Chamber Update: Help for Millburn Avenue Businesses

While one business on the Short Hills end of Milburn Avenue was destroyed because of a fire, the other ones were also affected.

Parking has been removed from the street because of lane closures to demolish 517 Millburn Ave. and there have been disruptions with utilities including phone lines following the Jan. 10 fire.

The Millburn-Short Hills Chamber of Commerce is doing what it can to help the area businesses recover. Shayne Miller, chamber vice president, said this week the chamber is working with its limited resources to get out the word to support the businesses.

"It's the word of mouth that will help those businesses," he said. "We've been encouraging our board members to shop and dine at those businesses."

But despite the issues, awareness of the area businesses has increased since the fire. And while the parking has been removed from the street, Miller said, there is plenty of parking available in the municipal lot behind the buildings on the south side of the street. "We've had our issues (with parking) downtown, but it's easy to park there," he said.

The chamber also is working on improving the streetscape in the Short Hills business district on Millburn Avenue, as was first reported in December. Miller said the work is in the hands of township officials at this point. But the fire shouldn't affect the project, and the chamber wants to make sure the area is kept attractive. "The downtown gets a lot because of the (Downtown Millburn Development Alliance), and we want to make sure everyone is included," he said.

Among the other work the chamber is doing is reworking its Web site, which it views as a marketing effort, Miller said. Millburn gets a lot of tourists and visitors because of the Paper Mill Playhouse, and the chamber's Web site is their window into what to do in town, he said.

They're looking to make the site interactive and link to member Web sites. Plus the hope is the site can draw some income so the chamber can advertise on other Web sites.

Finally, the chamber is planning a fund-raiser in the spring that would replace its Post Holiday Party. The board is still hammering out the details.

Editor's Note: This is part of an ongoing series of articles giving updates on the work of the Millburn-Short Hills Chamber of Commerce.