The recently-revived Minnesota Main Street Program will be holding a Launch Event this week. The announcement of the program roll-out is this Thursday, May 27th, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., at the Main Street Theatre in Sauk Centre. (more…)
Downtown advocates from southeastern Minnesota gathered in Austin yesterday.
Their purpose was to share ideas for strengthening our downtowns and working together to return the Main Street Program to Minnesota. Eighteen people from eight different communities reviewed the Four Point Approach, offered lessons learned from their own experiences, and brain-stormed additional tactics for familiar challenges.
The Main Street Program was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1977. In Minnesota, the program was originally supported by DTED but was phased out in 1994. Minnesota is one of only four states that do not have a state-supported Main Street Program. (more…)
Earlier this year I was invited to join the Minnesota Main Street Steering Committee. With my board’s approval, I have begun to attend the monthly meetings.
As some of you know, the Main Street Program was started by the National Trust for Historic Preservation back in 1977. The program emphasizes Four Points: Organizing, Promoting, Designing, and Restructuring. The NDDC has followed this approach from its founding in 1999. (more…)
It’s the annual National Trust for Historic Preservation Main Street Conference. This year, it’s in not-so-far away Chicago.
The theme for this year’s version is Web 2.0. There are a number of sessions discussing getting more economic leverage from web-based tools. However, I thought I’d start off with a little old school action: Economic Restructuring.
The presenter, Elise Tinsley, outlined three goals for your organization’s “E R Committee”: 1) identify new market opportunities, 2) support existing businesses, and 3) stimulate development investment. Her points struck me as potential guiding principles for any group pursuing economic vitality in Northfield.
Elise said that you attract customers by communicating your community’s image honestly and accurately. Your message must be built on your existing assets, not your envisioned assets. Every community is different and its message should be unique. Perhaps most importantly, your image must be deliverable.
She then talked about gathering market data…and verifying that data. But more on that topic later.
Elise suggested that once you know your community and its assets, as well as your current market and your potential market, you should capture it in a simple and straight-forward Market Position Statement. You position your community within your wider trade area by using this statement to brand, assist and recruit your mix of businesses.
Your statement helps to focus your community’s efforts and helps to draw people to your community. If you’ve accurately captured your assets in your statement, when people visit your community, their experience will match your message.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a community economic development conference in Minneapolis. It was called 20/20, reflecting the twentieth anniversaries of the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers and the Local Initiative Support Corporation (or LISC). In fact, I got my very first predevelopment loan from LISC almost twenty years ago for ArtSpace Projects’ Frogtown Family Lofts in St. Paul.
Over 400 people involved in community economic development from around the region attended. As you can imagine, we live in exciting times, particularly those of us involved in community economic development.
LISC Executive Director Andriana Abariotes welcomed us. She recognized that we faced new challenges.
Then former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer led a panel discussion with leaders from the The McKnight Foundation, Travelers Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota, and the Northwest Area Foundation. While the panelists acknowledged the stock market decline adversely impacted their resources, all of the panelists, encouraged by Latimer, said that there were new opportunities for collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors.
During the break, I was able to connect with several of the people I had sought, including Ron Price, Senior Program Officer (and retail specialist) at LISC. He guided me to several excellent on-line resources which I am continuing to explore.
At lunch, I sat at a table full of bankers and equity investors. They all agreed that there was still money out there, that the underwriting requirements, at least for affordable housing, were still shaped largely by the state, and that the biggest change was a “flight to quality”, meaning higher returns and/or more reliable cash flow for financial participants.
Julie Causey, Chair of Western Bank, Michael Rubinger, President and CEO of LISC, Dan Bartholomay, Commissioner of the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor of Burnsville, spoke during lunch. All were anticipating roles for the private sector in the economic development efforts initiated by the public sector in the coming months.
During the afternoon, I attended a session on “Community Development’s Return on Investment”. The speakers were Paul Fate, President and CEO of CommonBond Communities, Peter Heegaard, Founder and Director of Urban Adventure, and Mike Temali, Executive Director of the Neighborhood Development Center. All of the speakers seemed to indicate that neighborhoods were now being reviewed much like businesses, as a single entity that generates jobs, sales, and tax revenues.
The themes emphasized by the speakers during the conference included: 1. Collaboration, 2. Holism, 3. Community Engagement, and 4. Regional Integration. They are not unfamiliar to many of us in community economic development in Northfield.
Personally, I thought other concepts were strongly represented in the sessions. In my mind these were: 1. Grow Existing Assets, 2. Produce Local Results, 3. Clarify the Specifications of Success, and, in the current environment, 4. Cut Through the Noise, Fear, and Uncertainty when Making Decisions.
It was a great opportunity to renew old friendships, interact with peers and share successful models. I anticipate generating returns on this “investment” as part of the NDDC’s work plan for 2009.
