Press Releases
RDP’s Downtown Awards and 2025 Board of Directors
RDP would like to congratulate those recognized at the 37th Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony held on February 20th at the Riverside Convention Center. Collette Lee was the recipient of the Roy Hord “Volunteer of the Year” Award while Rose Mayes was recognized with the RDP Chair’s Award.
Also recognized was UCR ARTS with the Arts and Culture Award, the Riverside Arts Council’s Expanded Artswalk with the Business Activity Award, the Miracles and Dreams Foundation’s Backpack Giveaway with the Downtown Event Award, Regional Properties’ The Mark with the Downtown Improvement Award, and the Riverside Police Department’s National Night Out with the Safety and Security Award.
The RDP Board of Directors for 2025 was also announced at the event. The Board of Directors of RDP consists of up to 33 voting members representing a cross-section of downtown stakeholders. Directors represent property owners, business owners, the healthcare sector, the entertainment and hospitality sector, the education sector, the arts, the public (government) sector including the County, the City and its departments, and downtown residents.
The Executive Committee consists of up to nine Directors, including the four Officers and the immediate Past Chair. Up to twenty-four Directors constitute the remainder of the Board. There are also five non-voting Ex-Officio positions. These include a representative of the Mayor’s Office, the two City Council representatives of Ward One and Ward Two, a representative from the Arlington Business Partnership, and a Director Emeritus.
The four Officers of RDP serving on the Executive Committee are Shalini Lockard of Riverside Professional and Legal Management as Chair, Andrew Walcker of Overland Development Corporation as Vice-Chair, Nanci Larsen of the Mission Inn Foundation and Museum as Treasurer, and Brian Pearcy of Brian Pearcy Law Office as Secretary. Shelby Loomis of SS Loomis, LLC serves as the immediate Past Chair.
Also on the Executive Committee are Lou Monville of Raincross Hospitality Corporation, Philip Makhoul of Diamond National Realty, and Randy Hord of Raincross Financial Partners. The full list of current Board members can be found on the back cover of the newsletter.
RDP would like to thank the sponsors of the event and those who donated items for the opportunity drawing. All proceeds raised are used to offset the costs of the Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony.
Award Sponsors
Roy Hord ‘Volunteer of the Year’ Award Sponsor – Raincross Financial Partners
Arts and Culture Award Sponsor – Best Best & Krieger (add logo)Business Activity Award Sponsor – Dwight Tate and Kathy Wright
Downtown Event Award – Riverside Convention and Visitors Bureau
Downtown Improvement Award Sponsor – MBG Lifestyle Group
Safety and Security Award Sponsor – SS Loomis, LLC
Chair’s Award – Dhalla Orthopedic Center
Event Sponsors:
El Pollo Taco Peruvian Cuisine
Overland Development Company
The Menagerie
Tower Agency
Service Sponsors:
Floral – Delight and Invites
Print – PIP Printing Print My Stuff
Opportunity Drawing Donors:
A.D. Jewelry Creations
Aquarium of the Pacific
Back to the Grind
Castle Park
City of Riverside – Arts & Cultural Affairs Dept.
City of Riverside – City Council Ward 1
Creative Metal Works
Dave & Buster’s
Division 9 Gallery
Downtowne Bookstore
Farmer Boys
GLO Mini Golf
Heroes Restaurant & Brewery
Hyatt Place Riverside
Inlandia Institute
Kathy Wright
Killer Queens Social House
Lake Alice Trading Company
Lorenzi Estate Vineyard & Winery
Michael Elderman Studio
MiCultura
Miracles & Dreams Foundation
Mission Inn Foundation & Museum
Mrs. Tiggy Winkles
Riverside Arts Council
Riverside Art Museum
Riverside City College
Riverside Community Arts Association
Riverside Community Players
Riverside Convention & Visitors Bureau
Riverside Police Department
SS Loomis, LLC
Elliott Design Studio
Taco Station
The Fox Riverside Theater Foundation
The State Restaurant
Toni Moore/How She Wore It
RDP releases Downtown Economic Impact Study.
Why an Economic Impact Study?
RDP believes that downtowns are not only ‘gathering’ centers but also economic and cultural centers, and that investment in downtown is necessary for continued growth and prosperity.
RDP commissioned the study to provide data on the financial contributions of the downtown economy to the city as a whole to provide the rationale for investment in Riverside’s downtown.
While RDP was the lead, funders included Raincross Hospitality Corporation, the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Downtown Business Council, Overland Development, and the Raincross Group. The Riverside County Office of Economic Development provided the data for this study.
Key Findings:
Downtown Riverside employs more than 13,000 public-sector workers, roughly 34% of total government employment in Riverside.
Downtown Riverside is home to more than 11,000 private-sector jobs, which accounts for roughly 7.5% of total employment in the City of Riverside. Together, Education (private), Health Care, and Leisure / Hospitality account for nearly 60% of private employment in downtown.
After the pandemic, Downtown Riverside has added jobs at a faster rate (25.3%) compared to the state (23.6%) and national (16.4%) economies, yet a slower rate than the rest of the city (42.2% driven by warehousing and logistics).
Downtown Riverside is home to a greater number of higher-paying private-sector jobs than the rest of the city with the average downtown worker earning a wage nearly 30% higher than the citywide average. Since 2020, inflation-adjusted earnings in Downtown Riverside have grown 5.5% compared to 1.3% citywide and 1.8% across California.
Downtown Riverside is home to a disproportionately high share of the city’s highest-paying jobs, such as Professional, Scientific, and Management Services, as well as Information. Each job created in Downtown Riverside has a bigger impact on the city’s economy than jobs created elsewhere in the city because of the greater spending power.
Call to Action
There is a growing nationwide movement to revitalize city downtowns driven by factors such as the increasing importance of walkability and sustainability, the desire to create more vibrant and attractive urban spaces, and the need to attract young professionals.
Downtown Riverside can continue to become a vibrant and economically prosperous area that is attractive to people and businesses. Investment in public transportation, construction that favors mixed-use development, tax breaks, and other incentives for new and existing businesses — as well as support for arts and cultural institutions — can help revitalize Downtown Riverside into a place where people want to live, work, and visit.
Impact of Arts and Culture
In the City of Riverside, Arts and Culture generated $26.2 million in economic activity during 2022 — $12.2 million in spending by arts and culture organizations and an additional $14.0 million in event-related expenditures by their audiences.
Nonprofit arts and culture organizations supported 291 jobs and generated $2.8 million in local, state, and federal government revenue.
Attendees spend $40.85 per person per event, beyond the cost of admission. 25.9% of attendees are nonlocal visitors who traveled from outside Riverside County and spend an average of $46.50, and 72.5% of nonlocal attendees reported that the primary purpose of their visit was specifically to attend the performance, event, exhibit, venue, or facility where they were surveyed.
Areas of Future Growth
In Riverside, Education, Health Care, Construction, and Logistics have accounted for nearly 63% of net jobs added in the last decade, while Education, Health Care, and Leisure / Hospitality have accounted for nearly 86% of net jobs added in Downtown Riverside. Education and Health Care alone accounted for half of the jobs added in Downtown Riverside.
Beyond its importance to total citywide job growth, Downtown Riverside has been a contributor to the employment growth of several industries within the city. Notably, downtown has accounted for nearly 20% of the city’s employment growth in Leisure and Hospitality in the last decade (2Q 2012 – 2Q 2022).
Next Steps
RDP with others will meet with senior City and County officials to discuss the report. Based on those meetings, additional work may be undertaken with Beacon Economics to refine the data.
Downtown Economic Impact Study – Final February 2024
Update to Downtown Economic Study Feb 2024
