Scale Up Downtown
Scale Up Downtown is an initiative that is vital to ensuring that local businesses not only survive but thrive in a more vibrant retail and entertainment economy. Regardless of what comes, they will emerge stronger on their own and stronger together.
By creating a strong support network, offering practical training, engaging lenders, and fostering collaboration among local businesses, Scale Up Downtown aims to preserve the character of Fulton Street while empowering small businesses to succeed in an evolving Downtown Fresno.
Lead Content Expert
Request for Qualifications
Scale Up Downtown is a program that provides expert-driven content, technical assistance, and coaching for Downtown Fresno business owners to increase their sales and strengthen their operational capacity. This program is at least a one-year engagement, with coursework that lasts 6-9 months.
The Lead Content Expert will have a central role in the design and implementation of Scale Up Downtown Fresno. At the Downtown Fresno Partnership, we want to work with a selected partner in the design process.
Applications now being accepted!
Selection Process
Statement of Qualifications
Submit to Esteban Herevia, Program Manager, no later than 9:00 a.m. on Monday, August 25, 2025. Please email esteban@downtownfresno.org.
Respondents may be selected for interviews, further discussion, and ultimately contract negotiation.
Timeline
- RFQ opens - Friday, July 25, 2025
- RFQ closes - Monday August 25, 2025 no later than 9:00 a.m.
- Review & Interview Process - September 2025
- Lead Content Expert Selected & Program Planning - Fall of 2025
- Program Launches - Late 2025/Early 2026
Background
The Downtown Fresno Partnership is engaged in an ambitious, generational effort to address the market barriers to filling ground-floor vacancies in Downtown Fresno, focusing along the Fulton Street corridor (where vacancies total over 300,000 s.f.) and particularly the larger spaces, accounting for more than half the total, that have sat stubbornly vacant for years or decades. Anchor space vacancies are a major small-business killer, paradoxically requiring the introduction of larger tenants, potentially with national brands, to create a healthier retail and entertainment mix that drives foot traffic for everyone.