Minnesota Main Street Committee Events

Minnesota Main Street Committee presents three workshops on revitalizing traditional downtowns:

May 12
9 a.m.-Noon
Austin

May 14
1-4 p.m.
Brainerd

May 15
1-4 p.m.
Fergus Falls

Protecting and Enhancing Downtown – Creating a Local Main Street Organization.How do downtown businesses work together to make investments that serve the entire downtown? How can a community protect the identity of its traditional downtown?

Unlike the mall on the edge of town or the industrial park, the downtown has no common ownership and no entity marketing space and assisting entrepreneurs. Many downtowns struggle to compete with other unify appearance or operations, to jointly promote services and goods, or make investments to create a welcoming place for the heart of the community. Local Main Street programs have a proven success for providing these and other benefits to communities seeking to protect and enhance their traditional downtown areas.

Each workshop will highlight different Main Street communities, including the Austin Main Street Project, the Owatonna Main Street Program, the Brainerd Main Street Program, the Barnesville Main Street Program, and other local downtown revitalization efforts.

Cost: $75 per workshop per community. Workshops are free to Hometown member communities. Refreshments will be provided. For more information contact: Brian Ross, Hometown Minnesota at 612-588-4904.

Making Solar Power Accessible to People of All Income Levels will be held Thursday, May 21, from 3-5 p.m. at the MN Pollution Control Agency in Baxter/Brainerd. Free!! As society moves toward a renewable economy, we are seeing the development of a renewable divide where affluent communities have access to renewable energy technologies and lower income communities do not. Yet, energy crises affect our low-income families most gravely, and renewable energy can help mitigate energy crises.

The speaker is Jason Edens, Director of the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance, (RREAL) a MN based nonprofit working to deliver solar energy to people of all income levels. RREAL’s solar assistance program provides solar heating systems to low-income families on energy assistance and RREAL provides solar design-build services to the whole community.