MSA To Co-Sponsor Tri-State Destination Downtown Conference

Main Street Arkansas will co-sponsor “Destination Downtown,” the annual tri-state conference on downtown revitalization, which will be held in Natchitoches, Louisiana, Sept. 17-19, Main Street Arkansas Director Cary Tyson announced today. Main Street Arkansas is a program of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.

The conference will be held Sept. 17-19, 2007, at the Natchitoches Events Center. It will feature sessions on marketing, e-commerce, revolving loan programs, business recruitment, innovation and planning, among others.

Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor, Mitchell J. Landrieu, will deliver the opening keynote address, while Ann Daigle of the Mississippi Development Authority will deliver the closing address.

Registration is $50 for Main Street managers and board members, and $75 for others through August 24; general registration is $100 after that date.

For more information, visit www.destinationdowntown.org or call (225) 342-8160.

Other sponsors of Destination Downtown 2007 are Louisiana Main Street and the Mississippi Main Street Association.

Main Street Arkansas provides technical assistance and design services to help create economic development in the state’s downtown areas. The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization focuses on four areas: design, economic restructuring, organization and promotion.

Cities currently involved in Main Street Arkansas are Batesville, Blytheville, Dumas, El Dorado, Hardy, Harrison, Helena, North Little Rock, Osceola, Ozark, Paragould, Rogers, Russellville, Searcy, Texarkana and West Memphis. Members of Main Street’s Arkansas Downtown Network are Pine Bluff, Little Rock’s South Main Street, Heber Springs, Eureka Springs and Fort Smith. Other sponsors of the Main Street Arkansas program are the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and the Arkansas Department of Economic Development.