Main Street Arkansas Update - August 24, 2009

REMINDER – 21 DAYS UNTIL DESTINATION DOWNTOWN
SEPTEMBER 14-16
THIS IS OUR NEXT MANDATORY QUARTERLY TRAINING

Main Street Arkansas Calendar August 24 - 28, 2009
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MONDAY Mark & Susan - Searcy
TUESDAY Cary, Greg, Caroline & Mark – AR Economic Developers Conf – Rogers; Susan – site visits with merchants, Rogers & Siloam Springs
WEDNESDAY Cary, Greg, Caroline & Mark – AR Economic Developers Conf – Rogers; Susan – site visits with merchants, Rogers & Siloam Springs;
THURSDAY all staff – downtown LR Design Charrette
FRIDAY all staff – downtown LR Design Charrette
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IN THIS ISSUE:

MS El Dorado Public Art Press
MS Search Façade Work Press
Free Parking Isn’t Free
America’s Top States for Doing Business (AR is 31)
Social Media Boosts Business
People’s Stimulus
Brownfields
Using Social Media to Promote Your Business

Main Street El Dorado Public Art Press
http://myarklamiss.com/content/fulltext/?cid=44381

http://www.eldoradonews.com/news/localnews/2009/08/14/ehdc-oks-proposed-sidewalk-public-art-pr-29.php

Main Street Searcy Façade Work Press
http://localism.com/blog/ar/searcy/downtown_searcy_ar/posts/1198034/Stott-s-Drug-Store

SoMa Skaggs &Drags Photos
http://sync.arkansasonline.com/photos/galleries/2009/aug/12/som/

Free Parking Isn’t Free
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010266.html

America’s Top States for Doing Business
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31765926
Arkansas ranks 31 overall. We’re ranked first in Cost of Living

Social Media Boosts Business
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/printable.asp?aid=116295

Interesting Website
http://www.peoplesstimulus.org/

Brownfield Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund & Cleanup Funding Open

You can access the guidelines at:

http://www.epa.gov/oswer/grants-funding.htm

The deadline for submitting proposals is October 16.

There will be a grant proposal workshop in Dallas in mid-September (date to be finalized) and two conference calls (September 15 and October 1) to provide opportunities for Q&A. Details will be provided soon. If you have any questions concerning this grant competition, please contact Dorothy Crawford (crawford.dorothy@epa.gov), phone: 214-665-2771.

Using Social Media to Promote Your Small Business
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/aug2009/sb2009087_245691.htm

Main Street Arkansas Update - August 12, 2009

REMINDER – 35 DAYS UNTIL DESTINATION DOWNTOWN
SEPTEMBER 14-16
THIS IS OUR NEXT MANDATORY QUARTERLY TRAINING

I will be on vacation August 12-19. I will not be checking email or voicemail, so please contact another member of the staff if you need assistance.

Main Street Arkansas Calendar August 10-14, 2009
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MONDAY
TUESDAY Caroline – Dardanelle (travel association meeting)
WEDNESDAY Cary – vacation; Susan, Mark, Greg – El Dorado (working with merchants & conference work)
THURSDAY Cary – vacation; Mark, Susan – West Memphis (working with merchants); Caroline – South AR, including Dumas & Eudora)
FRIDAY Cary – vacation
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Main Street WM Taste of the Town Press
County Tier Updates
How I Raised $1,000 on Facebook Without Breaking a Sweat
Richard Florida: Is the South as a Good Place to Live?
$6.25 Million Available for Economic Development Grants (you should give some real thought to applying)
Downtown Libraries
Clinton School to Study Philanthropy in AR Delta
SoMa Sculpture Garden Press
Grant Opportunity

Main Street West Memphis Taste of the Town Press:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/events/goto/2111/

I encourage you to look at this map & see what Tier your county is categorized as
NEW TIER DATA EFFECTIVE AUGUST 1
Each year the Arkansas Economic Development Commission is required by the legislature to update its tier data that rank all 75 Arkansas counties into four divisions. The new tier rankings for 2009/10 are effective August 1. The rankings are based on:

• Unemployment rate
• Poverty rate
• Per capita income
• Population growth

http://www.arkansasedc.com/media/261616/tiermap2009.pdf

For more information on what the tiers mean, go to:
http://www.arkansasedc.com/business-development/incentives/investment-and-job-creation-incentives.aspx?id=1189

How I Raised $1,000 on Facebook Without Breaking a Sweat
http://www.blueavocado.org/node/406

Richard Florida: Is the South a Good Place to Live?
http://www.oxfordamerican.org/interviews/2009/aug/05/featured-writer-month/

$6.25 Million Available in Rural Economic Development Grants
http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2009/08/0364.xml

Downtown Libraries Resources
http://pcj.typepad.com/planning_commissioners_jo/libraries.html

Clinton School Visiting Scholar to Study Philanthropy in the Arkansas Delta
http://www.clintonschool.uasys.edu/news-events/detail.aspx?id=605

SoMa Sculpture Garden Press (pg. 32)
http://www.myvirtualpaper.com/doc/Inviting-Arkansas/IA_August09_VM/2009080401/
Guidelines Announced for American Heritage Preservation Grants
The Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation have announced the 2010 guidelines for the American Heritage Preservation Program. The program is designed to help preserve objects that "that convey the essential character and experience of the United States."
The program will fund the preservation of endangered and fragile art works, rare books, scientific specimens, and historical documents (photographs, maps, deeds, etc.) held in small and medium-sized museums, archives, and libraries. Grants provide up to $3,000 each for stand-alone conservation projects. Funds may be used for treatment of library, museum, and archival collections; improvement of collections storage; or environmental improvement of collections.
Priority will be given to smaller institutions, but all libraries, archives, and museums that meet IMLS institutional eligibility criteria are eligible. Applicants must be either a unit of state or local government or a private not-for-profit organization that has tax-exempt status, and be located in one of the fifty states of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated states of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau.
Application guidelines and instructions are available at the IMLS Web site.
Contact:
Link to Complete RFP