NDDC board members Keith Covey and Joe Grundhoefer visited with Vivus Architecture/Design owners Peter and Mary Schmelzer recently.  Their timing was excellent, this Saturday is the 2010 Northfield Home Remodeling Tour.

Vivus has been located in downtown Northfield for about a decade, arriving in the community in 1998.  The owners were attracted to Northfield’s architecture, downtown, and walkability.  They enjoy the mix of intellectual and agrarian cultures, face-to-face way of doing business, and note that it’s a great place to raise a family.

As for improvements, they wish that the Northfield local market area was a little bigger or that it wasn’t perceived as being so far from the metro area.  They suggested a possible marketing campaign that compared the drive with a metro to metro trip.

In thinking about actions to be taken to strengthen businesses in Northfield, we wistfully pondered turning around the American economy, encouraging the City of Northfield to “Buy Local”, and offering facade grants for buildings in the downtown district.  We all recognized that these are challenging times for builders, subcontractors, and architects.

We also discussed enhancing the existing business mix.  Developing or recruiting businesses that could provide specific supplies and technical services were suggested as being worth consideration.

Thankfully, we ended on an up beat theme.  The Schmelzers talked about the 2010 Northfeld Area Home Remodeling Tour.  This Saturday, September 18th, 9 a.m to 4 p.m., there seven sites in Northfield, featuring the work of our local talent.  Take the tour and check it out.