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Long-term success will come only when public/private part- <br />nerships are created that marry the public's planning, coor- <br />dination, infrastructure, and public financing took with the <br />private sectors entrepreneurial savvy, development expert- <br />ise, retailing know-how, and private capital. When new <br />retail markets are just being formed, neither sector can <br />achieve its goals without aggressive assistance from the <br />other. <br />It doesn't matter whether the champion is from the public <br />or private sector, but he or she must make sure that all the <br />other stakeholders are included in the redevelopment effort. <br />The champion can be a group or an individual. Possible <br />group champions include a business improvement district <br />(BID), corporation or partnership of businesses, community <br />development group, financial institution, or neighborhood <br />anchor such as a hospital or university. <br />An individual champion can be a resident, a business or <br />community group Leader, an elected official such as a mayor <br />or councilperson, a property owner, a retailer, or a city staff <br />person. <br />The champion should pull together a core group of <br />involved stakeholders to form a public/private partnership <br />entity to guide the rebuilding effort. <br />The stakeholders are the people and groups who will be directly affected by <br />the redevelopment and the decisions made by the public/private partnership. <br />Ideally, they will transcend political turnover because the redevelopment effort <br />will Last through several election cycles. Politicians may be involved, of course, <br />but they should be willing to remain involved if they lose future elections or <br />choose not to run. Staying power is essential to long-term success. <br />The champion should lead efforts to develop a process or mechanism to <br />resolve conflicts among the stakeholders and reach consensus. ConfLict is <br />healthy, and the champion is ideally positioned to help resolve conflicts and <br />make sure that potential problems and issues are debated and not avoided. <br />By building interest and commitment among <br />diverse stakeholders, a champion can foster <br />the development of a consensus vision for <br />the street. <br />3 <br />