Diving into the BOOMS Tracker with Brian Kramer at Hilltop Campus Village

In April, we released the Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) Tracker, a property inventory tool designed to help leaders of local Main Street programs gather, store, and showcase information about buildings and lots in their districts, and identify opportunities to activate vacant spaces. Since then, many of you have begun inputting your local property data. Brian Kramer, Executive Director at Hilltop Campus Village in Davenport, Iowa, currently sits at the top of the BOOMS Tracker ​“leaderboard” after he quickly gathered data on nearly every property in the Hilltop Campus Village district within the first weeks that the tool became available. I reached out to Brian to learn more about his experience with the tool.

How long have you been in the Main Street world? When did you join the Hilltop Campus Village staff? 

I have been with, and [have served as] the Executive Director of the Hilltop Campus Village (HCV), for just over a year. I previously worked in political campaigning. That work taught me the usefulness of having a database to track the Main Street. Understanding the percentage of [properties that are] residential versus commercial versus parking lots provides a Main Street director handy information when trying to explain the community needs and the vision for the Main Street program.

What property/​building inventory work had previously been done for the Hilltop Campus Village (HCV) district?

There never really was an inventory of the HCV. That is mostly because the district is so large, and the commercial offerings are somewhat spread out.

You completed a full round of data entry for the parcels in your district very quickly after the launch of the BOOMS Tracker. How and why did you prioritize BOOMS so early on? 

It’s not so much that I prioritized it as it was a perfect distraction while writing grant proposals. I get stuck sometimes when typing things out, and flipping over to the inventory screen for a block or two was easy to do. It was also engrossing — while I know many of the commercial property owners, learning about the residential property owners was a little eye opening. I knew that my local colleges owned quite a bit, but I didn’t know the local churches owned so much of my district’s vacant space. 

How did you approach using BOOMS? Did you enter data on a smartphone while out walking the district? Did you use a computer in your office?

I would say that I am in Phase 1 of how I envisioned using the BOOMS Tracker. Phase 1 consists of using Google Street View in one screen and the BOOMS Tracker on another. With this set-up, I go address by address and input information. It should be stressed that Google Street View is about 8 months old, so be careful using it, but my goal with this phase was just inputting the initial data. Phase 2 will be walking the district and getting to know tenants, especially in those residential properties, and then updating the data in the BOOMS Tracker. I especially plan on visiting the properties where I listed ​“unknown” as the occupant. 

How long did it take you to enter property information in BOOMS when you first began? Did it get faster and easier as you got going? 

Once you get into a rhythm of entering the data, it goes pretty quick on a computer. It depends on the property. If you know exactly what you are looking at on the map, it should only take you a minute, depending on how much information you put in; no more than 5 minutes. As you work through each of your properties it will get quicker, especially as you become familiar with some of the major property owners. 

What did you like about BOOMS as a platform for doing your building inventory? 

I honestly like the visual presentation of the inventory page. As stated, I don’t believe the HCV has ever really had a property-by-property inventory review, and this really is useful in pointing out what we have, what we don’t have, and where we can build up areas.

Are there tips you’d offer to other local leaders interested in BOOMS or feeling nervous about using it? 

First, don’t be intimidated by entering the data. If it seems so overwhelming that you may not have the time, get a volunteer or intern to help. The questions are really straightforward to answer for each property. I really recommend trying it out — this is a foundational tool for Main Street programs to have.

Are you interested in trying out the BOOMS Tracker? Join the Main Street America Research team on June 20 at 2:00 p.m. CDT for a webinar exploring this exciting tool and the ways it can help improve your Main Street district. The team will showcase the tool’s functionality, lead a live demonstration of how quick and easy it is to enter data, and answer any questions. Register for the webinar here >