According to their website, The Downtown Long Beach Alliance (DLBA) is a non-profit organization involved in improving and promoting Downtown Long Beach through a wide range of programs and services.
The DLBA focuses on the ins and outs of starting a business in the Long Beach Area. According to their website, they assist with identifying unforeseen costs associated with starting a business Downtown.
President and Chief Executive Officer Austin Metoyer oversees the DBLA’s operations and is in charge of the promotional branding aspect for new businesses that want to set up shop in the Downtown area.
In his slideshow presentation at the event, Metoyer said the DBLA consists of nearly 5,000 stakeholders and an annual budget that exceeds $5.5 million.
The Downtown Long Beach Association works with all the local business owners in the Downtown area and they help provide many resources to help jumpstart one’s business, such as promotion and assistance in navigation through regulatory hurdles.
Metoyer said that he helps those small business owners deal with the process of obtaining permits and smoothly transition those into the area.
The Downtown Long Beach Alliance also hosts several events that take place in the Long Beach area such as Ube Fest which is located in the East Village.
According to their website, they provide grants to help organizations who want to host their event in the Downtown area. The grants range from $250 to $750 for non-profit organizations who would like to hold any event.
Metoyer said the DLBA is involved with everything Long Beach-related. According to the DLBA website, their “Clean and Safe” teams thrive on making the Downtown community appealing and safe for everyone by providing maintenance and public safety.
“I manage a team of about 12 full-time folks and about 61 part-timers,” Metoyer said. “We are pressure washing the sidewalks, we are removing graffiti and we are checking with business owners to see how they are doing.”
For five days a week the DBLA’s “Clean Team” provides services of pressure washing sidewalks, picking up trash and pulling weeds among other things. Power washing services occur every morning starting at either 5 a.m. or 7 a.m. per the district-wide start times.
According to the DBLA website, these acts of service happen on a six-week rotational schedule in the premium and standard zones of Downtown.
These zones travel along Pine, West Ocean Boulevard, Pacific Avenue and Alamitos Avenue.
“We want Downtown to be a dense, urban residential community,” Metoyer said.