Montana Main Street Conference Announcement and Survey

As the Montana Department of Commerce’s Main Street http://www.mtmainstreet.mt.gov/ program observes its 5th anniversary this year, we would like to announce the upcoming annual conference, assess how to make our program even more effective, and invite more communities across Montana to come on board.

The Main Street program is dedicated to preserving hometown historic business districts, and revitalizing the local economy in communities across our state. Modeled after the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s model, we provide technical assistance and training, workshops, and networking opportunities through our Helena office.

Montana Downtown Forum coming Sept. 15-17 in Missoula at the Holiday Inn-Parkside. The Department of Commerce’s Main Street program and the Missoula Downtown Association are co-hosting this year’s Montana Downtown Forum, the most comprehensive statewide downtown development and historic preservation gathering in Montana. For 2 ½ days, participants will experience a whirlwind of great ideas, inspiring speakers, and innovative solutions, and have the chance to network with their peers from around the state.

Keynote speakers for the 2010 conference include Kit Cramer, president, International Downtown Association; Scott Day, principal, Urban Development Services; and Todd Barman, program officer, National Trust Main Street Center. Topics will include merchandising your business in a down economy, managing your downtown’s graphic identity, heritage tourism and economic development, funding for preservation programming, and many others. For more information, please contact Julie Burk at the Department of Commerce at 406/841-2756 or [email protected].

Whether you have a Downtown or an Uptown, we want to hear from you. We are looking for good ideas and input from a wide variety of organizations and individuals in towns throughout Montana. Please take a few minutes today to think about what a new face for your business district might look like in 2010; we would appreciate your completing the attached survey.

Below is the link to the Montana Department of Commerce’s Main Street survey that we have been working on. Would you please take the survey and then forward the link to anyone you think may be interested including member groups that you may be associated with.

Thank you very much.

Julie Burk

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3WJCBK7