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Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
We work in collaboration with thousands of local partners and grassroots leaders across the nation who share our commitment to advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life.
Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street
Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, the thousands of organizations, individuals, volunteers, and local leaders that make up Main Street America™ represent the broad diversity that makes this country so unique.
Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America
Looking for strategies and tools to support you in your work? Delve into the Main Street Resource Center and explore a wide range of resources including our extensive Knowledge Hub, professional development opportunities, field service offerings, advocacy support, and more!
Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo
Your one-stop-shop for all the latest stories, news, events, and opportunities – including grants and funding programs – across Main Street.
Kendall Whittier — Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street
Join us in our work to advance shared prosperity, create strong economies, and improve quality of life in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
On February 14, Spencer Main Street officially launched a brand-new initiative called the Main Street Micros Grant program. This has been a year in the making, and we were thrilled to see it come to fruition. It started as just an idea a year ago followed by 6 months of hammering out the details. We wanted to do something specifically for the Main Street District, voted on by the Main Street Board, and we’ve never had that.
We are doing two cycles of grants, one in the Spring and one in the Fall. Each cycle, we will award a total of $20,000. The grant prize winner in each cycle will get the max of $10,000. In essence we are pouring $40,000 a year into downtown.
“We wanted to help facilitate the growth and development of our current Main Street Businesses, enhance the visual appeal and help upgrade the unusable space in our upper stories. We are really excited about injecting this shot of money into our downtown economy,” said Board President Eric Meeter.
The grant monies can help with building/façade improvements, business expansion and/or development, and code requirement upgrades for upper story renovation and development. There is an extensive application process including a 3-5 minute video pitch and a set of judging criteria based on the Main Street Iowa Open4Business Competition. Each applicant has to match 25% of the project cost.
In the first round, we had 9 applications with a total ask of more than $83,000. This demonstrated that clearly there is a need and a desire for this one-of-a-kind project. First place was awarded to Madeline Iles, owner of Posh Salon. She recently bought a building on Grand and renovated the inside. She was awarded funds for exterior façade improvement.
2nd place was a tie, and each winner got $4,100. Owner Robin Edwards with DermUs Skin Care has been part of the community for 20 years, 10 years in Downtown. They are remodeling part of their space to add another room for services and their lobby area. Owners John and Shelby Haak at Skin Joy Med Spa also got $4,100 They are a brand new business that will offer injectables. They are partnering with DermUs to connect their buildings (taking out a wall) and they will share the lobby. Skin Joy took ownership of a building that was vacant after Edward Jones moved out. And 3rd place went to Jim and Julie Vermeer with Vermeer Glass Art. They asked for $1,825 to help pay for a new kiln. They are a destination location and bring a lot of people from outside the county to town.
With this project, we hit on three different aspects: Façade improvement, expansion of services with an established business and a fairly new one, and helping a new business get started. We are so pumped to offer this program. I think this sets us apart from other communities and will only spur grander things downtown.
Urban Impact Inc., harnesses strategic investments and collaborative efforts to foster a vibrant and sustainable future, from visionary adaptive reuse ventures to transformative development grants for small businesses and property owners in Birmingham, Alabama's historic 4th Avenue Black Business District.
We are excited to announce the Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) Tracker, a new free tool to help designated Main Streets unlock the potential of their vacant properties. This user-friendly property inventory tool allows local leaders can gather, store, and showcase information about their district’s built environment to plan and advocate for new property uses.
Denison, Texas © Mel Climer – Climer Design
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $20B in federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) awards distributed to eight national non-profit consortiums. Main Street America looks forward to partnership and engagement with awardees and local programs to identify projects and expand impact throughout our network.
Hillsboro, Oregon © Alicia Gallo
Answer 12 questions to find out the "personality" of your district and resources that cover related housing topics.
Macon, GA
Middlesboro Main Street in Middlesboro, Ky., Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago, Ill., and Sugar Creek Business Association in Charlotte, N.C., have each been awarded $100,000 through The Hartford Small Business Accelerator Grant Program in partnership with Main Street America.
Learn how the HUD Pro Housing Program and other opportunities can help you increase affordable housing in your community.
Learn how Majd Alsaif, Celeste Constancio, and Leilani Commons supported Main Street America this summer.
Learn how the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and the Clean Communities Accelerator Fund (CCIA) will pump billions of dollars into reducing carbon emissions from the built environment in the coming years.
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
From 19th-century mill girls to Maine's mill redevelopments and the regional manufacturers of tomorrow, learn about the amazing history and promise of the New England mill.
Biddeford, ME © Heart of Biddeford
A practical and easily digestible report containing practical “how-to’s” designed to help local leaders support housing development in their communities.
Main Street America's research team takes a look at the data presented in the At Home on Main Street and offers relevant insights for Main Street managers looking to understand downtown and neighborhood commercial district housing trends.
In Fall 2022, MSA partnered with infill developer and small-deal guru Jim Heid and the Incremental Development Alliance to conduct surveys on the barriers to small-scale real estate projects across the United States. Here we share the results.
This article was published on January 10, 2023, by Next City, a nonprofit news organization focused on socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable urban practices.
Learn about the City of Boston’s efforts to invest in economic equity.
Learn how this West Virginia community redirected façade improvement funds to revive local commercial kitchens.
Interested in implementing a small-scale development project in your district? Mike Scholl of Ayres Associates, who worked with Downtown Laramie Wyoming on their Empress Lofts project, lays out some of the key considerations for Main Streets working on development projects.
Laramie, WY © Mike Scholl
Main Street America launches a project to learn more about the specific barriers to small-scale real estate development on our Main Streets and identify solutions for financing small-scale deals.
learn how Rethos: Places Reimagined is encouraging upper-floor development through their program funded by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program.
Red Wing, MN © Megan Tsui
Insights from Main Street leaders and Main Street-oriented housing developers who recently participated in a virtual convening on this topic.
California communities to share their latest developments, including innovative initiatives, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and profoundly place- and people-based projects.
Fremont, CA © City of Fremont
Read how Virginia Main Street programs have driven progress downtown through key small-scale real estate projects.
Leverage NC, a partnership between North Carolina Main Street and the North Carolina League of Municipalities, hosted a four-part webinar series titled Better Community Planning & Economic Development led by Ed McMahon, Chair Emeritus of Main Street America and a leading national authority on land use policy and economic development.
In contrast, the Main Street Program in Laramie, Wyoming, is thriving, having successfully cultivated millions of dollars to help fill these vacant, blighted spaces with permanent structures.
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
In Winchester, Virginia, one woman’s vision and commitment to downtown’s revitalization created an innovative community space for the Creative Class.
