Main Street Arkansas Update - September 22, 2008

LAST DAY FOR GROUP RATE IS TODAY!

OCTOBER 6-8, DESTINATION DOWNTOWN, BAY ST. LOUIS, MS

Arkansas Art Links Conference October 20-21

http://www.arkansasarts.com/ArtLinks2008.pdf

Main Street Arkansas Calendar September 22-26

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MONDAY Caroline, off; Susan - Batesville – Window Display Workshop
TUESDAY Susan – Batesville – reworking windows in downtown storefronts
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY Susan & Mark – Blytheville; Cary, out; Nancy, out
FRIDAY Susan & Mark – Blytheville; Cary & Nancy, out
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IN THIS ISSUE:

Good Downtown Harrison Press
Helena on GMA
Argenta Art Walk
AEDC Supports Preservation Tax Credit
LR-NLR & Rogers Area Rated in Milken’s Best Performing Cities
HPAA Solicits Award Nominations
Venture Capital Workshops
Survey of Federal Preservation Programs
Teardowns Tool
Events PR Opportunity
eBay Techquity Program
Living Cities Loan Fund
Sustainable Design Assessment


Good Downtown Harrison Press:
http://www.harrisondailytimes.com/articles/2008/09/18/news/doc48d2823b4d22c709339600.txt

GMA to feature Helena September 25
http://www.helena-arkansas.com/news/x1374607356

Check out the Argenta Art Walk website (sponsored by Main Street Argenta):
www.argentaartwalk.com

AEDC Supports Historic Preservation Tax Credit
http://www.talkbusiness.net/Weblogs/WeblogItemDetail.aspx?WebLogItemID=4b3001af-6949-4b1f-b5c7-92ec8d7f3d29&WeblogID=2c1ca2ae-06e6-4883-9e3a-554f31d9db55&Type=0

What You Could Accomplish With Traffic Delay Time:
http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/012/trans012delays.html

LR-NLR Named No. 54 in Milken Institutes Best Performing Cities
Last year we were at 73. Springdale-Fayetteville-Rogers is at 57. They were 21 last year.
http://arkansasbusiness.com/printable.asp?aid=107946

Alliance Solicits Nominations for 2009 Arkansas Preservation Awards
Little Rock— The Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas is seeking nominations for the 2009 Arkansas Preservation Awards.
Awarded annually, the Arkansas Preservation Awards highlight outstanding achievement in projects, programs, and exemplary practices that foster historic preservation across the state. The Alliance invites Arkansas residents and organizations to submit projects and people to be considered for this year’s awards. The deadline for submitting nominations is Friday, November 14, 2008.

-Parker Westbrook Lifetime Achievement Award
-Outstanding Service in Neighborhood Preservation
-Outstanding Work by a Craftsperson
-Excellence in Preservation through Rehabilitation
-Excellence in Preservation through Restoration
-Excellence in Personal Preservation Projects
-Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Advocacy
-Outstanding New Construction in an Historic Setting
-Outstanding Preservation Reporting in the Media
-Ned Shank Award for Outstanding Preservation Publication
-Outstanding Achievement in Preservation Education

The 2009 Arkansas Preservation Awards will be presented at a banquet at 6:00 pm, January 9, 2009 at the Governor’s Mansion, Little Rock.

http://www.preservearkansas.org/uploads/File/2009PreservationAwardsNomFormFINAL.pdf

Venture Capital Workshops

Workshops for the Arkansas Invention to Venture (AI2V) 2008 are slated in Little Rock, beginning September 29 to October 2, 2008. The hands-on workshops provide a new-venture accelerator for a start-up company preparing to move into the marketplace.

For more information contact the Ark. Small Business Development Center at 501-683-7700.

Survey About Federal Preservation Programs

The Expert Panel Examining the Structure of the Federal Historic Preservation Programs would like input from the historic preservation community. Please go to to fill out a survey. The survey asks for your preferences on the structure of the federal historic preservation programs. http://survey.preserveamerica.gov/

The survey will only take 10 minutes to fill out. The Expert Panel is trying to get input from as many people as possible. Please forward this e-mail to other mailing lists. We apologize if you receive duplicates.

Please respond to the survey by Friday, October 3

MANAGING TEARDOWNS: PRESERVING COMMUNITY CHARACTER AND LIVABILITY
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's new "Teardown Tools on the Web (pdf)" highlights approximately 30 tools that are being used by communities around the country in response to teardowns, with direct links to more than 300 examples in 32 states. It is online at http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/teardowns/additional-resources/Teardown-Tools-on-the-Web-1.pdf.

PR Opportunity: Top 20 Events in Southeast

Since 1985, the Southeast Tourism Society has published the Top 20 Events publication. Through a nomination process, the society chooses the Top 20 events going on in the Southeast for each month of the year, and publishes this list of winners quarterly. This publication is sent to over 300 newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, and others, as well as 125 AAA publications. The combined circulation runs into the millions. Current Top 20 Events are listed online at http://southeasttourism.org/top20/top20_julsep08.html.

Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is a member of the Southeast Tourism Society. As a result, festivals and events in Arkansas may be submitted for the Top 20 Events publication, if they meet the following requirements set forth by the Southeast Tourism Society:

• 1,000 in attendance
• 3rd year in existence
• Payment of $10 nomination fee per event

Top 20 Events strongly encourages you to strengthen your nomination by providing supporting material such as:
• Photos
• Posters
• Brochures
• Press Releases
• News Clippings
• Volunteer Programs

Deadlines for Applications:

Event Occurring In: Submit by:
April/May/June 2009 October 10, 2008
July/August/September 2009 January 9, 2009
October/November/December 2009 April 10, 2009
January/February/March 2010 July 10, 2009
April/May/June 2010 October 9, 2009
July/August/September 2010 January 8, 2010
October/November/December 2010 April 9, 2010
January/February/March 2011 July 16, 2010


If you would like to nominate your event, contact the Tourism Development Section at (501) 682-5240

eBay Foundation Techquity Program
http://www.microenterpriseworks.org/index.asp?bid=128
• Provides funds to microentrepreneurs to purchase technology equipment
• Also provides funds to microenterprise development organizations for operating the project and providing technology training to their clients.

Living Cities Launches Innovative Loan Fund to Revitalize America’s Cities
www.livingcities.org
With initial commitments totaling $20million, Living Cities Catalyst Fund will broaden availability and use of capital to improve the lives of people in low-income and underserved urban area

Sustainable Design Assessment
The American Institute of Architects Center for Communities by Design released the 2009 Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program Request for Proposals (RFP). The RFP solicits applications for inclusion in the 2009 SDAT program.

The SDAT program is a community assistance program that has provided more than 30 communities with integrated design- and policy-based assessments since its inception in 2005. SDATs bring teams of multidisciplinary volunteer professionals together to work with community decision-makers and stakeholders to help them develop a vision and framework for a sustainable future. The SDAT approach is designed to address many of the common challenges communities face by producing long-term sustainability plans that are realistic and reflect each community's unique context.

The final deadline to submit proposals for consideration in the 2009 SDAT program is Nov. 14, 2008. For more information or to download the 2009 SDAT RFP, visit www.aia.org/liv_sdat or contact Erin Simmons, director, design assistance, at esimmons@aia.org or 202-626-7492.