Missouri Main Street Connection
Hosts Main Street Capitol Day
|
|
Missouri Main Street Connection hosted Main Street Capitol Day in Jefferson City, MO on January 27, 2020. The annual event gathered communities across the state to visit with legislators to celebrate the achievements by communities participating in the Missouri Main Street state-wide revitalization program. Members of Main Street organizations throughout the state attended to share information and insight with the legislators about the impact Main Street has had on their communities. MMSC continues to advance economic and workforce development in both Main Street communities and the entire state of Missouri.
|
|
A Vernacular Creative Economy: Meaningful & Sustainable Enterprises
Rooted In Local Cultures, Assets, and Skills
|
|
March 13, 2020 | Branson, MO
|
|
Vernacular creativity is distinctive activities, products, and ways of working that are rooted in local cultures. This kind of activity creates important innovations that ultimately improve lives and regional economies. Engaging and lifting up distinctive local cultures, skills, and natural resources generates traditional and new products and services of value to people in that place, and beyond. Creative economic activities are more sustainable and build more distinctive places. From his work in communities across the United States, Dr. Tom Borrup illustrates eight different approaches that communities have employed to tap local creativity and culture for community livelihoods and to build a vernacular creative economy.
|
|
Join us at Missouri’s Premier Downtown Revitalization Conference.
Places Reimagined
will transform the way we think, engage, and invest in place.
Places Reimagined
will inspire local leaders and stakeholders to evaluate the role of place in today’s economy while creating and engaging people-centered communities.
|
|
The National Trust for Historic Preservation wants to uncover and uplift women across the centuries whose vision, passion, and determination have shaped the country we are today.
The goal is to discover 1,000 places connected to women’s history, and elevate their stories for everyone to learn and celebrate.
Submit a photo and a short description
here.
|
|
Please Help Us Welcome
Missouri's Newest Executive Directors
|
|
Jason Davis
Historic Downtown Sikeston
|
|
Mike Dimond
Fayette Main Street
|
|
Historic Downtown Sikeston has hired Jason Davis for the Executive Director position. Born and raised in Sikeston, Jason remembers how Downtown Sikeston was the heart of activity in town. He had served on the Board of Directors for Downtown for 6 years prior to becoming the Executive Director. He hopes to continue to build on the foundation of the previous Director and Board in an effort to keep Downtown Sikeston growing through strengthening current businesses and recruiting new businesses. Jason said if he could add anyone to his Board of Directors, it would be Henry Ford. Jason said that he admires that even in the face of failure, Ford was persistent to make his vision become reality. A fun fact about Jason is that he not only serves as Executive Director, but he also pastors a church in Downtown Sikeston, is a DJ for two radio stations, and volunteers as a chaplain for the local police department.
Fayette Main Street, Inc is pleased to announce that Mike Dimond has been hired as the first full time director in many years. Mike comes to Fayette Main Street after retiring from a successful 35 year career with the Boy Scouts of America. During those 35 years, Mike served in a variety of upper management positions in 4 different councils in 5 states. “I’m very excited to be returning to my hometown and use the skills I’ve developed over the past 35 years as a professional in Scouting to work with an outstanding board and volunteer team to work together towards beautiful and historic downtown Fayette’s revival,” Mike said. Mike grew up in Fayette and graduated from Fayette High School and then Central Methodist University where his parents were on the faculty. “Returning home was an easy choice for our family, we love this great town and the University!” Mike and his wife, Janell, have six children and two grandchildren. In their free time, they can be found at their lake house or on their boat at the Lake of the Ozarks.
|
|
Clinton Main Street
Annual Banquet
|
|
Ben White, MMSC Program Outreach Specialist, was the guest speaker at the Clinton Main Street Annual Banquet on January 30, 2020. Ben spoke to over 100 guests in attendance. He reminded them of the purpose of a Main Street program as well as challenged and inspired them to take their program to the next level. Clinton welcomed Ben and looks forward to Ben returning to see what new projects are taking place.
|
|
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 7 grant awards will be available in 2020. 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.
May 7th | 10AM - 1PM
Jefferson City, MO
This workshop is FREE, but RSVP is required.
There is an optional Lunch & Learn ($15 fee for box lunch) with an experienced Main Street representative sharing success stories.
|
|
MMSC On The Road
By Ben White
|
|
It’s been a whirlwind month and a half to start the year! After an incredible staff retreat, I accompanied Keith to Harrisonville, where we discussed Transformation Strategies and the next steps for the program. Then it was on to Rockaway Beach where we again brought volunteers and leaders to the table to discuss Transformation Strategies and how the work during the My Community Matters grant could play an integral part in their future development as a community. I was back on the road to Festus/Crystal City where we had the honor of watching new executive board members be elected before talking about different avenues of fundraising that the organization could utilize.
Keith and I then traveled to Warrenton and took a deep dive into their demographics and economic data to better understand Warrenton and its potential. Kirksville was next on the list for us, where we discussed the importance and implementation of action plans and then discussed Transformation Strategies for this My Community Matters grant recipient.
Next was Main Street Capitol Day, an extremely vital opportunity to meet with Missouri legislators and discuss with them the power of Main Street. In many instances, Missouri Main Street staff were able to have these meetings with the community members and their legislators. Pleasant Hill was next on the list, where bad weather couldn’t keep us away from talking about Transformation Strategies and additional training that we could bring to the community. That week was capped off with attending and speaking at the annual dinner for Clinton Main Street. It was an awesome opportunity to see so many passionate volunteers celebrating what they had accomplished, but also turning a hopeful eye to future projects.
|
|
On February 3, many interested communities attended the Community Empowerment Workshop in Jefferson City. Communities learned about the grant process and the customized trainings that MMSC staff bring to each community in the program. Then it was quickly on to Odessa with Keith to announce that Odessa had received the My Community Matters grant. This was a great opportunity to meet local leaders and discuss the principles of Main Street. A few days later, Megan Cartwright and I traveled to Albany to a packed house to hold a Town Hall meeting. Over 140 people came to give their thoughts on their vision for the community. It was an incredible experience and inspiring to see so many passionate people.
-Ben White, MMSC
|
|
Historic Preservation Matters!
|
|
Historic Preservation is a vital component to sustainable downtown revitalization. It’s this mindset that sets us apart from other economic development strategies employed by communities. Downtowns are unique to each community and preserving this history and heritage is what sets a community apart from the stereotypical big box buildings and big business stores that many communities have.
In today’s retail environment, businesses need to go above and beyond the sale of a product or service to reach people in a way that speaks to them. Too often, businesses are beat out by the convenience of online sales. Downtown merchants are uniquely set up to overcome these challenges by promoting a unique shopping experience, where relationships are forged and customer service is key. In order for these experiences to occur, these historic structures where customers are drawn to shop must be in aesthetically-pleasing buildings. This includes but is not limited to: entrances that are inviting, paint that is in good condition, masonry work that is in tact and tuck-pointed, windows that are sealed and in working condition, and wood that’s not rotted out from water damage. A building that is in good condition invites the types of businesses to downtown that communities want to visit.
Historic Preservation is about more than just preserving the memories of a place; it’s about activating that space for decades to come.
Tip: When tuck-pointing a building, be sure that the mortar that is used is consistent with the type of mortar there and with the existing brick. The wrong mortar can actually cause long-term issues, such as major cracking and water damage.
|
|
Mark your calendar for
Celebrate Preservation Month!
May 1 - 31, 2020
|
|
We want to thank these partners for their investment in Missouri Main Street for the month of February.
|
|
Celebrate Differences
City of Oak Grove
Downtown Marceline
Fayette Main Street
Glasgow Main Street Association
Historic Equity, Inc.
Historic River District
Knob Noster Revitalization Organization
Platte County CVB
Sugar Creek Downtown Organization
Wentzville Downtown Business Association
|
|
Missouri Main Street Connection | 417-334-3014 | info@momainstreet.org | momainstreet.org
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
