Downtown Akron Partnership Inc.

“The organization has business members”

“The form 990 is compared to the audited financial statements by the president and director of finance and then sent to the finance and executive committee.”

“If any person who is a trustee or officer of the corporation is aware that the corporation is about to enter into any business transaction directly or indirectly with such person, any member of that person's family, or any entity in which that person has any legal, equitable or fiduciary interest or position, including without limitation as a trustee, officer, shareholder, partner, beneficiary or trustee, such person shall (a) immediately inform those charged with approving the transaction on behalf of the corporation of such person's interest or position, (b) aid the persons charged with making the decision by disclosing any material facts within such person's knowledge that bear on the advisability of such transaction from the standpoint of the corporation, and (c) not be entitled to vote on the decision to enter into such transaction. The board annually reviews the conflict of interest policy and asks each trustee or officer to sign a form acknowledging their understanding of the policy.”

“The ceos compensation is comprised of two elements. First is the base salary which is evaluated and adjusted annually. Second is a bonus compensation which is determined after each fiscal year. Compensation adjustments and bonus awards are evaluated by an ad hoc compensation committee consisting of the board chair and his committee appointees. The base is generally adjusted based on the ceo's performance, inflation, cost of living considerations, availability of funds, scope of responsibilities and the committee's general knowledge of market conditions/comparable pay. The bonus is determined by the committee based on an evaluation of the ceo's progress toward the attainment of predetermined goals for the organization. Goals are determined collaboratively by the ceo and the finance committee/chair on a fiscal year basis. Key employee compensation is reviewed by the president, chair and treasurer and presented to the executive committee in the annual budget.”

“The organization makes its governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Ambassador services pivoted to cleaning and disinfecting during the covid-19 shutdown and throughout the rest of 2020. Ambassador shifts and akron police department contractors extended their shifts and worked overnight during the pandemic and during civil unrest (see clean, safe and welcoming). Dap and community support services began work on a partnership to improve quality of life for the unsheltered by connecting them with services and housing (see clean, safe and welcoming). Dap recieved $100,000 from united way of summit medina to be distributed as small business grants in fy 2020-21. Dap pivoted programs and services during the pandemic to provide online programming opportunities (see vibrancy & economic development), healthy downtown kits and promotional services for small businesses (see member outreach & services).”

“Dap's contract to keep akron beautiful was halved to $17,500 due to constraints on their services during covid-19. Upon the departure of our director of business development, dap decided to wait to fill the vacant position until the repercussions of the pandemic were better understood, and we have better insight as to what capacity will be needed from the elevate greater akron collaborative. Our programming and events work made a significant shift to online and streamed programming.”

“At the start of summer 2020, dap worked closely with artists and instructors throughout the year to rethink traditional programming while remaining committed to supporting and celebrating arts and culture as a critical part of the downtown experience. During the pandemic, in an effort to better understand, serve and promote downtown arts, culture and entertainment, dap began convening district partners in a virtual format. Now with more than 25 organizations participating, the group is positioned to help downtown vibrancy bounce back. In 2019, dap partnered with the national center for choreography at the university of akron to showcase a dance film created in downtown last year titled, but first. The film is a dance interpretation of what it feels like before and after morning coffee. In advance of national coffee day (sunday,september 29), free coffee was offered at five downtown coffee shops from 12 3 p.m. On friday, september 27. The film was shown at each of the locations throughout the day. More than 100 cups of coffee were distributed over three hours. Winter on the boardwalk was a whimsical and entertaining installation for visitors to enjoy before or after visiting destinations in the south main and exchange street area. From january 10 to february 18, a series of ice sculptures was on display on the diamond boardwalk between canal park and cilantro. Each thursday, elegant ice creations delivered a new set of five sculptures featuring themes that included winter, construction zone and dinosaurs. A sneak peek week with an "akron icon" theme was on display at lock 3 from january 3-9. Lost tribe media provided lights, music and a snowflake projection. The final week of the installation featured an ice throne with an "old man winter" theme. Building both walkable infrastructure and healthy walking habits goes hand in hand in creating a vibrant downtown. Dap led biweekly main street walking tours to engage the community around the main street corridor project, downtown development and events programming. The lunchtime tours were designed for downtown employees, but were also attended by community members beyond downtown. In october, the second tour of the month became an indoor tour of the residential development of the bowery. Throughout 2019, 220 people participated in the walking tours and 70 people participated in tours of the bowery. Additional walking tours included 3rd thursday tours organized around different themes, such as murder and mayhem and curated storefront. Other walking tours included a meet your neighbors tour and happy hour for downtown employees, tours for university of akron students, organizations, visitors and akron public school staff, totalling 80 additional participants. Working with hillary nunn and her university of akron "unclass," summit historical society and dap board member david lieberth, to help develop a digital walking tour of downtown, round about akron, which is accessible at downtownakron.com. Dap ran a 6-week walking program for girls in conjunction with nihf stem school faculty to engage students in exploration and stewardship of downtown. Seven girls participated, helping to select the locations they visited, which included quaker square, rubber city comics,summit artspace, city hall, the peanut shoppe, the county of summit and the akron civic theatre. Dap staff members will meet with stem faculty to make plans for the next session and hope to include more locations that highlight strong female leaders in the community while showcasing job opportunities and career fields. 3rd thursday - each month, 3rd thursday continued to invite people to explore art, culture, cuisine and entertainment throughout downtown akron, whether in physically-distanced ways or through virtual offerings. Dap gathered and distributed 3rd thursday offerings with a downloadable pdf containing carry out food specials, online and in-person shopping opportunities, virtual and safe in-person events and even a s”

“Other professional fees: program service expenses 164,929. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 164,929. Contracted labor: program service expenses 614,338. Management and general expenses 0. Fundraising expenses 0. Total expenses 614,338.”

“The oversight process has not changed from the prior year”