It was announced Monday that plans are in action to merge two downtown groups, the Campustown Business Group (CBG) and the Champaign Downtown Association (CDG).

The two organizations, along with the city of Champaign and the Champaign Park District have started meeting to talk about the merge to work together with marketing strategies and to share resources, said a press release.

The CDA’s mission is to create the best experience for those in Downtown Champaign. With a board of directors, staff and volunteers the association works on promoting and supporting downtown events.

The CBG has volunteers who work on marketing efforts with Campustown retailers, including Thirteen Thursdays during the summer.

According to the press release, both groups work with business owners and retailers to attract customers to their respective geographical areas.

Jill Guth CBG chair said in a press release that, “In today’s world of limited resources, it only makes sense for the CBG and the CDA to work together. Instead of having two duplicative organizations in the City of Champaign, this new organization can meet the needs of both districts without competing with each other for limited funding and other resources.”

The organization would be self supporting and would take approximately a three-year period to be created.

In a press release, Deputy City Manager for Development Craig Rost said the timing for the initiative is crucial because the Boneyard Creek Second Street Reach Project that the city is completing this year will open up new development area in the “Mid Town” area and no group exsists to represent this portion of town.