Orlando, FL © Stephen Miller Photography
“A truly robust local entrepreneurial ecosystem recognizes a location’s physical environment as a critical factor for ensuring small business success.”
This handbook provides a comprehensive guide to the ways that Main Street districts can support their entrepreneurs and foster a vibrant business environment in their districts. It emphasizes the factors needed in a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem and the power that place can have in supporting business development.
Note: this is an excerpt of a larger publication.
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2024 Trend Forecast: Get Your Business Holiday-Ready
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Tee Rowe, America’s SBDC
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Nicole Fleetwood and McKinzie Hodges, Scratch Made Bakery
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Cincinnati, Ohio © Janet Hurn
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Bonus Episode 2: Featuring Season 1 Guests
Learn about small business owners who are succeeding along Main Street, and the advice they have for others doing the same.
© Ketut Subiyanto
Bonus Episode 3: Featuring Season 1 Guests
In this episode, you'll hear from small business owners from our first season who make connecting with their community a top priority.
Bonus Episode 1: Featuring Season 1 Guests
Learn how local entrepreneurs have leveraged the power of a Main Street community to establish, maintain, and grow their ventures.
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Anette Soto Landeros, Casa Azul Coffee
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Harvey Williams, Delta Dirt Distillery
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Christina Hollerbach, Hollerbach’s German Restaurant
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Martha Moore and Ashley Owens, Martha & Ash Custom Drapery
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Terrand Smith, 37 Oaks
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Use this self-guided training to understand how to build a robust environment to support small business creation and sustainability.
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Sjowhegan, ME
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Explore research on how businesses can adapt to the evolving retail landscape using place-based and community-driven stratgies.
Atlanta, GA © Blulz60
National Report on Early-Stage Entrepreneurship in the United States: 2020
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State of Main: Winter 2019
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17th Avenue – Allapattah Action Plan
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The Importance of Inclusive Entrepreneurship Ecosystems
An article from State of Main exploring the impact of entrepreneurship and examining ways to create inclusion in the development of entrepreneurship ecosystems. Published in State of Main.
Metuchen, NJ © Isaac Kremer
The Future of Retail (State of Main)
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Metuchen, NJ © Isaac Kremer
Manufacturers Finding New Homes along Main Street
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Read the Street
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Measuring the Economic Impact of Special Events
Two Mississippi Main Street communities explain how they collected data on the small business impact of downtown events.
The Arkansas DeltaMade Program
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Siloam Springs, AR © Brandonrush
Cash Mobs
First there were “flash mobs.” Now there are cash mobs, the shop-local equivalent. At these events, 'mobs' of people visit a small business with the commitment to spend at least $20 each. Published in Main Street Now magazine. Written by Andrea L. Dono.
Multicultural Merchandising
The importance of understanding multicultural design preferences as our business environment becomes increasingly diverse.
A New Take on Pop-Ups
To reduce storefront vacancies, the Main Street program in Cambridge, Maryland, created the Holiday Pop-Up Project, which gave two entrepreneurs the chance to test out their retail concepts rent-free for two months.
Community-Owned Businesses
Innovative entrepreneurs and alternative business models can open up businesses that fill a void in the community. Published in Main Street Now Journal.
