’s first destination management firm. The field of special events was brand new at the time (1970s) and Cottrell found herself loving the challenge of orchestrating large and complex events for such corporations as IBM, Gillette, Whirlpool, 3M and many more. What started as a part-time job became a rewarding career in destination management. Sandi relocated to the Los Angeles/Orange County area where she was considered a true “pioneer” in destination management and destination marketing. From 1984 to 1999, she was co-owner of PRA Destination Management, running that successful firm’s Orange County and Los Angeles operations. Her philosophy on event planning is that each event is like a theatrical production, and she considers the field as creative as any artistic endeavor she has pursued.

Sandi returned to San Diego in 1998, and began seeking a new a way to work in the field that she truly loved…visual arts. It was during this time that Sandi took over management of ArtWalk from the previous management team. ArtWalk has been managed by Sandi’s team since 2004.

“It’s my dream come true!” Cottrell said, about working on the ArtWalk event and ArtWalk on the Bay events. “These events combine everything I am passionate about. Working with the artists, and creating a venue for showcasing and selling their work is extremely rewarding.” ArtWalk, which attracted more than 100,000 people in 2008, has become San Diego’s largest annual art event. Orchestrating such a large public festival is another art form for Sandi, and her team. Sandi’s entire family works on the event as well…it’s a true labor of love.

Speaker:

Catt White, Founder of Little Italy’s Farmer’s Market/Mercato
Catt Fields White develops and manages certified farmers’ markets in San Diego, and writes about food, farms, restaurants and marketing for a variety of publications. As the Little Italy Mercato Maestra, she grew that urban farmers’ market into San Diego’s largest in just over a year, and continues to add culinary and educational programs while publishing a quarterly newspaper and weekly e-newsletters. On a week-to-week basis, she manages farmers’ markets for three Business Improvement Districts, recruiting and evaluating farmers and artisan food vendors, managing staff and volunteers, coordinating marketing campaigns and interacting with the eight governmental agencies that regulate farmers’ markets in San Diego, California.

Catt has been a restaurant owner, developer, project manager and consultant, and has published a restaurant industry trade journal. She classifies herself as a serial entrepreneur and her next launch involves helping restaurants reduce their environmental impact and diners track which restaurants are making that effort. She serves on the Boards of Directors of the California Restaurant Association and the Little Italy Association, has served as a Director of the Western Publications Association and is actively involved with Slow Food Urban San Diego, Les Dames Escoffier, and other professional associations and charitable foundations.

The mother of four and grandmother of six lives with her husband and their barkless dogs in downtown San Diego’s Little Italy, in a small fifth-floor walk-up with a big view. You can find her at www.sdweeklymarkets.com or www.littleitalymercato.com.

American Planning Association (4 CM credited conference):

http://www.planning.org/cm/search/provider.htm?ProviderCompanyID=257026

Registration

$70 - Early Registration- Before September 24th, 2010
$80 - Registration Day of Conference
Registration includes breakfast, and half day parking pass at Porto Vista hotel.

Method of Payment

Check or Money Order:
Payable to New City America Inc.
2130 Columbia St.
San Diego, CA 92101

PayPal:

Click Here for a Registration Form

Click Here for the Event Brochure

Agenda for the Conference

8:30 - Check In, Continental Breakfast

9:00 - Program begins.

>>Lessons learned from the 55 Business Improvement Districts and Community Benefit Districts that NCA has established since 1995.

Chinatown, Los Angeles
Downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt
Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco
Bethlehem, PA

>>The growth of San Diego’s Little Italy.

Organizing Stakeholders
Creating Financing Mechanisms,
Developing Public Rights-of-Way
Board Development
Branding and Special Events

10:00 - Little Italy’s ArtWalk and the Mercato/Farmer's Market

10:45 - Break

11:00 - The New City America (NCA) Model of District Management

>>Building a dynamic district management corporation
>>Creating an innovative sub-committee structure
>>Various functions of Sub-Committees and Task Forces
>>How the NCA model can activate your Board of Directors and stakeholders

11:30 - Questions from the Audience

11:45 - Tour of India Street and Little Italy

12:30 - End of conference - lunch on your own