Downtown and Boardwalk Merchants 'Going All In' for 2014

City Council approved a $343,588 budget for Ocean City's three Special Improvement Districts on Thursday, and business leaders vowed to make the most of the funding.

"We're going all in this year, keeping the momentum going," said Wes Kazmarck, president of the Boardwalk Merchants Association.

Kazmarck said merchants saw a slow start to summer 2013 but picked up business in August and the fall.

He said his group will sponsor fireworks on Father's Day Weekend and in the third week of July. Merchants will measure revenue as the group experiments with the new marketing opportunities. The Boardwalk Merchants will continue themed promotions such as the weekly Family Nights, Mummers Nights and Character Nights.

At the same time, two downtown business groups — the Retail Merchants Association and Main Street Ocean City — will merge on Jan. 1 into a single organization called the Downtown Merchants Association.

RMA President Skip Tolomeo and Main Street President Paul Cunningham will serve as co-chairs of the new association.

Cunningham reported to City Council on Thursday that the Downtown Merchants will use money formerly budgeted for a part-time director for purposes more directly related to marketing downtown businesses.

He said the group will remain associated with the Main Street New Jersey program at the associate level (which doesn't require a full-time director).

The downtown SID budget includes $5,000 for the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce to provide social media marketing, to help plan events and to provide other services. (See Downtown OCNJ on Facebook.)

Cunningham said one goal of the new group will be to work collaboratively and to stop duplicating the efforts of other groups in town.

Ocean City's Special Improvement Districts include the retail section of the Ocean City Boardwalk, the downtown section of Asbury Avenue and the gateway section of Ninth Street. The budget is funded by assessments on businesses in the districts (based on storefront footage) and by revenue from events.. The budget goes to marketing, beautification and promoting special events.

City Council must vote again on the budget (after 28 days) before it becomes final. The budget currently includes $17,455 as part of an annual loan repayment, but City Council in past years has voted to include that payment in its own budget.