BELOIT, Wis. -- Four city leaders who spoke to the Rock Green Realtors Association Wednesday said that downtown revitalization efforts should be a priority to make the county attractive for prospective business.

When it comes to selling a home or attracting new business, leaders said it's the city's downtown that often leaves a lasting memory.

"Downtowns are a representation of the health of your community," said Kathleen Braatz, executive director of the Downtown Beloit Association.

In Rock County, city leaders share a common vision for their independent communities.

"When new business is looking at coming in to an industrial park, they'll look at the land, but they'll come downtown to see where families are going to live. Where families are going to live, work and play," said Braatz.

Representatives for Beloit, Edgerton, Janesville and Milton explained to the realtors association how revitalizing downtowns will help economic recovery.

"A business park in many communities is a business park in any community. They all look the same," said Edgerton City Administrator Ramona Flanigan.

While industrial parks are often identical, city leaders said the uniqueness of each community's downtown could be the final piece of the puzzle to attract new business.

"They start looking at things as, 'Does this community reinvest in itself? What is the identity of this community?' That is schools; that is libraries; that is certainly the downtown because it is what is unique about every municipality," said Flanigan.

Officials said reinvesting in a city's downtown shows the community's strength, and that can translate to property value.

"That downtown will hold that impact. If you've got a ghost town or you've got a community that's not trying to push to help grow their community itself, you might be sitting on a value of a home that might sit for a lot longer before it improves in value," said Paula Carrier, president of the Rock Green Realtors Association.

Braatz said it all comes back to planning and being ready when the time is right.

"They have to be in place for us to take advantage of the next wave coming of economic interests," said Braatz.

Different cities take different approaches. Projects like Edgerton's Fulton Square dramatically change the physical makeup of the downtown district.

In Beloit, city leaders said years of revitalization are paying off. In 2009, the city has added more than 44 jobs in its downtown alone.