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Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
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Yesterday, the Maine Downtown Center launched an interactive web portal aimed at attracting visitors through one-stop shopping and compelling content. The website is a collaboration among the state's 10 Main Street Maine programs and the Maine Downtown Center, with guidance and matching funds from the Maine Office of Tourism.
Main Street Maine features local makers, innovative events and natural assets in Maine’s downtowns on one connected, user-friendly website. “People come to Maine to discover one-of-a-kind places, and Main Streets have them in a big way,” says Anne Ball, Program Director for Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center. “We’ve learned from the Maine Office of Tourism that today’s visitors seek cultural, food and unique experiences. They want to know about world renowned museums in Rockland and Brunswick, the newest restaurants in Belfast and Augusta, great boutiques in Biddeford and Bath, cool breweries in Westbrook and Saco, and the best festivals in Skowhegan and Gardiner. This website provides one-stop shopping.”
The tourism project came about after a group from Maine attended a 2017 Main Street Now Conference session on cultural/heritage tourism. Once home, Delilah Poupore, Biddeford’s Main Street program director, and Abbe Levin, the Maine Office of Tourism's heritage tourism consultant, met to talk about how they could collaborate to attract visitors to Maine’s Main Streets. They came up with the idea of the website and brought the concept to the rest the state's Main Street programs for the green light. Poupore, who served as the project’s coordinator, applied for a $9,500 grant from the Maine Office of Tourism. The Maine Downtown Center and the other Main Street programs committed to pitching in for the requisite matching funds.
The grant was awarded in November 2017, and roll-out began immediately. Belfast, Maine-based web designer Bonneville Consulting was selected because of their experience with tourist-facing websites. From February to July of 2018, branding for the site was completed and messaging was fine-tuned. Levin worked closely with the group on key features that tourists sought (e.g., had to be mobile friendly, they seek advice not lists, etc.). Facebook, Twitter and Instagram social media pages were created in advance of Monday’s launch to help direct visitors to the website.
“The site is full of advice and blog posts that recommend great food, coffee and brews as well as key cultural events and amenities,” explains Poupore. “Once people get to their destination, they’ll look around and find a lot more to do, or even head to another one of the state’s Main Streets.” Visitors to the state’s Visitor Information Centers can pick up a rack card that directs them to the website. In addition, the project will include marketing to the Boston area, to encourage travel from that region.
For questions about the Main Street Maine tourism project or the MainStreetMaine.org website, please contact the project coordinator, Delilah Poupore, executive director, Heart of Biddeford, at 207-284-8520 or director@heartofbiddeford.org.
Music has a unifying power to bring people of all generations, backgrounds, and cultures together for creative expression. Let’s explore how accessible, family-friendly music experiences can strengthen Main Streets across America to build stronger communities, one concert at a time!
Happy Halloween! From small business trick or treating and parades to art installations and festivals, Main Streets across the Network love to go all out for spooky season.
As we approach this milestone celebration, we've compiled 15 creative ways for Main Street and downtown leaders to make this year's Small Business Saturday truly special.
The application opens in early October and will remain open until mid-November, or until all the spaces are filled.
At the heart of thriving Main Streets are vibrant public spaces that unite people of all ages and backgrounds and enrich community life. And what better way to activate public spaces than through the power of free, live music?
Middlesboro, Kentucky © Levitt Foundation
Learn how Main Street Nevada uses print media campaigns to reach people who are not engaged online.
Art is a powerful tool for community change. Learn how the arts can improve community engagement, boost economic development, and connect with the Main Street Approach.
Shop crawls are a great way to introduce people to your small businesses. Fredericksburg Main Street loves to host shop crawls, and this spring, they tried a new model: the flower crawl.
Heart of Biddeford in Biddeford, Maine, explains the process they used to create robust new communications procedures.
At Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington, Native Hawaiians played a critical role in the success of the Hudson Bay Company. Today, Vancouver’s Hawaiian history and heritage plays a crucial role in efforts to reenergize the city’s historic downtown.
From Maine to Texas and beyond, people gathered to bask in the the totality or peer through funky glasses at the Great American Solar Eclipse!
Erie, Pennsylvania © Dave Tamulonis
Whether you're preparing your community for a surge of visitors, traveling as a visitor yourself, or looking for a glimpse from outside the path, there are many opportunities to be experience this unique event.
Learn how the Little Five Points neighborhood of Atlanta uses this unique mural program to celebrate Valentine's Day and raise important funding for their work.
This Washington Main Street is encouraging people to brave the rainy weather with their free umbrella share program.
Learn how Bainbridge Island Downtown Association leverages their connection to the ferry to create a walkable and vibrant downtown.
Bainbridge Island, WA © Anna Carson
Small Business Saturday is an important opportunity to show your support for local businesses. We asked business owners across the network what your support means to them.
Laramie, WY © Laramie Main Street Alliance
Celebrate this traditional Mexican holiday with Gardnerville, Nevada.
Gardnerville, NV © Main Street Gardnerville
This holiday season, rally your communities around the small businesses that help make your downtown thrive.
Small Business Saturday is Nov. 25! Check out these five strategies to celebrate shopping small.
Learn how this community in Oklahoma celebrated Dia de la Independencia with a big festival.
Tulsa, OK © Kendall Whittier Main Street
Get ready to support your small business owners and encourage people to shop small this November!
Learn how the South Carolina Coordinator Program is uplifting small businesses across the state with their dedicated e-commerce platform.
© Main Street South Carolina
Learn how Majd Alsaif, Celeste Constancio, and Leilani Commons supported Main Street America this summer.
Check out this vibrant event celebrating small businesses and community joy in Massachusetts.
© Devon Moos Photography
Celebrate summer in Louisiana—Cajun style!
© Abbigail LaCombe
Learn how this Georgia town is recruiting their furry friends to help spread the word about Main Street.
© NewTown Macon
Learn how this Massachusetts community uses their farmer's market to increase access to fresh food.
This unique event brought new life to an old space while celebrating everything 90s.
© Downtown Little Rock Partnership
Are you in the path of totality? Check out these tips from Carbondale's experience in 2017.
Main Streets across the network are bringing science downtown. Check out these examples from Hendersonville, NC, Los Alamos, NM, and Sweetwater, TN.
© City of Hendersonville
Learn how Main Street leaders and residents in Los Alamos, New Mexico have used the town's fascinating history to create a hugely successful week-long ScienceFest, going 16 years strong and counting.
Learn how Hendersonville, North Carolina launched their first annual Earth Day Festival to celebrate their local environment and educate residents about ways to get involved with regional environmental sustainability efforts.
© City of Hendersonville
Jessica Morgan and Hayley Isbill from the City of Sweetwater (Sweetwater, Tenn.) explain how they prepared their community for the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse and give useful tips and tricks for those who are preparing for the next eclipse coming in April 2024.
Spring is a great time to do some spring cleaning and maintenance for your digital storefront: your website.
Meet Kavi, the first Indian American Girl of the Year doll and a (fictional) resident of 2023 Great American Main Street Award winner Metuchen, New Jersey!
Metuchen, NJ © Lauren Beischer Photography
Check out these marketing tips from Allied Member Tourism Currents.
From the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers in Paducah, Kentucky, to the tasty cakes and sweet treats of Kendallville, Indiana, these Main Streets are the perfect places to show your love for all things local.
Kendallville, IN © Historic Downtown Kendallville
Rhe City of Conway, SC rebranded for the month of October as the City of Halloween. Check out this photo essay showing their month of spooky fun.
Conway, SC © Adam Emrick
From social media scavenger hunts to downtown passports, the Main Street network has used countless innovative ways to encourage their communities to Shop Small®—and had plenty of fun doing it.
Oceanside, CA © Road West Photography
Staunton, VA is full of fascinating people, so when Greg Beam took over Staunton Downtown Development Association SDDA in 2019, he wanted to find a way to showcase them.
Staunton, VA © Greg Beam
Emporia Main Street celebrated the return of their college students with their annual Welcome Back Student Block Party.
Emporia, KS © LatinFit
Learn about Friendly City Fortune, Downtown Harrisonburg Renaissance's largest annual fundraiser. It provides flexible revenue for a variety of projects including art installations, façade enhancements, and small business support services.
Harrisonburg, VA © Downtown Harrisonburg Renaissance
As a social impact funder, the Levitt Foundation partners with changemakers nationwide to create those destinations, leveraging the power of free, live music to amplify local pride, inject joy into underused public spaces, and foster more equitable, healthy and thriving communities.
A roundup of exciting, innovative, and romantic initiatives created by Main Street programs to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Siloam Springs, AR © Main Street Siloam Springs
Learn how this exciting winter event leveraged a rail trail to bring communities together.
York, PA © Downtown Inc
Is your Main Street ready for the biggest small business shopping day of the year?
We challenged our Main Streets to tell us their downtown’s strange sightings, haunted buildings, or other paranormal activities for a chance to be named a 2021 Great American Haunted Main Street.
Main Street America hosted our first-ever Instagram Stories Takeover, giving six Main Street organizations from around the Network direct access to our Instagram account.
Emporia, KS © Emporia Main Street
Interested in creating a StoryWalk in your downtown commercial district? Read on to learn more about installing a successful story walking trail.
Love Letters for Local is a new initiative that encourages community members to write letters of appreciation and support to small businesses as they persevere into the new year
Frederick, Maryland © Downtown Frederick Partnership
Read on to learn about a few of our favorite COVID-friendly holiday initiatives we’ve seen across the network.
Learn how Main Street Coon Rapids brought some retro movie magic to their downtown with their pop-up drive-in movie theater.
An essential component of the Main Street America Institute, the three-day in-person workshop gives participants hands-on tools to enact revitalization projects in their communities.
Main Street Hampton hosted a Food and Friends Farm-to-Table dinner at the Rustic Brew during Main Street Iowa Restaurant Week.
The Main Street America Institute (MSAI) partnered with the National Development Council (NDC) to offer Historic Real Estate Finance, part one of a two-course certificate program, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Creating a historic or art walking tour is much more than simply a collection of pictures and descriptions.
From community gathering spaces to retail incubators, from small towns to big cities – this year’s projects and communities are a testament to the diversity of Main Streets across the country.
Downtown Ames hosted a festival for the 46th annual RAGBRAI race (The Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa).
You don’t need to be a big-name district to make a video that goes viral; you just need to know what you’re doing.
Promotion positions the downtown or commercial district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity, while creating a positive image that showcases a community’s unique characteristics.
The Ocean Springs Chamber Main Street gave their logo and branding a fresh look incorporating their 2013 Great American Main Street Award victory.
Too often, as we’re strolling our favorite Main Street, we pass empty or dark shop windows that make us want to hurry home a little bit faster. Imagine instead, a charming streetscape adorned with vibrant, lively window displays, showcasing retailers’ favorite products and seasonal gift ideas.
From authentic comfort food to farm-to-fork fresh and everything in between, these restaurants, bars, and cafes are key to the thriving social, business, and residential life in the historic commercial districts in Main Street Iowa communities.
Located in southeast Kansas, Independence (pop.8,799) is home to Fab Lab ICC, which is on track to be the world’s leading innovator in combining entrepreneurial mindset education with a fab lab maker space.
Last year, Main Street Selma created the Jeffrey the Ghost Project to honor the late Kathryn Tucker Windham, a celebrated author, folklorist, and Selma resident.
What if someone asked us for some quick marketing ideas that any Main Street town could use for more visibility, especially online? Here is what we’d say.
Oklahoma's Main Street Guymon Director Melyn Johnson found more than just an innovative way to engage nearby college students in Main Street activities.
Main Street Hanford hosted a special Lemoore Naval Air Station Appreciation Night at their weekly Thursday Night Market Place.
Carbondale Main Street, established 1989, is located at a “sweet spot” for watching the total solar eclipse on Monday, August 21—it’s just a few miles north of the point of greatest duration within the path of totality
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
The Easton Main Street Initiative, established just a decade ago and serving the riverside city of Easton, Pennsylvania, decided it was time to give ourselves a pat on the back.
Main Street Bartow's empty storefronts become pop-up art galleries to promote economic development.
