Main Street Arkansas Update - October 18, 2010

Downtown Rogers

Looking for a continuing education opportunity? Consider the Arkansas Community Development Society’s conference October 21 in Conway. More information at http://www.arcds.org/

Main Street Arkansas Calendar October 18 - 22, 2010
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MONDAY Greg & Susan – Rogers (visioning & merchant site visits)
TUESDAY Greg & Susan – Rogers (visioning & merchant site visits)
WEDNESDAY Mark – Monticello – presentation on small biz recruitment, retention
THURSDAY Cary, Greg, Susan, Mark – AR Community Development Conference – Conway
FRIDAY Susan – Texarkana
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Congrats to Downtown Pine Bluff
Spring Street, Eureka, One of America’s Best Streets 2010, per the AIA
New Businesses in Downtown Rogers
Freak Hail Storm in Helena
SBA & Google Can Help Your Downtown Businesses
Rural Southern Non-Profit Survey
Good Downtown Ft Smith Press
Urban Parks
Ready for Groupon In Your City?

Congratulations to Downtown Pine Bluff on receiving a $30,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank

Spring Street in Eureka, One of America’s 10 Best Streets http://www.planning.org/greatplaces/streets/2010/
New Businesses in Downtown Rogers http://www.nwaonline.com/news/2010/oct/14/empty-storefronts-filled-19-new-businesses/
Freak Hail Storm Hits Downtown Helena Last Week http://theloop.kait8.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=19209836&item_index=8&all=1&sort=NULL
Google and the Small Business Administration have partnered to educate local businesses about how to succeed online. Each video describes how a small business owner successfully uses the internet to grow his or her business. It's important to be where your customers are...online.
http://www.google.com/help/places/partners/sba/index.html
Rural Southern Non-Profit Executive Director Survey https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGFZMkJqbnNyQmpzYTNvLXBBZV9KRXc6MQ
Good Downtown Fort Smith Press http://www.swtimes.com/business/article_e2d3e21a-d47d-11df-9df2-001cc4c002e0.html
Urban Parks http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine76951/city-parks-urban-planning

Ready for Groupon in Your City? It’s in LR. http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/printable.aspx?aid=123896

Main Street Arkansas Update - October 11, 2010

Downtown Heber Springs

Looking for a continuing education opportunity? Consider the Arkansas Community Development Society’s conference October 21 in Conway. More information at http://www.arcds.org/

Main Street Arkansas Calendar October 11- 15, 2010
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MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY Mark, Susan – Blytheville
THURSDAY
FRIDAY Greg – Jonesboro; Mark – Blytheville
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Congrats to Downtown Eureka Springs & Main Street Helena
Henry Awards
King Biscuit is Back
2 Grant Opportunities

Congratulations to Downtown Eureka Springs on receiving a grant from the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence that will provide training on leadership, grant writing, financial management and other management topics through the Strengthening Communities Fund program

Also, congratulations to Main Street Helena on their receipt of a $8,000 Federal Home Loan Bank grant.

Henry Awards
http://www.arkindustryinsider.com/henry-awards/

King Biscuit is Back
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2010/10/08/helena-gets-its-biscuit-back
- reminder that King Biscuit began as a fundraiser for Main Street Helena. They’re still involved today.

2 Grant Opportunities
Grants Available to Help Nonprofit Organizations With Fundraising
Achieve, an Indianapolis-based consulting firm that provides fundraising, strategic planning, and management counsel to nonprofit organizations, is offering service grants to nonprofit organizations seeking assistance with fundraising. This is the third year Achieve is offering the program to organizations across the United States.
Seven grants are available for 2011: one for Achieve consulting services (value to be determined by scope of services, up to $20,000); two grants to the Achieve Academy, which includes a five-part webinar and one-on-one coaching on either Millennial engagement, developing a fundraising plan, or online engagement (valued at $350); and four grants for premium subscriptions to Achieve Access, an online resource library of more than 270 templates and guidance pieces, an annual pass to twelve webinars, and a subscription to Achieve's monthly newsletter (valued at $199).
Grantees will be selected based on each organization's level of need, type of assistance requested, and organizational readiness as described in the grant application. Selections will be made by Achieve's advisory board.
Achieve will offer an informational webinar on this grants program on October 14, 2010. Complete program information is available at the Achieve Web site.

Projects Encouraging Bicycling Funded – a good fit for downtowns
Bikes Belong Coalition
The goal of the Bikes Belong Coalition, sponsored by the American bicycle industry, is putting more people on bicycles more often. The Bikes Belong Grants Program provides support for projects that leverage federal funding and build momentum for bicycling in communities across the U.S. Funded projects can include bike paths, lanes, and routes, as well as bike parks, mountain bike trails, BMX facilities, and bicycle advocacy initiatives. The focus of the facility grant category is to connect existing facilities or create new biking opportunities. The advocacy grant category seeks to support large-scale, innovative, replicable advocacy initiatives that significantly increase ridership and improve conditions for bicycling in big U.S. cities. Applications are reviewed three times per year; the final 2010 deadline is November 30. Visit the Coalition’s website to submit an online application.

Main Street Arkansas Update - October 4, 2010

Historic Downtown Morrilton

Looking for a continuing education opportunity? Consider the Arkansas Community Development Society’s conference October 21 in Conway. More information at http://www.arcds.org/

Main Street Arkansas Calendar October 4 - 8, 2010
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MONDAY
TUESDAY Susan – Helena (working with downtown merchants in preparation for Blues Fest
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY Cary – Helena
FRIDAY
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IN THIS ISSUE:

What Makes the Happiest Communities?
Grant Opportunity
AR Biz of the Year Nominations
Batesville Press

What Makes the Happiest Communities?
http://www.parade.com/news/2010/10/03-youll-wish-you-were-here.html
- you’ll note that many of these things are typically addressed in Main Street work

Grant Opportunity (Rural Community Development Initiative)
http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=58143

Arkansas Business of the Year Nominations (nominate someone in your downtown)
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/nominate_aboy.asp

Downtown Batesville Press
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/sep/26/community-catering/