2025 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS June/July 2025 Page 23 owner of Sorrento’s Pizzeria, also located in downtown Lincoln. According to Drew, she had the idea to start a business group, of sorts. When going around to talk to the other local businesses on the Square, she entered Small Town Creations and met Williams. Drew stated that Williams was already putting together a list of all the business owners’ emails, and their goals aligned. After that, the pair worked together to create the Downtown Business Group, now known as the Downtown Lincoln Initiative (DLI). Over time, Williams began to spearhead the DLI, holding monthly meetings with the goal of improving the Square. In a recent interview, Williams shared that this group has been able to do things like establish Christmas Express and the carriage rides on the Square. The DLI has also supported events such as Retail Therapy. While Williams herself is not the one who established Retail Therapy, something many businesses on the Square participate in four times a year, the DLI supports it and helps get the word out about it. According to Nila Smith at Lincoln Daily News, Williams was also single-handedly responsible for bringing the Christmas trees to the Logan County Courthouse lawn each year. According to Smith, Williams wants her downtown to be like “a Hallmark movie.” Everything Williams does is to get the Square closer to that goal. Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch also had great things to say about Williams. Welch stated that when he thinks about Williams, he thinks about the role she has had in connecting the downtown businesses. Welch also stated that, in doing this, Williams has created “a warm and inviting atmosphere for all who visit.” Castelein also believed Williams' role in connecting the businesses on the Square was noteworthy for how it has assisted the businesses in functioning together. According to Castelein, Williams has gotten the Lincoln Police Department to talk to some of the business owners on issues such as security cameras and shoplifting. Williams has also created a system of communication between all the business owners. This allows them to keep in communication with one another if something is happening that the others should know about. As a result of this culture of collaboration that Williams has had a large part in establishing, Castelein stated that many of the business owners will also recommend each other's stores to their customers. Everyone talked to about Williams had only great things to say about her. “She deserves to be celebrated and recognized as our Continue --
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