Main Street Russellville/Heritage Month

Main Street Arkansas Update - April 26, 2010

Main Street Arkansas Calendar April 26 - 30, 2010
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MONDAY Cary – south Arkansas, Greg & Susan – Rogers
TUESDAY Susan – Paragould
WEDNESDAY Susan – Paragould; Cary – Little Rock (p.m.)
THURSDAY Cary – Springdale (AR Summit on Volunteerism)
FRIDAY Cary – Springdale (AR Summit on Volunteerism)
*************************************************************************************IN THIS ISSUE:

Batesville Branding
From Fan Pages to ‘Like’
Urbanism in the Metroplex
Grant Opportunity

Batesville Branding Results
http://www.downtownbranding.com/batesville/

Introducing the Facebook ‘Like’ Button for Fan Pages
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/help/?topic=profileconnections
Now people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan. Facebook hopes this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site.
More info on what that means here: http://mashable.com/2010/04/19/facebook-pages/

Urbanism in the Metroplex
http://www.metafilter.com/91297/Urbanism-in-the-Metroplex

Thanks to Andrea Dono for this one
Grant Opportunity
Home Depot has $400 million that it is giving away over the next 10 years to 501c3s working on bringing affordable housing and street trees to their communities. Read below for the details and note that the next deadline is in July. Visit the website for more. http://www.homedepotfoundation.org/grants.html
The Home Depot Foundation has combined its community trees grant program with its Affordable Housing Built Responsibly grant program. The Foundation remains firmly committed to supporting the planting of trees and the development of greenspace in order to provide our communities with the many economic, social and environmental benefits of the urban forest. This change in our programming structure reflects our understanding that it is more effective to support the creation of healthy and sustainable communities through the integration of our focus areas.
Grant Criteria
Preference is given to proposals that include community engagement that result in the production, preservation, or financing of housing units for low- to moderate-income families. The most promising proposals incorporate a number of “green” building design practices. Also, in 2009 proposals that clearly demonstrate how tree strategies integrated with affordable housing production/preservation create healthier, more vibrant communities will have a distinct advantage.
Building responsibly, often referred to as "green" building, incorporates the following measures in the design and construction of housing:
• Minimize the depletion of natural resources, including timber and water
• Decrease the amount of construction waste going to landfills
• Control erosion and minimize impact on natural areas
• Increase energy efficiency and conserve water in construction and operation
• Incorporate the integration of tree and landscaping strategies to complement the built environment
• Reduce maintenance costs using innovative and durable materials
• Assess the life-cycle costs and benefits of greening the project
• Improve indoor air quality
• Control moisture and provide proper ventilation
• Use more environmentally friendly materials
• Ensure smart site planning and land use
Grant Cycles
Letter of Inquiry (LOI) Deadline Full Project Description Deadline Notification
First Cycle January 15, 2010 March 15, 2010 June
Second Cycle July 1, 2010 September 15, 2010 December

Main Street Arkansas Update - April 19, 2010

Main Street Arkansas Calendar April 19 – 23, 2010
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MONDAY Susan & Mark – out
TUESDAY Cary & Caroline – Batesville (branding) Cary is also speaking to the Hardy Area Chamber of Commerce
WEDNESDAY Cary – Batesville (branding)
THURSDAY Cary – Batesville (branding); Susan – Paragould
FRIDAY
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Downtown Searcy Mural Press
Batesville Branding Press
Google Favorite Places
Supermarkets as Neighborhood Centers
The Future of Cities
Grant Opportunity

Downtown Searcy Mural Press
http://www.news-leader.com/article/20100418/NEWS01/4180347/1007/NEWS01/Arkansas-university-begins-painting-series-of-murals

http://content.usatoday.net/dist/custom/gci/InsidePage.aspx?cId=baxterbulletin&sParam=33296349.story

Batesville/MSA Branding Press
http://www.guardonline.com/content/branding-sessions-planned

Google Favorite Places
http://www.google.com/help/maps/favoriteplaces/business/index.html

Supermarkets as Neighborhood Centers
http://citiwire.net/post/1901/

The Future of Cities
http://www.newsweek.com/id/231096

Planning Grants for New Art Spaces Nationwide
Ford Foundation: Space for Change Planning and Pre-Development Grants
The Ford Foundation's Space for Change is a $100 million initiative to support a new generation of arts spaces throughout the United States. The Space for Change Planning and Pre-Development Grants, administered by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), will serve to position a group of exemplary arts organizations to present proposals for capital construction of outstanding artist facilities to a host of funders and lenders. These grants will provide support for critical planning and pre-development activities that may precede partnering in or leading a facility project. All applicants must, at a minimum: demonstrate a track record of excellence in their programming and artistic production, be 501(c)(3) organizations that directly serve both artists and communities, demonstrate strong community ties, and have the fiscal and organizational capacity necessary to partner in or carry out a facility project. The letter of inquiry deadlines for 2010 are May 28 and September 17. Visit the LINC website for detailed funding guidelines and application instructions.

Main Street Arkansas Update - April 12, 2010

Don’t forget the Arkansas Preservation Conference in Helena this Thursday – Friday. Our Quarterly Meeting begins with a social media workshop by Halo Business Advisors at the DCC Depot. 95 Missouri Street. The full schedule is at www.preservearkansas.org

Senator Blanche Lincoln is the speaker at the Preservation Breakfast Saturday morning.

Main Street Arkansas Calendar April 12 -16, 2010
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MONDAY Greg, Nancy, Mark - Paragould 4-Point training
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY all staff – AR Preservation Conference, Helena
FRIDAY all staff – AR Preservation Conference, Helena
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Chamber’s Paid to Recruit Businesses, but Do They Deliver?
Greening Historic Buildings
Are Old Houses Doomed?
Old Houses in a Sutainable World
History & Arts in Today’s World
Downtown Searcy Mural
Eight Strategic Mistakes with Membership
Centralized City Planning Not the Answer
Grant Opportunity

Chamber’s Paid to Recruit Business, but Do They Deliver?
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/apr/04/chambers-are-paid-recruit-business-do-the-20100404/
- subscriber only, sorry.

Greening Historic Buildings
http://www.governing.com/article/greening-historic-buildings

Are Old Houses Doomed?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=are-old-houses-doomed-the-conflict-2010-03-26

Response to this from the NTHP –
Old Houses in a Sustainable World
http://blogs.nationaltrust.org/preservationnation/?p=9315

History & Arts in Today’s World
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/220942

Downtown Searcy Mural News
http://arkansasmatters.com/content/news/fulltext/?cid=303331

Eight Strategic Mistakes with Memberships
http://www.blueavocado.org/node/508

Centralized City Planning is Not the Answer
http://www.slate.com/id/2249253/
“The forces shaping our cities today are not municipal agencies but private organizations such as park conservancies, downtown associations, historic-preservation societies, arts councils. . . “

NEH Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions
The National Endowment for the Humanities has a Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions program to help libraries, museums, historical societies, archival repositories, town and county records offices, and colleges and universities improve preservation and care for their collections. Awards of up to $6,000 support collection assessments, consultation, training, and disaster and emergency planning. The application deadline is May 18. Guidelines for the program are available at www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pag.html. Nonprofit organizations, state and local government agencies, and tribal governments are eligible for the grants. More information is available by phone at 202-606-8570 or email at preservation at neh.gov.

Main Street Arkansas Update - April 5, 2010

Main Street Arkansas Calendar April 5 – 9, 2010
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MONDAY Nancy – out
TUESDAY Nancy - out
WEDNESDAY Nancy – South Main; Greg, Susan Mark – Eureka Springs
THURSDAY Greg, Susan Mark – Eureka Springs
FRIDAY Greg, Susan Mark – Eureka Springs
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Downtown Paragould Branding Press
Robert Moses & Jane Jacobs
Did You City Apply for Google Fiber?
Main Street is Community Development
Winrock Launches New Program for Entrepreneurs in the Arkansas Delta
Going Green through Historic Preservation
America Rebuilds for the New Urban Century

Downtown Paragould Branding Press
http://www.kait8.com/global/story.asp?s=12231509

http://www.paragoulddailypress.com/articles/2010/03/26/top_story/doc4bac1724403e8706715247.txt

Robert Moses & Jane Jacobs
http://pcj.typepad.com/planning_commissioners_jo/2010/03/moses-jacobs.html

Arkansas Cities That Applied for Google Fiber
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/printable.aspx?aid=120886

Main Street is Community Development
http://www.michiganmainstreetcenter.com/SocialMedia/tabid/61/ID/123/Main-Street-as-Community-Development.aspx
- full disclosure, I wrote this.

Winrock Launches New Program for Entrepreneurs in the Arkansas Delta
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/printable.aspx?aid=120796

Going Green Through Historic Preservation
http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/topofthetimes/features/la-hm-greene-20100327,0,1248690.story

America Rebuilds for the New Urban Century
http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/infrastructure.rebuild/index.html?hpt=C2