The Conway Downtown Partnership grew out of several months of weekly discussions by a steering group of property owners, developers, and business professionals who felt that Conway's central business district needed a creative, proactive, private-sector organization to represent the downtown community.

The initial work of the Partnership was to research other successful downtown private sector organizations around the state and country. The results revealed that private-sector leadership groups have been evolving in major downtowns across the country for more than 45 years. Research confirmed that public- and private-sector cooperation yields a greater understanding of each other’s needs and problems, thereby helping both reach solutions that ensure the core of the city continues to prosper as the economic, cultural, and recreational center of the community.

In 2001, the Partnership drafted a statement of mission and goals that formed the basis by which the Partnership began its work. Link to mission page

Organizationally, the Partnership was structured in a way that assures a broad representation of the downtown business community. Research revealed that all successful private-sector groups feature diversity in membership with the principal officer or partner of the member firm serving as the representative to the group. This provides a forum for dialogue among the leaders of the Downtown Community, where each individual feels comfortable expressing their views in a closed-door environment.