The “Downtown Ambassadors” program, a public-private partnership between the City of Reno and High Sierra Industries (HSI), was established last fall. The collaboration, which supports the City of Reno’s priority to foster a vibrant downtown, has yielded positive results thus far.
“With all of the new business activity and influx of residents into the downtown area, the City of Reno wanted to actively participate in this revitalization,” Ward 5 Reno City Councilmember Neoma Jardon says. “This partnership allows us to increase the physical presence of City representatives in the downtown area and improve cleanliness.”
The program, approved by the Reno City Council on September 24, 2015, also creates an opportunity for people with disabilities to learn valuable job skills and gain experience. One of HSI’s goals is to provide such opportunities for people in the community who are successfully overcoming their disabilities through HSI’s Career Development Academy-Nevada (CDA-NV).
The partnership provides the City of Reno with a capable workforce to help beautify the downtown district and make it more welcoming for both residents and visitors. Working as a team of four people, the Downtown Ambassadors pick up trash and pull weeds as well as report maintenance issues such as graffiti or potholes. The teams also greet residents and visitors and help answer any general questions they might have.
A critical success factor for participants who attend CDA-NV is to learn self-management skills and learn to measure their success toward an outcome or a goal of their choice. The Downtown Ambassadors record data to highlight their impact on the downtown area and track their own performance. In January 2015, for example, the ambassadors collected 2,750 gallons of trash, issued 1,915 greetings, and provided 1,196 directions.
High Sierra Industries CEO LaVonne Brooks says tracking performance data demonstrates the value of this program and its impact on the downtown district.
Brooks added that the ambassadors have brainstormed additional items to record, such as instances of graffiti, overflowing trashcans, and damages to structures and roads to name a few.
While the Downtown Ambassadors program is off to an impressive start, Brooks says she has ideas for further expansion to make the program a benefit to the City of Reno beyond the downtown district.
Adding one to two more teams, expanding each team by a few more ambassadors, increased pay for workers, expansion into Sparks, and patrols of city parks are some of the ideas HSI is exploring with local businesses and government partners, according to Brooks.
