In March of 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into law. This package, aimed to provide immediate relief to communities, businesses, and families in the face of COVID-19 economic and social impacts, was a broad and ambitious step towards recovery. A major piece of the legislation was the State and Local Fiscal Relief Fund (SLFRF), $350 billion divided and dispersed to every state, county, and municipality in the country. As these relief dollars became available to governments, many Main Street programs advocated for the use of these funds to support programmatic activities, business support, and specific community projects to enhance downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts. As we reach the two-year anniversary of these historic funds, we want to celebrate successful projects and local advocacy and share lessons learned in collaborating to leverage federal funds to support commercial districts.
Throughout the pandemic, Main Street programs played a significant role in focusing attention and investment in small businesses and retaining a customer base for the district’s entrepreneurs. Communities with a pre-existing focus on their Main Street districts saw stronger local economic outcomes during the pandemic. Studies of Washington and Iowa’s Main Street programs indicate that, in communities with a Main Street program, consumer spending rebounded at a faster rate than in similar communities without a Main Street program. Beyond direct outreach to entrepreneurs, downtowns and neighborhood districts also became focal points for healthy and safe outdoor activities amid lockdowns and spaces for community dialogue and belonging during turbulent times.
Recovery funds offered local leaders an opportunity to invest in the small businesses and commercial corridors at the heart of vibrant communities, a growing priority for mayors. National League of Cities’ 2022 State of the Cities report highlighted this focus: economic development ranked the second highest priority (behind infrastructure) for mayors in the annual survey, with “downtown development” and “commercial real estate and projects” as the two highest subtopics. Mayors and other local officials are aligned in the desire to invest in these districts.
Main Street programs’ success in helping cities adapt to pandemic challenges, along with mayors’ stated focus on downtown development, make partnerships between Main Streets and local governments a natural priority for the distribution of relief funding. Nationally, 67.8% of funds have been budgeted by local governments, leaving nearly a third of available funding yet to be allocated to uses by recipients. The multifarious categorizations of ARPA-funded projects make a singular assessment of the impact in Main Street districts difficult to track through these big data sources.
As part of Main Street America’s 2023 Trends Survey, we asked the Main Street network about their use of ARPA State and Local Fiscal Relief funds.
In broad terms, 36 percent of all Main Street programs surveyed were successful in utilizing ARPA funding for projects they advocated for, whether implemented by the city or other partners or core Main Street projects. About one-third reported not having taken advocacy action for these funds. Almost a quarter of participants report unsuccessfully advocating for funds, while 13 percent are awaiting funding announcements from local governments.
Main Street programs advocated for diverse local needs. Funded projects include examples such as renovations to a year-round indoor farmer’s market facility; funding received to support the creation of a retail incubator space; beautification and façade grant programs; and building improvement grants. Whether for funding directly received by the Main Street program or funding for priorities identified by the Main Street program, use of ARPA funds for Main Street are dependent on strong local public-private partnerships.
Crawfordsville Main Street (Crawfordsville, Ind.) is one example of how strong local relationships have led to impactful local uses of ARPA funds. Utilizing ARPA resources provided by Main Street America, Crawfordville Main Street collaborated with city leadership to identify two priority downtown projects for funding eligible under the ARPA criteria for negative impact to businesses and tourism. The city granted $200,000 towards the replacement of the fountain in the downtown Marie Canine Plaza, a focal point of community gathering.
The city also utilized $100,000 to create the Architecture & Engineering Grant program to help downtown property owners conduct professional building conditions assessments. The grant program offers property owners within the historic commercial district funding to cover 60 percent of the cost of a professional conditions assessment, which helps owners understand building rehabilitation priorities. Incentivizing building assessments of commercial district properties will help Crawfordsville retain historic fabric while helping property owners understand the needs and costs for rehabilitation.
In recent Main Street America research, 70 percent of Main Street building owners reported that a lack of built-out space hinders economic development opportunities downtown. Through ARPA funding, Crawfordsville is prioritizing creating vibrant downtown spaces that can support small business growth and community connectivity. Susan Lucas, Program Manager for Crawfordsville Main Street, noted that successful partnership between the Main Street program and the City of Crawfordsville “could be summarized by two enduring Main Street axioms - ‘time-tested’ and ‘community-led.’ Lucas said of her experience: “It takes a considerable investment of resources to cultivate and maintain relational equity at the local level. It requires getting up from the desk and out of the office to engage with community leaders and business owners, listening to them, serving local needs and opportunities. Time-tested local relationships result in durable community-led progress.”
From individual community stories like Crawfordsville, to statewide successes in places like North Carolina and Illinois, ARPA funds have made a significant impact on downtown vibrancy, addressing the ongoing need to support improvements to downtown buildings and civic infrastructure. Main Street programs – whether independent nonprofits or part of city government – can play a key role in advocating for downtown priorities and cultivating engagement and buy-in from small businesses, property owners, and other district stakeholders. Through strategic investments, Main Street programs can be partners in the implementation of federal and state programs.
For communities that have yet to allocate ARPA funds, potential new avenues of use are still at play. The FY23 Omnibus spending package, signed in December, included increased utility for ARPA funds for local infrastructure projects including response to natural disasters, transportation, and uses eligible under Community Development Block Grant rules. And earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Treasury, urging that ARPA funds be allowed to be used for capacity building to help communities access other federal programs established through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and other federal spending packages.
The implementation of ARPA dollars in downtowns and neighborhoods districts highlights the role of Main Street programs as partners to city, county, and state governments to target investments and reach small businesses and property owners directly. As ARPA implementation continues, and as federal programs from BIL and IRA emerge, Main Street leaders must take an active role in relationship building and advocacy to highlight district needs and opportunities. Check out MSA’s Advocacy Toolkit for one-pagers and resources on building your advocacy skill.
The Government Relations team is excited to release our new Policy Agenda outlining policy issues and recommendations at the local, state, and federal levels that impact Main Street communities.
Over 50 Main Street advocates gathered in Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators and government leaders and share information about the Main Street movement.
The Government Relations team shares some key policy updates from 2024 and advocacy priorities for 2025.
Main Street America supports new proposed legislation to strengthen organizations that support small businesses and commercial districts.
Learn how your Main Street can support voters, manage relationships, and impact policy during and after the election.
Learn how Main Streets can tap into federal resources to improve transportation infrastructure, take down barriers, and improve access to key services.
The RAISE program funds surface transportation projects with local and regional impact by enhancing safety, mobility, sustainability, and economic growth.
Streetscape improvements can make a big difference for Main Streets. © Grant Harper
Apply for federal funding to remove, retrofit, or mitigate transportation infrastructure that creates barriers to community connectivity.
Streets play an important role in our downtown districts. Learn more about Main Street America's recent work with the Department of Transportation to promote vibrant and sustainable downtown roadways.
Understanding the Advisory Council on Historic Preservations report on federal historic preservation standards.
Toccoa, GA © Steph Maley
Michael Jarosz, Coordinator of Government Relations, provides details on this productive day on the Hill and offers insights into the impacts that are already emerging from their advocacy efforts.
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 you can participate in the Thriving Communities program as a capacity builder or how you can receive support from the program.
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.
Learn the results of our Capitol Hill Day, the first to bring Main Street leaders together around a Main Street-focused agenda.
Community Development Block Grants are powerful tools for Main Street programs. Learn more about how CDBG's can be applied to our work and how you can advocate for the program
Key advocacy and policy updates from the 2023 Omnibus Spending Bill.
Kelly Humrichouser, Director of Government Relations, shares a short guide on how you can reach out to your representatives and engage them in a conversation about the importance of your work.
Main Street America is proud to support the Revitalizing Small and Local Businesses Act
How do those amazing Main Street rehabilitation projects happen? And what policies and public support make them happen? In the Behind the Ribbon Cutting series, we look at a project or businesses from concept to opening day to break down the partnerships and funding brought to bear and recognize how we can advocate for policies and resources for revitalization across the country.
Astoria, OR © ADHDA
Main Streets and small businesses are benefiting from the strategic use of ARPA State and Local Recovery Funds through the advocacy and innovation of local leaders and decision-makers.
San Marcos, TX © Andy Heatwole
Learn more about small business needs in the pandemic.
The Brookings Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking released a new series of research briefs focused on the role that place governance organizations, like Main Street programs, play in revitalizing rural downtowns and promoting equitable rural economic and community development.
Many Main Streets serve as gateways to national parks and find a significant portion of their tourism economy tied to the well-being of the nearest national park.
After more than five years of consistent advocacy, the 20 percent historic tax credit (HTC) has survived the most significant rewrite of the tax code in more than 30 years.
In the midst of this human and cultural disaster, the Main Street program, managed by the Ellicott City Partnership, collaborated with Preservation Maryland to provide a variety of disaster relief financing that helped expedite the recovery.
As Main Street practitioners, our work is constantly impacted by decisions made by governing bodies at the local, state and federal level.
We measure the effectiveness of our last marketing campaign, weigh whether the investment in new street lights outweigh the political capital spent, and debate if the thousands of volunteer hours are worth the impacts created by a one-day event.
