Four more communities are now preparing to launch new revitalization programs through the MO Main Street Affiliate Grant: Holden, Bolivar, the Vine Street District Council and California, MO.

Some have already started their Main Street training with Jeanine Rann, MMSC's Community Development Coordinator.

Holden's Chamber of Commerce,with support from Missouri Main Street Connection's Affiliate grant and using the Main Street Four-Point Approach^® to Revitalization, conducted a "Start Up" consultation with MO Main Street on November 29. They will create partnerships with local business and civic entities that involve citizens throughout the community to conduct the downtown revitalization effort.

Holden, MO

The new revitalization effort will continue implementing improvement plans for the downtown district, as outlined in the Holden Comprehensive Plan, and develop an on-going revitalization organization that will facilitate new business growth and job development and preserve the unique culture and heritage of downtown Holden.

The Bolivar Downtown Association, after their "Start Up" consultation on December 18, is building a cohesive organization to sustain downtown revitalization, based on "Vision 2030" recently developed by the city's existing volunteer base, and then develop a revitalization plan for downtown Bolivar that supports entrepreneurial business.

Bolivar, MO

The group will coordinate a city-wide network of civic and community partnerships to support the downtown revitalization plan. The Association will continue working with the local historical society to preserve the community's unique history and heritage.

Vine Street District Council launched their Main Street program on December 19, when Jeanine Rann met with the Council's Board of Directors and others in the community to determine future economic needs.

Vine Street District-KC, MO

The District has already taken initial steps to revitalize, adopting the District Economic Development Plan formulated in July 2010. MMSC is designing a series of customized training sessions for the Board of Directors and working committees that will enable the Council to concentrate on revitalization goals within the next two years. The goal of the grant is to develop a sustainable, volunteer-based local organization to carry out an economic development program while continuing preservation of the district's historic assets and cultural heritage.

California Progress Inc.(CPI), organized several years ago, will undertake a broader leadership role to sustain the momentum begun by the DREAM initiative in 2009. MMSC staff provided a "Start Up" consultation on November 14 in which the City's Aldermen, active civic groups, and businesses representing a large base of volunteers committed to support CPI's expanded revitalization efforts.

California, MO

With guidance from MO Main Street, CPI will be a community-wide program to develop a broad-based foundation for economic growth and continued preservation of historic assets, which include the local cultural heritage and historic commercial buildings in their downtown dating from the 1860s - 1900.  A project to rehabilitate the historic theatre in downtown California is a big step already completed by CPI.

Missouri Main Street Connection's Affiliate Grant period covers two years of services within each local organization. During that time the participating communities will receive on-site training and mentoring from MMSC which will engage the entire community as participant and beneficiary of revitalization. Besides their on-site training, representatives of the new revitalization groups are required to attend regional and state-wide revitalization workshops and conferences conducted by MMSC.

The Affiliate Grant is a 40/60 match, requiring the community to contribute 40% of the cash value of the services, and MMSC to contribute 60%. The two-year total grant value in services is $23,500 for each participating community.

Main Street Basic Training in February, plus "How the New Health Care Law Will Impact Small Businesses" and "How to Keep in Compliance with Federal 501c3 Regulations"

Don't miss the Main Street Basic Training sessions February 12^th and 13^th in Jefferson City.

Schedule of classes:

Feb. 12 Basic Training - Organization 9:00 am to noon, speaker Norma Miess

Feb. 12 Basic Training - Promotions 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, speaker Jeanine Rann

Feb. 13 Basic Training - Design 9:00 am to noon, speaker Steven Hoffman

Feb. 13 Basic Training - Economic Restructuring 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, speaker Norma Miess

Please make it a point to attend if your organization is new to Main Street. Also, if your community is a participant in the Affiliate Grant program, attending these sessions will count toward fulfilling your grant commitments.

Location: Truman Office Building, 301 High Street, Room 490/492, Jefferson City, MO

Registration forms will be available soon online: www.momainstreet.org, or call 417-334-3014.

SPECIAL TOPICS:

February 12, at 1:00 pm

Truman Building, 301 High Street, Room 750, Jefferson City

This session is suggested for Main Street managers, Board, staff and anyone else who wants to attend.

Two special topics will be covered: "How the New Health Care Law Will Impact Small Businesses" and "How to Keep in Compliance With Federal 501c3 Regulations."

Quarterly Main Street Managers' Meeting - February 13^th lunch for managers at 1:30 pm, followed by the Managers' Meeting.

Truman Building, 301 High Street, Room 750, Jefferson City

Missouri Main Street Connection is now accepting speaker/session proposals for the 2013 Get Plugged In Downtown Revitalization Conference. We have openings for sessions ranging from 20 Minute Crash Courses for exhibitors to 75 Minute Sessions for the seasoned professional. Our 2013 Theme is "Creative Communities, Hip Neighborhoods, Cool Buildings."

We encourage submissions that feature a variety of revitalization concepts as well as perennial Main Street revitalization topics. We strive to provide content at all learning levels; newer communities, advanced communities or Four Point Main Street Basic Training-and to share perspectives and success stories from urban districts to small town and rural Main Streets. We are especially interested in proposals that demonstrate creative solutions to everyday revitalization challenges or that showcase innovative ways to leverage opportunities or assets.

Mobile. According to a survey by Appcelerator and IDC, 93% of mobile developers anticipate that it is "likely to very likely" that most retailers will have enabled mobile commerce in 2013 as consumers increasingly reach for their phones and tablets even while shopping in a physical store. Consumer behavior continues to underscore this transformation. Appcelerator found that nearly two-thirds of developers also believe that consumers will make more purchases via their mobile phones than their credit cards in 2013.

Integration. Founder of the direct-to-consumer shoe merchant Sole Society Brett Markinson recently told FORBES the "emerging" direct-to-consumer E-commerce model currently being discussed as the "Next Big Thing" is only the beginning of the evolution pushing haute couture into the digital age. Markinson believes that discussion has to shift from e-commerce vs. offline commerce to integrated commerce. "The consumer does not distinguish. They want to buy cute, on-trend products as great values wherever they happen to be. They want to engage with cool brands that understand their interests and proclivities. The DNA of the web must be an intimate part of the fashion brands of the future.

"Those retailers who find a way to integrate will have a 'killer brand.'" says Markinson. "One needs to be where the customer is, with both your messaging and your product. If you haven't noticed, consumers today are both online and offline, and sometime both. Online they are sharing, friend validating, researching, learning and developing a point of view. Offline there is touching, brand comparing and brand associating. All of this drives the brand of the future. Finding the formula to leverage that online/offline dynamic is critical."

More and More Social. RichRelevance, a company that powers personalized e-commerce experiences, released some interesting findings about social media's role in retail. Namely, traffic from Pinterest has doubled in the last year while Facebook saw its share decline to just 90% (from 95% in 2011). Chief marketing officer for RichRelevance, Diane Kegley, recently told FORBES, "We believe that social is going to have an increasing impact in 2013. We believe that the role of social media is to generate awareness, not sales. She notes that retailers are getting smarter about how to use the social channels to generate customer 'delight.' She points out, as an example, how Target recently awarded gift cards to a number of customers who were tweeting about them over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. "Social media is one element in retailers' arsenal of developing brand awareness across multiple channels. All of these elements, including social media, shape or form the way that a consumer hears about a brand or offering," Kegley said. "This contributes not only to awareness, but actual product decisions."

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