Department of Commerce

Montana Main Street Conference 2009

September 28th & 29th
Best Western Great Northern Hotel
Helena, Montana

Montana Main Street: Revitalizing Our Downtowns

Healthy, vibrant downtowns can help recruit new residents, businesses, and tourists, and can help keep the people who already live and work there. Main Street helps communities strengthen their historic downtowns by focusing on organization, design, promotions, and economic development.

Topics at this year’s conference:

Agenda

Monday, Sept. 28

8:00-8:30 Registrations & Continental breakfast
8:30-9:15 Opening remarks
9:15-10:00 State of Main Street, Todd Barman
10:00-10:30 Networking break
10:30-12:00 Fundraising, Mary Peterson
12:00-1:15 Lunch at hotel, with Missoula Mayor John Engen as keynote speaker
1:15-2:45 Every Business Has a Billboard, Susan Shaddox
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-5:00 Roundtable discussions

Tuesday, Sept. 29

7:30-8:00 Continental breakfast
8:00-9:30 Successful Events: A Small-Town Affair, Colleen Rudio
9:30-10:00 Networking break
10:00-11:30 Business coaching, Todd Barman
11:30-1:00 Lunch on your own
1:00-2:30 Heritage tourism and economic development, Chere Jiusto
2:30-4:00 Take Your Main Street onto the Super Highway, Molly Bradford
4:00-5:15 Dr. Downtown Q&A

An Adobe Acrobat PDF file of the registration and schedule information is also available - Main Street Conference Agenda and Registration Information

Session Descriptions

State of Main Street
Todd Barman, National Trust Main Street Center

The National Trust Main Street Center has been going strong since 1980 with a network of more than 40 statewide, citywide, and countywide coordinating programs and more than 1,200 active local programs. Each year the Center surveys those programs to determine the state of Main Street across the country. This session will share some of those national trends as well as showcase the 2009 Great American Main Street award winners. Along you way, you might learn a little more about the Main Street Four-Point Approach®.

Take Your Main Street onto the Super Highway
Molly Bradford, NewWest.net

There is a virtual overload of new Web 2.0 terms and tools zooming around the business world today. To be competitive in today’s economy, you must become fluent in this new language and be comfortable implementing these tools. From Social Networking to SEO/SEM, and Facebook to Listserves, these are some of the essential components to complement and expand your current efforts for recruiting volunteers and employees, fundraising, events promotion, and public education. Calling on concepts earlier in the day (event planning and business coaching), we’ll simulate the use of these new tools and ideas as they relate to your Main Street. By the end of this session, you’ll be familiar with the most popular and effective terms and concepts, and have the tools to implement an effective Web 2.0 campaign. (Note: words in bold are examples of this new language and will be defined in the session.)

Raising Real Money
Mary Peterson, Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter

This interactive session will address:

Please come prepared to discuss your organization’s specific needs and potential.

Every Business Has a Billboard
Susan Shaddox, Main Street Arkansas

Every business has a free billboard that customers see 24 hours a day! This “billboard” includes the storefront, signage, and window displays, and is one of the best ways of advertising for Main Street merchants.

This hands-on seminar discusses the key design and merchandising principles behind innovate, high-impact, and consumer-driven storefronts. Using a slideshow tour and virtual design exercise, you will learn innovative solutions you can take home and implement immediately in your business, at little or no cost.

Participants will learn:

Business Coaching
Todd Barman, National Trust Main Street Center

Strengthening the competitiveness of your existing businesses should be a high priority, especially with the current economic climate. Business coaching is the preferred approach or tactic for an organization like Main Street to provide business assistance. This session will walk you through the steps necessary for effective coaching as well as introduce you to the technique of personal business trainers. Coaching success will rely on forming a personal relationship with business owners and/or managers based on credibility, communication, and mutual trust. As a bonus, this session will provide concrete tips on how to build and maintain credibility and trust.

Heritage Tourism & Economic Development: Hop on the Bandwagon
Chere Jiusto, Montana Preservation Alliance

Using the charm and appeal of historic communities to spark local and regional development is one of the strongest approaches to downtown improvement. It’s a strategy that’s been proven across the nation for decades with great results. Hoping to breathe life into your Main Street and make the most of the historic venues, cultural museums, traditional artists, and heritage businesses in your area? Heritage tourism is not only an answer to preserving the character of your town, it is a formula for strengthening the local economy by building upon the past, growing your network, and promoting the best that your community has to offer.

Successful Events: A Small-Town Affair
Colleen Rudio, Rudio Performance Management Group

Developing the ability to identify, secure and execute successful events is a key component in achieving your Main Street mission. The challenges are real, resources are stretched and your ability to coordinate the entire effort is critical. In this interactive session, we will discuss successful event execution from start to finish. Exploring the unique experiences your Main Street district can offer, we will create the foundation of an event plan document specifically for your community. Utilizing the four points of the Main Street approach, we will also analyze various events seeking tips on how to better leverage resources, strategically form partnerships, secure funding, and engage our communities.

Sponsors

The Main Street conference is made possible by the Montana Department of Commerce; a National Park Service Preserve America grant administered through the State Historic Preservation Office, Montana Historical Society; Montana Economic Developers Association; Northwestern Energy; First Interstate Bank; Mainstreet Uptown Butte; Junkermier, Clark, Campanella, Stevens, P.C.; and CTA Architects Engineers

The Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) is an association of economic development professionals. The group consists of professional “lead” economic developers, business specialists, government employees and staff members of affiliated non-profit organizations which promote and foster economic activities in Montana. To learn more, visit our website at http://www.medamembers.org.