April 28-30, 2008: Indianapolis, IN

The Commercial Markets Advisory Service and Indianapolis LISC hosted Urban Forum 2008 in Indianapolis this past April. This year's Urban Forum was very well attended, with over 500 participants from 29 states and even one person from Canada! With such a diverse group of community development practitioners, local and regional government officials, retailers, and developers, it was easy to find a multi-faceted conversation on economic development strategies.

There were almost 40 sessions on topics ranging from redeveloping theatres to developing effective commercial leasing strategies. The three plenary sessions delivered an inspirational story from the oldest CDC in the country, details on how to attract a supermarket, and a conversation on developing a commercial corridor flanked with restaurants. We hope many more people interested in economic development take advantage of future opportunities to deepen their knowledge of commercial revitalization issues and develop strategies to reinvigorate their commercial districts.

Conference highlights included:

• Targeted Expertise. High-energy professional development sessions, interactive skill-building workshops, and dynamic keynote presentations tailored to the unique needs and makeup of the urban commercial revitalization community.
• Vendor Marketplace. Representatives from consulting services, product providers, nonprofit organizations and development companies occupied exhibitor booths, where attendees gained exposure to tools and resources available to them.
• Attendees toured successful CDC projects supported by Indianapolis LISC's FOCUS program. FOstering Commercial Urban Strategies seeks to bring prosperous commercial development to local neighborhoods.
• Networking. Plentiful opportunities to interact and exchange ideas with hundreds of community and commercial development professionals from across the nation.
• One-on-One Consulting. Free consultations from MetroEdge and Commercial Markets Service Service's (CMAS) in-house market research and analysis team. Email metroedge@lisc.org for more information.