Tres miembros del personal de Main Street America delante de un mural en Marion, Iowa.

Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams

Acerca de

Trabajamos en colaboración con miles de socios locales y líderes de base de todo el país que comparten nuestro compromiso de fomentar la prosperidad compartida, crear economías resistentes y mejorar la calidad de vida.

Visión general Quiénes somos Cómo trabajamos Colaboraciones de socios Nuestros colaboradores Nuestro equipo Oportunidades de empleo Póngase en contacto con nosotros
Dos miembros de la comunidad de Emporia Kansas posan con un cartel que dice "Soy un Main Streeter"

Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street

Nuestra red

Formadas por pueblos pequeños, comunidades de tamaño medio y distritos comerciales urbanos, las miles de organizaciones, personas, voluntarios y líderes locales que componen Main Street America™ representan la amplia diversidad que hace que este país sea tan singular.

Visión general Programas de coordinación Comunidades de Main Street Impacto colectivo Premios y reconocimientos Marco comunitario de evaluación Únete al movimiento
Dionne Baux y un socio de MSA trabajando en Bronzeville, Chicago.

Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America

Recursos

¿Busca estrategias y herramientas que le ayuden en su trabajo? Sumérgete en el Centro de Recursos de Main Street y explora una amplia gama de recursos, entre los que se incluyen nuestro extenso Centro de Conocimientos, oportunidades de desarrollo profesional, ofertas de servicios sobre el terreno, apoyo a la promoción y mucho más.

Visión general Centro de conocimiento Servicios de campo Relaciones gubernamentales Conferencia Main Street Now Instituto Main Street America Apoyo a las pequeñas empresas Allied Member Services El punto Área de miembros
Personas en e-scooters en Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo

Lo último

Su ventanilla única para conocer las últimas historias, noticias, eventos y oportunidades -incluidas subvenciones y programas de financiación- en Main Street.

Visión general Noticias Eventos y oportunidades Suscríbase a
Mujer y niña en un puesto del festival en Kendall Whittier, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Kendall Whittier - Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street

Participa

Únase a nosotros en nuestro trabajo para fomentar la prosperidad compartida, crear economías fuertes y mejorar la calidad de vida en los centros y distritos comerciales de los barrios.

Visión general Únete a nosotros Renueve su afiliación Donar Asóciese con nosotros Oportunidades de empleo
Tres miembros del personal de Main Street America delante de un mural en Marion, Iowa.

Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams

Acerca de

Trabajamos en colaboración con miles de socios locales y líderes de base de todo el país que comparten nuestro compromiso de fomentar la prosperidad compartida, crear economías resistentes y mejorar la calidad de vida.

Visión general Quiénes somos Cómo trabajamos Colaboraciones de socios Nuestros colaboradores Nuestro equipo Oportunidades de empleo Póngase en contacto con nosotros
Dos miembros de la comunidad de Emporia Kansas posan con un cartel que dice "Soy un Main Streeter"

Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street

Nuestra red

Formadas por pueblos pequeños, comunidades de tamaño medio y distritos comerciales urbanos, las miles de organizaciones, personas, voluntarios y líderes locales que componen Main Street America™ representan la amplia diversidad que hace que este país sea tan singular.

Visión general Programas de coordinación Comunidades de Main Street Impacto colectivo Premios y reconocimientos Marco comunitario de evaluación Únete al movimiento
Dionne Baux y un socio de MSA trabajando en Bronzeville, Chicago.

Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America

Recursos

¿Busca estrategias y herramientas que le ayuden en su trabajo? Sumérgete en el Centro de Recursos de Main Street y explora una amplia gama de recursos, entre los que se incluyen nuestro extenso Centro de Conocimientos, oportunidades de desarrollo profesional, ofertas de servicios sobre el terreno, apoyo a la promoción y mucho más.

Visión general Centro de conocimiento Servicios de campo Relaciones gubernamentales Conferencia Main Street Now Instituto Main Street America Apoyo a las pequeñas empresas Allied Member Services El punto Área de miembros
Personas en e-scooters en Waterloo, Iowa

Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo

Lo último

Su ventanilla única para conocer las últimas historias, noticias, eventos y oportunidades -incluidas subvenciones y programas de financiación- en Main Street.

Visión general Noticias Eventos y oportunidades Suscríbase a
Mujer y niña en un puesto del festival en Kendall Whittier, Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Kendall Whittier - Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street

Participa

Únase a nosotros en nuestro trabajo para fomentar la prosperidad compartida, crear economías fuertes y mejorar la calidad de vida en los centros y distritos comerciales de los barrios.

Visión general Únete a nosotros Renueve su afiliación Donar Asóciese con nosotros Oportunidades de empleo
A group of people in a conference room listening to a presentation

Jackie Swihart presents during a Transformation Strategy workshop in North Vernon, Indiana. © Abby Huff

Transformation strategies are a powerful tool to help Main Streets identify, utilize, and promote their unique assets. Main Street America (MSA) works with Coordinating Programs to offer training that supports Main Streets as they identify an appropriate transformation strategy. Jackie Swihart spoke with Abby Huff at Indiana Main Street (IMS) about their recent experience utilizing our transformation strategies workshops.

Why did IMS decide to engage with MSA to support local Main Street programs in their strategy identification efforts?

With the introduction of the new Main Street Community Evaluation Standards that required our communities to have a transformation strategy, IMS wanted to make sure we set our organizations up for success. So, in 2022 and 2023, we contracted with MSA to lead transformation strategy workshops for all our nationally Accredited Main Street and those Indiana Accredited Main Street organizations that are looking to become nationally Accredited in the next couple of years.

What is a Transformation Strategy Identification Visit? How would you describe it in simple terms?

Over one-and-a-half days, district stakeholders and community members engaged in feedback that is focused on what the community currently likes about their Main Street district and where they want to see improvements. From that data, MSA and IMS work together to develop a strategy that is based on current strengths and wanted improvements. We present it to the organization and start the process of taking their current workplans and tweaking them to align with the transformation strategy. 

What were some of the most significant challenges faced before, during, and after the visits, and how were they overcome?

Challenge #1 – Survey distribution to all sectors of the community prior to the visit. 

Communities got creative with the different ways they distributed the survey. Some partnered with other organizations, like a conventions and visitors bureau or public library, to help get the word out through their social media channels. Main Street organizations printed QR codes on posters, bag fliers, and in other print materials. Some also used event stations so that individuals could take the survey on-site. 

Challenge #2 – Getting individuals to stakeholder meetings, especially property owners and business owners. 

Main Street organizations made personal asks to individuals, instead of just sending out generic emails. They also set up virtual options, so that even if the stakeholder couldn’t be there in-person, they could still attend.

Challenge #3 – Getting the board to buy-in” to the strategy, and then begin to promote and use the strategy to the community.

MSA and IMS were available to provide assistance as participating Main Streets adjusted their current workplans. We also reminded them that even though we presented the strategy we recommended, they could tweak it to what best fit their organization, as long as they kept in mind the stakeholder feedback and market data.

Jackie Swihart sitting at a conference table pointing at data on a projector screen

Jackie Swihart presenting during a Transformation Strategies workshop in Huntington, Indiana. © Abby Huff

Can you share any impactful success stories or lessons learned from the visits that would be useful for other Coordinating Programs or local programs?

The biggest lesson we learned is to check-in with each community after the visit. Sometimes it may feel like we come in for one-and-a-half days, present this strategy, and leave them to figure it out on their own. We didn’t want these communities to feel this way. We offered multiple ways for them to contact us throughout the process and scheduled follow-up calls to check-in and see how things were progressing. 

For local programs, we learned that they need to embrace their strategy. Change is hard, but communities that have gone all-in with their strategy have seen economic improvement in their downtowns. 

How are you measuring the impact of the visits? What factor(s) contributed to how impactful the visit was? 

IMS uses an organizational management software called Maestro, and within that system, we ask local programs to set measurable goals under their identified transformation strategy. Then, we can track their progress toward those goals. We also look at the other impacts, like whether the community is using the data we collected to promote their program, make their city ask, etc.

How did the partnership between IMS and MSA contribute to the success of the project?

By working with MSA, we were able to expand our Coordinating Program’s capacity. MSA took care of setting up the survey, collecting the information, collecting the market data, and pulling the presentation together. They led the workshop, which gave IMS an opportunity to listen and take notes. It was also beneficial to have MSA and IMS work together on gathering the data and taking in the information and creating a custom transformation strategy for the organization that tailors to their needs. 

Are you interested in partnering with Main Street America to provide training and technical assistance in your community? Learn more about the different services we offer and how you can get involved >