Last Chance To Register For Missouri's Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference! |
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Missouri's Premier Revitalization Conference will feature three days of virtual activities including 14 breakout sessions and two keynote addresses as well as special lunch and happy hour sessions.
Join us at Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference to Celebrate New Beginnings! During the past year of uncertainty and unrest, more than ever we understand the significance of celebrating the places we love. While we are mindful of the hardships so many have endured, we have learned to adapt and grow through this pandemic.
Join us as we all Celebrate New Beginnings! We more fully understand the necessity of community preservation, while celebrating the very places we live, work, and play, as we unite the people in our communities and districts.
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Closing Address By Jon Schallert
Business Reinvention on Main Street:
The Newest Normal That’s Here to Stay
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Jon Schallert is the only professional speaker teaching businesses and communities how to turn themselves into Consumer Destinations. Schallert speaks to thousands annually on his proprietary 14-step “Destination Business” process, which he developed over the course of 32 years by interviewing over 10,000 independent business owners in over 500 downtowns.
In the conference’s closing keynote, Schallert will show us why now’s the time for Main Streets and their downtown businesses to embrace constant business reinvention and why focusing on independent local businesses is the way to turn any marketplace, regardless of its demographics, into a Destination Downtown.
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MMSC Selected For Central Standards Grant |
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The Central Standards RFP provides matching funds to encourage and accelerate collaborations between two or more entrepreneurship support organizations working together to support Heartland entrepreneurs in the states of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas.
Specifically, the Kauffman Foundation intends this funding program to help build connections between entrepreneurship support organizations (ESOs) operating in the Heartland and with ESOs based outside the region. View more details here regarding this grant.
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Missouri Main Street Connection is diligently working on the Downtown Strong Grant to provide services to Main Street organizations and downtown businesses all across the state. We are so excited to begin offering these tangible services to not only recover from the pandemic, but to come back even stronger and more resilient than ever.
MMSC is finalizing the services being provided by the consultants and sending out the agreements to them. We are also working to coordinate the schedules of the 15 consultants that will be providing services and then taking their availability to the Main Street organizations and businesses to schedule physical and virtual visits. Marla Mills, Project Manager, will be reaching out to coordinate those efforts.
We are excited to start to implementing these services in August! Stay tuned for some great, impactful updates to come!
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Missouri Main Street
Bicentennial Passport
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Get your passport stamped at each event. Those with twenty-one or more stamps collected will be eligible for a drawing with some great prizes. Prizes include a private tour of the Governor’s Mansion, gift baskets of Missouri made items, Tin Pan Cinnamon Rolls, and a framed print by Gary Lucy, among other prizes. Additional details can be found at MoMainStreet.org/Bicentennial.
We encourage you to post photos and videos on social media of your Missouri Bicentennial adventures with #Missouri2021. Select photos will be featured on Missouri Main Street Connection’s website, social media, and other promotional materials.
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Bicentennial Passport Sponsor:
QuikTrip
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Bicentennial Time Capsule |
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Missouri organizations, institutions, businesses, and government agencies are invited to contribute three items to the Bicentennial Time Capsule: one to represent the organization's past, one item to represent the organization's present, and a note to future Missourians. Contributions will be accepted through August 10, 2021, and sealed on August 27 for the next 25 years when it will be re-opened and shared with the public. The time capsule is sponsored by the State Historical Society of Missouri and Saint Louis Ambassadors.
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Community Spotlight: Empowerment Leads to Impacts for Business Owners and Downtown |
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Each business downtown is as unique as its owner. Each storefront is a blank slate ready to burst with character and opportunity. Many business owners understand their product, but some may not understand merchandising or product placement principles. Experts in the field of merchandising utilize data and study shopping behavior to create impactful store layouts and product placement to appeal to customers and their buying habits. Some simple changes can help a small business make a huge impact on the bottom line.
Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) offered a grant program to bring merchandising experts to the state through the My Community Matters Grant that allowed communities and businesses to have access to individualized services that addressed their specific needs. MMSC’s mission with this grant was to increase net new jobs, increase local investments, expand support in downtowns, and increase the capacity of recipients. The grant was implemented by MMSC and a team of consultants in 2020.
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The team consisted of Seanette Corkill and Anne Marie Luthro with Frontdoor Back and they provided individual services for small businesses in five Missouri communities. All of the business owners in the five communities were invited to a presentation called, The How Behind The Wow! Creating Stellar Stores and Storefronts. The presentation set the stage for the individual business visits by providing some foundational elements of store layout and store design while educating the audience on shopper behaviors.
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MMSC Hosts Old Town Cape Staff Retreat |
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MMSC hosted Old Town Cape's staff retreat the last week of June. This retreat was the perfect way for the organization to take a step back from their day-to-day work and spend time to develop and clarify a structure to rejuvenate the entire team.
MMSC offers a wide variety of services for Main Street organizations. View the full directory here.
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Community Empowerment Grant
Workshop Opportunity
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August 18, 2021 | 10:00AM - 1:00PM |
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What could a 60/40 matching grant do for your historic commercial district? Any Missouri community interested in assistance to establish a Main Street organization or downtown revitalization program should attend this workshop. Only 8 grant awards will be available in 2021. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. All potential applicants must attend one Community Empowerment Grant Workshop. The grant workshop will explain the Main Street philosophy of revitalization and demonstrate the grant application criteria, materials, and process.
This workshop is FREE, but RSVP is required. All materials will be emailed to attendees prior to the workshop beginning. You are able to view on a tablet, computer, smartphone, or dial in on your phone to listen to the conversation if your internet access is limited.
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Save The Date For Main Street Boot Camp |
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Join us for Main Street Boot Camp on Friday, September 24, 2021.
This all day training will take place in Trenton, MO. More details coming soon!
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Quarterly Building Maintenance Tips |
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Building owners can do regular maintenance right now to lengthen the life of their building investment and to prevent larger, more expensive problems in the future. With summer, comes summer storms and vegetation growth. Here are some steps that building owners can take for these summer months:
- Remove plants growing on or close to walls and foundation. (30 min)
- Visually check for moss or lichen, especially around parapets, sills, and downspouts. (30 min)
- Check grading at foundation to make sure water will drain away from building and not pool next to the building. (15 min)
- Inspect basement or crawl space for excessive water during wet weather. (30 min)
- Inspect interior of building for leaks during first heavy rain of season. (30 min)
- Examine roof slope to make sure water is not pooling at any areas on the roof. (15 min)
- Make sure water can flow freely through gutters and downspouts and clean them out if they are clogged. (30 min)
- Sweep debris from flat or low sloping roofs. (30 min)
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Missouri Main Street Connection is happy to continue to offer an online training series to teach the Main Street Approach™ to new board members, volunteers, staff, and city officials. The online training is free of charge for any community in Missouri. The Main Street 101 online training series was developed to fill the gap created by the cancellation of the National and Missouri Main Street conferences in 2020. The knowledge base of a Main Street program and its volunteers must include the principles of the comprehensive Main Street Approach™ to ensure a solid foundation. We encourage Main Street programs to use this online tool for volunteer development, committee training, and leadership development.
This training series will be required for all new board members within six months of taking office and new executive directors in 2021. The requirement also includes the completion and passing grade from a 50-question exam to receive a certificate of completion as part of the annual program assessment process. All Missouri Main Street programs under a contract/agreement with MMSC will fall under this requirement and there is a $50 fee for the certificate of completion portion.
The online training series provides flexibility for those going through the training. It will be available 24-hours a day, seven days a week and can be taken at the individuals’ pace. Each module of the four points is approximately 40-45 minutes long. There is also a module on the Main Street transformation strategy development process. The training series includes various resources or guides to help a Main Street program with further committee development.
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Congratulations To Those Certified In June & July!
Riley Purvis - Warrensburg Main Street
Tessa Goldsworthy - Blue Springs Downtown Alive!
Joleigh Cornine - City of Sedalia
Becky Cleveland - Brookfield Area Growth Partnership
Jackie Pearson - Campbell Main Street
Karen Wilder - Brookfield Area Growth Partnership
Jarred Irby - Downtown Dutchtown Main Streets
Michael Seabaugh - Uptown Jackson
Brandon Keller - Blue Springs Downtown Alive!
Melody Allen - Downtown Lebanon
Karen Marquart - Downtown Washington
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This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Kemper Fund for Kansas and Missouri of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, USDA Rural Development, and Karen Bode Baxter. |
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Your donation can be made monthly or annually in whatever amount you choose. Please choose the frequency of your donation to MMSC today by clicking on one of the buttons below. You will receive a lapel pin designed exclusively for Heritage Circle members indicating your support for Missouri communities.
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We Want To Thank The Following
Heritage Circle Donor:
Russ Volmert
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Select Frequency Of Donation |
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YOUR DONATION IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE. Missouri Main Street Connection is a statewide, 501c3, not-for-profit organization and is the leading statewide nonprofit organization devoted to preservation-based economic development. Through the Main Street America® movement and our partners, we empower community revitalization by celebrating, supporting, and sustaining Missouri historic commercial districts in both rural and urban settings. |
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Missouri Main Street Connection is a statewide, 501c3, not-for-profit organization committed to fostering renewed vitality and sustainability in historic commercial districts across the state of Missouri.
Missouri Main Street Connection is an equal opportunity organization.
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