Join us for three days of learning, connecting, and celebrating at Main Street Now 2025 in Philadelphia, from April 7 – 9.
Secure Your Spot!
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.
Electric vehicle chargers in Hillsboro, Oregon. © Visitor7
Main Streets are thoroughfares for people. Throughout their history, Main Streets have accommodated pedestrians, bicyclists, transit-riders, and personal vehicles – from the horse and buggy to the gas-powered automobile. The 21st century has seen the rise of electric vehicles (EVs), but many Main Street districts lack the infrastructure and charging stations needed to ensure a robust and reliable EV network.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program to strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure in the place people live and work. Grant applications to support this infrastructure are available through the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) until August 28, 2024. Read on for more information and register for an upcoming webinar with speakers from Main Street America communities and the U.S. Department of Transportation to learn more.
The CFI Program investments will make modern and sustainable infrastructure accessible to all drivers of electric, hydrogen, propane, and natural gas vehicles. This program provides two funding categories of grants: Community Charging and Alternative Fueling Grants (Community Program); and Charging and Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants (Corridor Program). The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $2.5 billion over five years for this program to strategically deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and other alternative fueling infrastructure projects in urban and rural communities in publicly accessible locations, including downtown areas and local neighborhoods, particularly in underserved and disadvantaged communities.
EV charging and other alternative fueling infrastructure is vital in Main Streets as emissions from transportation account for about 28 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest contributor of emissions in the U.S. Additionally, auto manufacturers are moving towards EVs and other alternative fueling for vehicles; while EVs account for 6.7 percent of total market share, it could climb to 67 percent over the next decade. A transition to electric vehicles and a cleaner economy is already underway, and CFI grants will ensure that Main Street is part of that transition.
There are many benefits to electric vehicles in Main Street communities, especially for local businesses. Given the significant time required to charge EVs, EV drivers may tend to combine their refueling stops with other activities, like visiting local restaurants, shops, and other amenities. Providing EV charging stations can ensure communities provide for their residents, draw regional travelers driving EVs and stay connected to the broader EV charging network. Given the CFI program’s resources, the large investment required for charging infrastructure can be greatly subsidized.
Interested in learning more about EV charging and other transportation improvements for your Main Street district? Join Main Street America and the DOT ROUTES team to discuss the CFI program as well as Safe Streets and Roads for All Program on July 16 at 12pm ET. Learn more >
Electric vehicle charging stations have many benefits for Main Streets. © RoschetzkyIstockPhoto
Community Charging and Alternative Fueling Grants (Community Program): To install electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel in locations on public roads, schools, parks, and in publicly accessible parking facilities. Community Program grants will prioritize rural areas as well as low- and moderate-income neighborhoods with low ratios of private parking or high ratios of multiunit dwellings.
Charging and Alternative Fuel Corridor Grants (Corridor Program): To deploy electric vehicle charging and hydrogen/propane/natural gas fueling infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors.
Eligibility
The following groups of applicants are eligible for the CFI grant program:
For Main Street leaders, if your organization operates out of local government, you are directly eligible for the program. Reach out to colleagues in other departments to collaborate across the city on an application. If you operate a nonprofit, you may leverage your partners in local government or at a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and advocate that they apply for funding. Though you are not directly eligible for funding, you can work with the partner in the administration and implementation of the grant to ensure it reflects your district’s needs and priorities.
How to Get Started
Review the CFI website and Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to determine if your project is a good fit for the program. Carefully follow the requirements described in the NOFO to prepare your application. Reach out to CFIGrants@dot.gov by July 29 with any questions about the application.
We are here to help! Main Street America encourages communities interested in applying for CFI to communicate with us at advocacy@mainstreet.org or our member community, the Point, to share questions and receive support.
Whether you're new to grant writing or seeking to sharpen your expertise, this four-part webinar series—presented in partnership with Grant Ready Kentucky—will provide you with the tools and insights needed to secure funding and drive your mission forward.
© skynesher/Getty Images Signature
The holidays are a great time to boost your fundraising efforts and meet your annual goals. Check out these tips for how to run a successful end-of-year fundraising drive.
Learn how Main Streets can tap into federal resources to improve transportation infrastructure, take down barriers, and improve access to key services.
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.
American Express and Main Street America announced the 500 small business owners who have been awarded $10,000 through the Backing Small Businesses grant program.
Learn how the Safe Streets and Roads for All program is providing grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.
Streetscape in Denison, Texas. © Mel Climer — Climer Design
T-Mobile announced its latest round of Hometown Grant recipients, with 275 communities across 46 states now part of the exclusive crew that will receive funding and support to fuel local projects that help people connect and innovate.
Meet the recipients of the 2024 round of GM on Main Street grants.
Learn how this organization is uplifting business owners and preventing displacement.
Charlotte, NC © Pixabay
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 this Massachusetts community uses their farmer's market to increase access to fresh food.
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.
Meet the newest recipients of the T-Mobile Hometown Grants, reaching a milestone of 200 towns impacted by the program.
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 about the Boston Main Street Foundation’s role in fostering powerful collaborations, and stay tuned for our final featured article in March.
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.
Creating a meaningful, place-based fundraising program is a great way to tap into the holiday giving season while centering your mission and values.
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 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
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
The AARP Community Challenge program gives out quick-action grants to activate public spaces. Meet some of the Main Streets awarded grants through the program this year.
An exploration of microfinance as a tool that helps communities and small businesses thrive, while allowing money to be reinvested in local businesses and neighborhoods where it is needed most.
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
To support Georgia Main Streets throughout the recovery process and position them for long-term sustainability, Main Street America launched the Georgia Main Street Innovation Grant Program, made possible through generous support from The Williams Family Foundation of Georgia.
Thomasville, GA © Thomasville Main Street
The global pandemic gave us all a glimpse of a further dispersed future – a time when you don’t sit in a classroom at school, watch movies in a theater, or even go to the grocery store. Where do Main Streets fit in that model?
Community economic development leaders need to get creative with their fundraising plans, identifying and securing diverse funding sources from both inside and outside their community
San Francisco, CA © Bjorn Bakstad
These 67 recipients from across the country ranged from bakeries and boutiques to salons and museums, but they all shared a commitment to the program's goals of responding and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic and helping to revitalize and strengthen older and historic downtown commercial districts.
Meet a recipient of the HartBeat of Main Street Grant Program
Learn how the Main Street Exchange Visits made people think in different ways, interact with peers, forge new relationships, and travel beyond the bounds of their own communities for inspiration.
Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) had the opportunity to take Missouri Executive Directors and other community representatives on the Iowa Community Expedition
Main Street America partnered with OneMain Financial to create Made on Main Street.
Small Business Saturday® is more than a day to shop. It’s a nationwide movement that shines a spotlight on the importance of supporting small businesses in communities across America.
The Downtown Newton Development Association (North Carolina) partnered with the City of Newton on a temporary tactical urbanism project to demonstrate how their permanent streetscape improvements will benefit downtown.
Over 500 people braved the misty rain this past weekend to come and celebrate Painesville and its Made on Main Street community transformation project.
In October 2017, Main Street Ottumwa collaborated with local partners, Main Street Iowa, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Better Block Foundation to stop planning, talking, and wishing, and start doing.
As part of the Community Foundation of Greater Atlanta’s Grants to Green program, Maine was designated one of two national replication sites.
The Metuchen Downtown Alliance created a cool, family-friendly public gathering space in “the worst looking spot in town” with the help of just $2,500 in Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Challenge matching grant funds,
Small Business Saturday promo pic from Downtown Goldsboro, North Carolina, showing all the folks who took the pledge support a small business in their community.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, Main Street merchants in two communities in Michigan and Kentucky, as well as a fellow Texas Main Street community, jumped in to help their Texas colleagues.
Through the Edward Jones Placemaking on Main Crowdfunding Challenge, the National Main Street Center and Edward Jones awarded 10 Main Street America programs $2,500 each in match funds to implement their lighter, quicker, cheaper-type placemaking projects.
Being the only person in the know can be fun, exhilarating even. Except when you are the one person out of 600+ in a room and you know bad news is coming.
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.
Main Street America is committed to helping build inclusive communities. Homelessness is an increasingly important issue facing Main Street communities big and small, urban and rural.
How one Wyoming Main Street implemented a free bike share program.
With 413 National Park areas¹ and over 1,000 Main Street America programs, it’s no surprise that many of the communities following the Four Point Approach serve as gateways to our national parks.
The local Main Street organization, Downtown Milford Inc., is trying to address these shifting demographics by creating a more inclusive sense of community.
Street Fairs are fun! Fundraising is not. Unless an individual or local business would like to underwrite the full cost of your Fair, consider the following eight tested fundraising programs.
Given these facts and others about year-end appeals, you should be planning a fundraising campaign during the six weeks of the year between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
Enter the aLABama Downtown Laboratory, a two-day event where participants work in sessions to study, analyze, and question experts on one area of the Main Street Four Point Approach®.
5 questions to understand how to tap into the motivations of your Main Street stakeholders to achieve what you (and they) want.
