Missouri Main Street Connection’s Community Empowerment Grant (CEG) program continues to guide Main Street revitalization through its tailored programing. Currently, there are 16 community organizations receiving technical assistance through this program. The CEG program guides the development of a strong Main Street Board of Directors and programs while establishing strategies and implementation measures based on community feedback.

Brookfield is a community of just over 4,000 people in Linn County. Main Street Brookfield chose to make the most of their final CEG specialized service by pairing it with assistance from another grant, the USDA’s Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) grant program. In addition, the community agreed to provide matching funds to bring branding and design services to Brookfield. This process, brought by the specialized service, allowed the community to come together, through input sessions, on what is important to the future of downtown and their community.

To facilitate the branding portion of the specialized service, Ben Muldrow of Arnett Muldrow and Associates, was brought in with his expertise and recommended a new brand scheme for Main Street Brookfield, the City of Brookfield, and other local organizations. Ben Muldrow’s process solicited the needs and wants of the community to provide a comprehensive and cohesive branding service that brought an identity to the community. Previous efforts were disjointed as logos and branding were completed at different times. This effort presents a united effort by local organizations towards the betterment of Brookfield.

Randy Wilson, Community Design Solutions, provided the design portion of the specialized service to Main Street Brookfield. Randy worked with two building owners on façade renderings to showcase the untapped potential of their properties. This helped visualize the potential for two key buildings downtown. The two building owners are eager to make improvements to their buildings. One of the building owners is in the early stages of implementing Randy’s recommendations. Another component of Randy’s deliverables provided during this specialized service was design-related recommendations including ordinance review, beautification, vibrancy amenities, façade improvements, and how to handle dilapidated buildings. As part of these recommendations, Randy provided a streetscape rendering.

Using this service, Main Street Brookfield was able to leverage Randy’s recommendations to establish a formal contract for services with the City of Brookfield that will be used to provide beautification upgrades. This service provided a road map for the City of Brookfield to provide funding for tangible efforts.

This service helped to bring unity and targeted short-term and long-term recommendations for downtown and the community. Through this service, this passionate community received direction from experts that provided implementation steps now and into the future.

If you are interested in revitalizing your downtown using the structured services and resources of the Community Empowerment Grant program, please reach out to Senior Program Specialist Ben White at ben@momainstreet.org for more information.

Exciting things are happening in Missouri Main Street Connection’s Community Empowerment Grant program! Currently, there are 16 communities receiving technical assistance through this program. The Community Empowerment Grant helps develop a strong Main Street board of directors & program while establishing strategies & implementation measures based on community feedback. The two newest communities accepted into the Community Empowerment Grant program are Grain Valley and Gallatin.

Grain Valley is a community of about 15,000 in eastern Jackson County. The City of Grain Valley and local partners have been heavily involved with revitalization efforts in the community. Recently, as part of those revitalization efforts, a survey was conducted asking for feedback on areas for future planning efforts. Downtown revitalization was one area repeatedly identified by respondents. With the community’s support, and in conjunction with local partners, the City of Grain Valley reached out to Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) and applied for the Community Empowerment Grant. Through the technical assistance and trainings provided through the Community Empowerment Grant, they will build a strong, sustainable organization to help lead downtown revitalization efforts. 

Pictured above is a building in Grain Valley’s commercial district which was provided by Grain Valley in their application.

Gallatin, the other community recently accepted into the Community Empowerment Grant program, is a community of about 1,700 and sits as the county seat of Daviess County. The City of Gallatin has been working with building and business owners concerning the direction of the downtown area and determined it was time to reach out to MMSC for assistance. With financial assistance from the Greenhills Regional Planning Commission, the City of Gallatin applied and was accepted into the program. In Gallatin, there is already a dedicated organization working to revitalize the downtown area, so MMSC is working with this organization to transition it into a comprehensive, Main Street-focused organization.

Pictured above is several of their storefronts on their commercial district which was provided by Gallatin in their application.

Each community showed, through its application and in conversations with various stakeholders in the community, how they were poised to implement the Main Street Approach ™ in their respective downtowns. MMSC is excited to bring technical services to each community and watch the growth of their downtowns. 

Our Affiliate Tier is home to many different types of communities from urban pilot programs enrolled in Saint Louis Main Streets, community programs getting started through the Community Empowerment Grant (CEG) program, and communities that have graduated out of the CEG program and are strong, sustainable revitalization organizations like the Historic River District, the Main Street program in Ozark, Missouri.

The Historic River District fully utilized their time in the Community Empowerment Grant program (formerly the Affiliate Grant Program) and built the foundation of a strong, sustainable organization that is making an impact in downtown Ozark. Chris Schafer, the President of Historic River District, remarked about their organizations time in the CEG program:

“I would recommend the grant services to anyone that is looking to improve their community. The training and structure that was given through these grant services were second to none from an organization (Main Street) that truly understands what it takes to improve your downtown community. It is unbelievable how much support and information is available on what to do to improve your community and how to go about it. The training opportunities that were afforded to us gave the direction and guidance for what each committee needed to work."

Chris Schafer lists the amazing things that have happened in their community since graduating out of the Community Empowerment Grant from placemaking and beautification to community amenities to even events:

• A veterans tribute on the anniversary of the end of the WWI in conjunction with the Christian County Museum and the local American Legion;

• Trunk or Treat Event on the Square;

• Cruising the Square event;

• The Heart of Ozark Gala;

• Haunted Walking Tour program in the fall;

• Friday Night Parade of Lights;

• A beautiful mural along South Jackson Street; and

• A new Gazebo on the Christian County square.

"This Affiliate Grant also helped us to build strong relationships with both city and county government. It has been a blessing to our organization and our community," Chris Schafer.

If you are interested in revitalizing your downtown using the structured services and resources of the Community Empowerment Grant program, please reach out to Program Outreach Specialist Ben White at ben@momainstreet.org or (816) 560-1722 for more information.

The Community Empowerment Grant program sparked downtown revitalization efforts in Trenton. Through education and support from the program, their community created an exciting vision for the district. Executive Director Megan Taul said, "our organization has grown stronger by applying the Main Street Approach™ through historic preservation efforts, promotional planning, and entrepreneurial encouragement. The value of this approach gave us structure for development and an increase in community involvement, bringing sustainable life and joy to our downtown. We would highly recommend these services to other communities as we have gained so much from this experience through tools, resources, inspiration, and many networking opportunities! We are looking forward to the future of Downtown Trenton and MMSC!"

Board President Jackie Soptic noted, "this program helped organize our Board and provide a necessary structure to achieve success. I would strong recommend this program to any downtown organization whether they are in their infancy or well established."