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Just back from the National Main Street conference in Detroit, and we have a lot to share!  Keep reading 
below for more Emporia Main Street e-news!


Emporia Main Street 
E-Newsletter


Lots of people in town for graduations this week, then Memorial Day followed by the Dirty Kanza!  May is a little hectic... May is also Historic Preservation Month, and we have several activities scheduled, including an Upper Story Tour on May 22nd.  It's a fun month to be in Emporia!

   Upper Story Apartment   

Upper Story Tour 

Check out downtown upper stories in several different stages of development in this FREE tour opportunity.  Meet at the Emporia Main Street office TONIGHT! Thursday, May 22nd at 6:30 p.m. for this FREE tour!

 

 


 Big Brothers Big Sisters

Dirty Kanza Pole Banner

 Dirty Kanza

Click HERE for the Finish Line Vendor Registration Form

Click HERE for the DK Course Maps

Click HERE for Finish Line Party Information

THE DIRTY KANZA STILL NEEDS VOLUNTEERS!!! CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!


 Dirty Kanza Kids Bike Race & Fun Run

www.emporiarec.org 

  Main Street Merchandise

You can order the items listed below at a variety of local merchants, at the Emporia Main Street office or on-line at www.emporiamainstreet.com  

 

Emporia Opoly Game Board 

Emporia-Opoly, the local version of the classic Monopoly board game, features local businesses, historic sites and special Emporia tokens.  This is the perfect gift for current or past Emporians.  Because there is a limited quantity, we suggest you get yours soon..

 

Gift Certificates 2013 

Emporia Main Street Gift Certificates are always the perfect size!  Give the gift of shopping local this year with the gift of Emporia Main Street gift certificates, good at our member merchants throughout Emporia.

  Mobile App QR Codes

 Learn more about local amenities, organizations, businesses, events and more with the E-Town Mobile App!  The ETown App is a joint project among Emporia State University, Flint Hills Technical College, USD 253, The Emporia Gazette, the City of Emporia, the Emporia Convention and Visitors Bureau and Emporia Main Street.

 

For IPhone Users, click here: 

 

For Android Users, click here: 

 

For the NEW iPad Version, click here: 

 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/e-town-app-emporia-kansas/id712001984?mt=8 

 

New additions AND a Web version COMING SOON!


FHTC Logo

 

 

Kids College 2014 at FHTC Community Connections

 

Looking for a fun activity now that summer vacation is about to start?  Kids College is a week-long, half-day activity designed just for children that have completed 4th, 5th or 6th grade.  Children will have the opportunity to explore a variety of careers with lots of fun, hands-on activities!  

 

Morning sessions, from 9:00-noon, will visit the Automotive, Computer Programming, and Graphic Arts programs as well as visit Shepherd's Valley Farm to talk about sustainability.  Afternoon sessions, from 1:00-4:00pm, will visit Automotive, Dental Assisting, Industrial Engineering and Culinary Arts. 

 

Kids College runs from Tuesday, May 27th through Friday, May 30th.  Each session (morning or afternoon) is $50 for the week and is limited to 20 children.

Reserve your child's spot quickly by visiting the FHTC Community Connections website,
http://flinthills.augusoft.net, or call Amy Becker at 620-341-1392 for more information.  

 

Enroll today!  Visit http://flinthills.augusoft.net or call 620-341-1392.

 

    


Property Availability Guide
For property owners with property available for rent or sale, this is a free service to collect information and post it on the Emporia Main Street Web Site.  With other market information available, we hope this site makes it easier for potential businesses and property developers to find spaces they need.
CLICK HERE to enter information about your available property and view previously submitted information.
Business Investment Guide
Business Investment Guide 
 

Do you know a business that should locate in Emporia?  Maybe you know an entrpreneur looking for resources or a business owner looking to expand?  The Business Investment Guide is community information designed to help you point your contacts in the right direction!

 

CLICK HERE for the INVESTMENT GUIDE

Lessons Learned from Detroit
              
The fall of an American City, and its fight back from the brink
When the National Main Street center invited Main Street communities from around the nation attend a National Conference in Detroit, you could almost feel an audible grown.  Excitement to attend learning sessions in a city described by the media as dangerous, dilapidated and defunct isn't something most Main Street staff and volunteers look forward to.  We love community cores, and we don't like watching them die.

I won't retread the story that most of you already know.  But, Detroit has lost more than half its population from its heyday.  The Motor City, as the name would suggest, was built for cars.  Still today, wide multi-lane streets permeate every portion of the city and many outlying suburbs.  Houses outside the core looked, in areas, like a war zone.  Burnt out residential shells exist next to chronically vacant buildings in an area so sprawled that you can fit the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Manhattan Island within Detroit's city limits with hundreds of acres left over.  Vast infrastructure has proven so costly and unsustainable that vast targeted demolitions are the norm.  Disconnected pockets of Detroit remnants remain virtually disconnected.  On the Saturday we arrived, as we walked downtown, Emporia, Kansas seemed MUCH busier than downtown Detroit (car traffic, pedestrian traffic and bike traffic).
 
That's the bad part...  How did Detroit get there?  Well, that is a more complex story.  After talking with individuals from, and working in the area, the answer to "how did things fall so far" is multifaceted.  First, the city was built for the car, and that design completely insulates residents.  For most downtown buildings, you can drive into a parking garage attached to the building you want to enter, go to work, eat and drive out without every having to expose yourself to anything outside.  That type of insulation erodes communities.  Each winter (this one was particularly bad in Detroit) streets are heavily salted.  The salt takes a toll on streets and sidewalks, and because the streets are so prevalent in Detroit, they are tremendously expensive to maintain.  Streets, when coupled with other types of infrastructure that has sprawled out creates a tremendous burden for tax payers.  The extreme vacancy rate makes it difficult to buy properties, renovate them and create a profit producing property for renters.  The extended land surface area of Detroit makes it impractical for police, fire or other emergency services to respond in a reasonable length of time, leading to more devastating fires, increased crime and decreased public safety.  Their dependence on an industrial concept left them susceptible to leadership which designed a community around a philosophy (cars/machines) instead of people, and that philosophy still exists today.  Instead of trying to intersect with proven community and design strategies, Detroit held on to the glory days of their past as Rome burned around them.  Essentially, a self sustaining cycle of blight was created.
 
I think it is obvious that we shouldn't do any of the things we listed above, and that is one of the lessons learned.  But, I also learned that state leaders in Michigan, the communities surrounding Detroit and people tasked with bringing Detroit back are some hard working, creative types that are willing to make investments in their communities.  Some of the trial and error in Detroit and its surrounding smaller cities has actually helped formulate sound strategies for the rest of the nation. 


-For example, we learned that, although all of Detroit lost population in the last census, historic district areas within Detroit are losing population much slower than the rest of the city.  In other cities, like Philadelphia, historic districts are gaining population while the rest of the city looses population.

-Place-making trends that are popping up throughout the nation cut their teeth in Detroit.  People found that to make a community stick, it needed unique businesses.  Areas with local restaurants, retail and other locally owned businesses grew, while the big boxes bailed.  Communities that reduced the size of their roads, added bike amenities, created walk-able areas, established mixed use developments and created public spaces easily accessible by foot, bike or car have improved tremendously.  Ferndale, for example, utilized the tenets of place-making and reduced their vacancy rate from 45% to 5% in a decade.

-Tactical Urbanism is a philosophy that has enhanced neighborhoods throughout the Detroit area.  Essentially, the strategy is to create artificial density by incubating an area through development and redevelopment of commercial, housing and mixed use properties.  The resulting pressurization manifests itself in private developments adjacent to the target area as part of a larger unified plan.

- The successful role in government (and some not so successful private ventures) indicates that communities need to produce public private partnerships for long term sustainable growth.  Detroit shows pretty clearly that businesses don't always have the best interest of a community in mind when they develop.  And, although government isn't perfect, the two sides need to strike a balance.
 
- You need boots on the ground, "Swiss Army Knife" style professionals to hope for success.  Michigan really shoved their Main Street programs front and center in dealing with the redevelopment crisis.  Many other states have done the same thing.  The public/private nature of Main Street organizations is part of the reason for the surge in prominence, but the other basic reason is that Main Streets take a more holistic role in the revitalization process.
 
- Success isn't cheap.  Communities must have a development plan and an investment strategy when working with redevelopment to make it work.  Otherwise, you can just go ahead and replace the word "plan" with the word "dream".
 
- It's okay to say "no".  Part of the planning process is sticking to a vision that combines market data and community input.  The "we'll take anything" mindset usually ends badly.
 
- Be wary of those that won't get their hands dirty.  Remember that "disconnect" that we talked about in the self contained parking garage buildings?  Well, neighborhoods and communities are typically being revitalized by people out on the street pulling weeds, picking up trash, fixing buildings, starting businesses AND doing economic development work.  Insulation and cognitive disconnects lead to bad decision making.
 
- Car centric development gets people into the car, and once they are there it's easy to keep driving.  The Motor City loves cars, but that love affair came at a tremendous cost.  Once people decided they would rather drive out of the city, they lost the populace.
 
- Prepare for downturns by diversifying your economy.  When the auto industry started lagging, Detroit's overdependence on a single industry meant they were highly susceptible to market fluctuations.  Bunches of small firms (1-10 people) are stabilizing markets and creating unique businesses with expansion capabilities.  The resulting intellectual capital formed through proximity to diverse entrepreneurs is helping communities take advantage of emerging trends and solve pervasive problems.
 
- For goodness sakes- ITS ABOUT THE PEOPLE!!!  I can't really emphasize this enough.  When we talk about economic and community development success, the results should manifest themselves in community wide sorts of measurements.  Population growth, median household income growth, a happier populace.  For years, Detroit measured success by looking at the stock prices of a few companies.  Once they started actually focusing on their people, the bleeding slowed.  Because, at the end of the day, any community is simply a collection of people.
 
Was Detroit as bad as everyone made it out to be?  No.  Was it a city in great shape?  No.  Will it ever be what it once was?  Probably not, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Jobs, technology, business and times have changed.  Smart cities recognize that and adapt.  Not-so-smart cities resist change with extreme consequences.
 
We learned a lot more in Detroit that we will write about in future e-newsletters, but it's rare that the host city of a conference can, in itself, be a teaching tool.  The negative side of learning about the decline of Detroit is that we can see some local parallels (sprawl, measurements, leadership, resistance to change, etc.), but we are hoping that lessons learned can not only prevent those negative impacts, but can take advantage of the positive opportunities we learned about as well.
 
Im a Main Streeter 

 Did you know???

Even with the National Main Street conference, we had a lot going on last week (and into this week.  We received some set backs in the development arena, we held a promotions and design meeting, we hosted a Dirty Kanza meeting, we worked with ESU Public Relations students, we met with a community foundation representative about an upcoming conference, we held a statewide conference call, we met with a local architect about a potential building project, we met with a regional developer about our market, and Becky Smith did a great job holding down the fort while we had two individuals attending the National Main Street Conference in Detroit.  With a large Dirty Kanza looming in the distance, we still have a lot to do this month, but all the activities have provided us the opportunity to get some
 good questions from all of you
!
 
1.  "So you are the folks with the Dirty Kanza?"- From a nationals attendee.  One of the coolest parts of a national conference is when attendees recognize your city, or an event within your city for a positive purpose.  The Dirty Kanza was one event that is starting to really pick up in national recognition.  The growing participant base and a media strategy that targets the hometown media of participants has started to pay big dividends.  We even had someone from Detroit trying to convince us to come back for a "slow roll"...  Beyond the DK, it was interesting (and slightly scary) to get tracked down by other cities that read our newsletter and wanted to know about a variety of projects.  Heck, we even saw some Dynamic Discs apparel while out-and-about.  It's nice validation that our community is being recognized for good events, ingenuity and some good local companies.
 
2. "What the heck is going on with Kansas?" From a lot of people, from everywhere.  So, we started with a positive, but our state itself is not being recognized in a great light...  We met an individual moving back, and they wanted to be part of a state conversation, in part, to see if things were as bad as they had heard.  While most states are pumping up funding for targeted urbanism, revitalization, community development and Main Street programs, Kansas is seen as substantially behind the curve.  That, when added to social critiques hasn't impacted our state perception in a positive manner.  The state's reputation, from an outsiders view, has evidently taken a hit over the last couple of years, and that is a bit disconcerting. 

3. "How do you determine an appropriate market mix of businesses?"  From a person from Michigan in a round table discussion.  Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about math...  Many communities struggle with the types of businesses they want to and can open, and how to place those businesses in such a way that they cooperate with each other.  That "market mix" is a delicate balance of supply, demand and the creation of unique "destination" businesses that can pull people into your community from outside of your market trade area.  But, before any of that process begins, a community has to ask itself two REALLY important questions: What type of community do we want to become? And: What is our community right now (realistically)?  We preach "simple stories" to small businesses when explaining what they are to consumers.  Simple stories tell people who you are and, because of their simplicity, stick in your mind.  Now, you have to ensure that your story is attractive to the people you want to actually attract, but a community can't be eight different things and hope to make an impression.  But, that simple story has to be realistic.  I've been to a lot of small towns in Kansas, and if one of them called themselves the "arts and culture capital of the world", they would probably get laughed at.  However, that doesn't mean that they can't be a leader in something.  This is relevant to market mix because the questions about who you are and who you want to be (when coupled with market data) are what sets the basis of your mix.
 
So, here are your four homework questions: What type of community do we really want to be?  What type of community are we right now?  What types of businesses do we need to complement those visions?  Are those business types realistic for a community and market trade area of our size?
 
4.  "What were the results of the minimum wage poll?" From an e-mail to the office.  Last week, we asked you what you thought about potential minimum wage legislation.  We gave you three options in a voting poll.  You could choose to 1. Increase the minimum wage, 2. Leave minimum wage the same or 3. Decrease or abolish the minimum wage.  Below are your votes.
 
 

 

5.  "Are we up to speed with where we need to be?"  From a volunteer after the Detroit conference.  In some ways, Emporia is ahead of the curve, but there were examples from other cities that we need to adopt.  Being more aggressive in procuring dense mixed use property development, more of an emphasis on "place making", creating better crowd sourcing conduits for targeted business types, improving our fundraising capacity so we can actually implement some great ideas that can improve cash flow for existing businesses.  But, one of the major things we will have to overhaul is the way we communicate with the public.  

 

Even if you've never clicked on a single link we've posted in the e-news, you need to click this one: CLICK HERE.  The way we communicate and interact needs to shift as technology and social norms shift.

 

 

 

In This Issue #247 05/22/14
Upper Story Tour
May Events
Big Brothers Big Sisters
Dirty Kanza
Main Street Merchandise
ETown Mobile Application
Flint Hills Technical College Classes
Properties Available
Business Investment Guide
Question of the day?
Did You Know?
Calendar of Events
Quick Links

 

Emporia Main Street

City of Emporia

Granada Theatre

Emporia Zoo

Emporia Public Library

Kansas Main Street

National Main Street Center

Lyon County

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Emporia Main Street Button 

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

 

 

View our videos on YouTube

President's Circle

 

ERG

Emporia Realty Group

www.emporiarealtygroup.com

608 Commercial

620-412-9850

 

IM Design Group  
 
IM Design Group

www.imdesigngroup.com

17 W. 5th

620-343-3909

KISS logo

541 Sherman

www.kiss103.1.net

620-343-6144

Benefactors 

 

Bobby D's

 

Cable One

 

ESB Financial 

 

KISS 103.1 and The Dawg

 

KVOE AM 1400KVOE FM 101.7MIX 104.9

 

Longbine Auto Plaza

 

Moon Title & Escrow

 

Price Family Enterprises 

 

Roberts Blue Barnett Funeral Home

 

Town Royal

Emporia Main Street Calendar of Events

 

 

 

May 18-20

National Main Street Conference in Detroit Michigan.

 

May 31

The Dirty Kanza

riders leave at 6:00 a.m. from the 800 Block of Commercial Street.

 

June 19

Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting

 

June 21

Business Stroll

 

August 23

Trilogy Disc Golf Open

 

September 13

The Great American Market

 

 

Do you have an upcoming event for your business or organization?

 

 

 

Let Emporia Main Street know and we may include it on our upcoming calendars! 

 

 

General Level Members

 

AKA Marketing

 

Amish Woodworks

 

Applebees

  

Ash LLC

 

Atherton & Huth

 

Bank of America

 

Bath Expressions

 

Ben Moore Studio

 

Bennett Dental Group

 

BG Consultants

 

BLI Rentals

 

Bluestem Farm and Ranch

 

Brown's Shoe Fit

 

Bruff's Bar and Grill

 

C & J Woodworks


Candlewood Suites

 

Capitol Federal

 

Cassell Insurance

 

Chester Press

  

Clark Carpet and Tile, Inc.

  

Coffelt Sign Co.

  

Complete Works

  

Country Mart/Price Chopper

 

Dan's Hands Massage

 

Davis Paints

 

Disciple Shoppe

 

Dorsey Eye Care

 

Douglas Chiropractic

 

Dr. Kerri Thompson, DDS

 

Dynamic Discs

 

Eastwood Lake Apartments

 

Ek Real Estate

 

Emporia Construction and Remodeling

 

Emporia Radio Stations: KVOE, 104.9 & 101.7

 

Emporia State Federal Credit Union

 

E-Town Solutions

 

ESU Memorial Union

 

Evergreen Design-Build

 

Flint Hills Eye Care

 

Flint Hills Mall

Association

 

Flint Hills Music

 

Floyd's Automotive

 

Forget Me Not Productions

 

Four Seasons Apartments

 

George Groh and Sons

 

Gerald Schumann Electric

 

Granada Coffee Company

 

Graves Drug Store

 

Haag Management

 

Hair Krafters

 

Heart Center Studio

 

Helbert & Allemang

 

High Gear

   

Java Cat Coffeehouse

 

Junque Drawer Emporium

 

Kansas Radio 96.1 The Wave

 

King Liquor

 

L & L Pets

 

Lyon County State Bank

 

Lyon County Title 

 

Mark II Lumber

 

McDonalds

 

McKinzie Pest Control

 

Midas Touch Tans

 

Mike Alpers Agency

 

Mr. Sisters Sweets

 

Modern Air Conditioning, Inc.

  

Mulready's Pub

 

Navrats Office Supply

 

Papa John's Pizza

 

Pizza Hut

 

Pizza Ranch

 

Plum Bazaar

 

Poehler Mercantile

 

Pool and Associates

 

Prairie Sage Apartments

 

Pro-Cuts

 

Rand Simmons Law Office

 

Redline Trucking

 

Reflxns Salon

 

Rhinestone Cowgirl Salon

 

Sauder Custom Fabrication

 

Schellers Lawn and Landscape

 

Scott's Lawn and Landscaping

 

Second Love Gifts

 

Stanley Jewelry

  

Studio 11

 

Subway

 

Sunflower Gymnastics

 

Sutherlands Lumber Co.

 

Sweet Granada

 

Textbook Corner

 

Thompson Auto Repair

 

Toso Appraisal

 

Total Technology

 

Town Crier Bookstore

 

Triad Leasing

 

Uncommon Threads

 

Value-Net LLC 

 

Waters True Value Hardware

 

Westar Energy

 

Williams Automotive

 

Wright CPA Group PA

 

Wright's Furniture

 

Xan-A-Do Salon

  

Non Profit Level Members 

 

Big Brothers Big Sisters

 

Cradle to Career Cneter

 

Emporia Eastside Community Group

 

EHS- FBLA

 

Emporia Arts Council

 

Emporia Chamber of Commerce

 

Emporia Farmers Market

 

Emporia Friends of the Zoo

 

Emporia Presbyterian Church

 

Emporia Friends of the Library

 

ESU- Alumni Association

 

ESU- Small Business Development Center

 

ESU- Memorial Union

 

ESU- Theatre Dept.

 

Flint Hills Community Health Center

 

Granada Theatre Alliance

 

National Teachers Hall of Fame

 

Saint Francis Community Services

 

Salvation Army

 

SOS

 

TFI Family Services


Home Based Business Members

 

Avon- Amanda Hopkins

  

Gold Canyon Candles- Stephanie Morgan

 

Green Door Recycling

 

Interdependent Web, LLC

 

Longaberger Independent Consultant -Judy Dieker

 

Mary Kay- Lori Engle

 

Nicole Bradshaw Designs

 

Origami Owl- Angela Dowell

 

Paula's Creations

 

Pampered Chef- Chelsea Gerleman

 

Purse Lady- Nancy Crawford

 

Scentsy/ Grace Adele- Kelly Long

 

Tastefully Simple- Vanessa Apodaca

 

Thirty One Gifts- Linsey Hopkins

 

Individual Supporters

 

Amy and Rick Becker 

 

Amy Evans

 

Brad Harzman

 

Dale & Carolyn Davis

 

Don Hill

 

Erin and Casey Woods

 

Joyce Zhou

 

Julie Johnson

 

Kayle Oney

 

Kelly Wade

 

Lynn Knechtel

 

Mark and Amy McAnarney

 

Michael and Karen Shonrock

 

Valerie and Matt Zimmerman

 

Roger Heineken

 

Smitty Smith

 

Sue Blechl

 

Tim & Mary Helmer

 

Tyler & Melanie Curtis

 

Yvonne Pool

  

                                                                                       Main Street Logo                             
                                   Casey Woods                                       
Emporia Main Street
12 E. 5th Avenue
Emporia, KS 66801
(P) 620-340-6430
(F) 620-340-6434
Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.
-Joel A. Barker