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Emporia Main Street
E-Newsletter
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Greetings!
The staff is busy getting ready for a How it's Made tour, the Great American Market and a host of other fantastic activities. Are you ready?
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The Great American Market is Saturday, September 12th from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Have you signed up for your booth space? Spots are filling quickly! CLICK HERE for the vendor form.
Volunteers Needed! In order to make this year's Great American Market the best it can be, we need volunteers to help set up, tear down/clean up, and other general duties. If you're available, please fill out the Volunteer Sign-up Form!
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The next "How it's Made" tour is August 27th at 6:30 p.m. Stops include Dynamic Discs, Time Travelers clock repair and Jim's Cowboy Shop (showcasing their leather and shoe repair). Contact Emporia Main Street for additional information and to RSVP!
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Quarter Mania- September 22
Do you want to gain some new customers for your business in a fun atmosphere that actually PAYS your business back? Quarter Mania may be the event you are looking for! Secure your business spot in the next Quarter Mania by contacting Emporia Main Street TODAY!
Click HERE for a video describing Quarter Mania.
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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 iPad Version, Click Here!
For the Web Version, click here:
www.etownapp.com
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Property Availability Guide
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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.
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Business Investment Guide
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Do you know a business that should locate in Emporia? Maybe you know an entrepreneur 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
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The Future Economy
Are you (and your business) prepared?
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Part of the Economic Restructuring point requires us to "look ahead" for future economic trends based on social, technological, environmental, governmental or demographic projections. That's not an easy job, but it is necessary for businesses and community strategies to intersect with future economic changes rather than simply react to them. We have some REALLY big potential changes coming in the future, and while we can't predict the outcome or impact of each "shift", we can discuss potential change points and start the discussion process so businesses and organizations have time (and a strategy) to adapt. And, while I'm sure some will say "that won't impact me", I think that people might be surprised by the impact some trends may have on them...
2. Entrepreneurship goes from "niche" to absolute necessity.- As technology ascends and the job market  shifts, entrepreneurs will be the only commercial group that can effectively take advantage of changes. Markets with "micro-bubbles" that form and then are replaced by continually improving technology will highlight rapid changes. Entrepreneurial groups that can travel from specialty site to site without being tethered to a location for short, but very intense workloads, or entrepreneurs that can continuously adapt their business model with unique products and services ( especially those that are experienced based) will win.
3. Self driving vehicles will change city design.- Before you think "this is science fiction", the first vehicle with a truly "self driving feature" is due by Cadillac in 2017. By 2030, self driving cars are estimated to be the norm. And, for all of those that say "I'll never", wait until some of your friends invite you into a vehicle where you can all face each other, mess around on-line, take a nap or get work done and see what you think. The self driving car ramifications  for city design are huge. Massive parking lots for businesses aren't really necessary if you have a built in valet. Vehicle ownership might look more like a "time share" or an automated Uber service. The ability to ride to work while working ( or sleeping) may extend the range in which live from their primary job, which would require communities to attract residents in a completely different way. Some communities are even anticipating that self driving cars will change the way communities are funded; many communities currently receive a good portion of their funding from traffic violations which will invariably decrease with automated systems. Travel based technologies have a tendency to have pervasive and lasting changes on the populace, community design and commercial applications in ways that are sometimes hard to anticipate.
4. Integrated technology will change marketing.- Right now, there are cameras in larger cities with eye and face recognition technologies that can literally alter the advertisements being shown as you are walking down the street to appeal to your individual tastes. As data collected from individuals intersecting with media and their surroundings improves, entirely new ways to target potential consumers will emerge based on their predispositions. This "surgical" approach to market intersection, and the ability to understand/reach-out to your target consumer will define success for a future generation of businesses.
5. If you aren't an effective entrepreneur, you better have a defined (and needed) trade, or the ability (and degrees) that make you useful.- As technology, area demographics ( due to increased mobility) and trend change more rapidly, hierarchical businesses and organizations will be replaced by those that can quickly pivot to take advantage of opportunities or mitigate risks. If half of the economy is made up of entrepreneurs, what happens to the other half? Robotic repair specialists, technical repair professionals,  designers, engineers, scientists and others needed to physically build, repair, maintain and grow the emerging infrastructure needed for the new economy will be in high demand. These jobs will require a level of sophistication and continual education to maintain relevance, but will have much higher pay scales than the jobs they are replacing.
6. Knowledge will continue to double.- The amount of knowledge on planet earth continues to double every twelve months. Think about that for a moment... Everything that has ever been learned in the history of mankind doubles in just 12 months! When you view things in that context, it is easy to see why we need to work to transform our economy in such a way that it encourages innovation. When we try to project highly specific products built within industries 20 years from now, it almost seems laughable. Twenty years ago did we ever imagine that mobile applications for smart phones would be an industry? How about genetic manipulation of viruses as a viable medical treatment option? My point is that we have to build the systems that allow our opportunities to take root, and provide the resources to help each opportunity to grow.
7. Traditional funding for social systems will be harder to come by.- Have you met too many people that like paying taxes? As pressure to repair/replace infrastructure mounts and the pressure to maintain funding for large governmental areas that require ever improving technology continues, and as people struggle to adapt their economies to keep up with rapid changes, social systems will most likely lose out. We've seen several states start to pull funding for arts, health initiatives, community based initiatives and a host of other non-governmental funding that wasn't directly related to infrastructure or economic development. If people can form private funding streams, consolidation models or work to build up preexisting foundation assets, existing social systems could provide a community competitive advantage. However, too many social systems (or those of the wrong type) could discourage the mobility and training necessary for long term success.
8. The climate, and energy, will provide both challenges and opportunities.- Sea level rise and climate  change now look like something we can only hope to mitigate, while living with their inevitable consequences. Fossil fuel supplies will continue to decrease, and methods of obtaining hard-to-reach fossil fuels will continue to rise in costs. The changing coast line will alter some population centers and impact some existing businesses that will obviously need to relocate. Fuel costs will change community density requirements and the location of warehousing/large scale production facilities closer to major population centers. Integrated solar panels will impact grid systems and some code requirements while decreasing overhead costs for high energy usage facilities, while smart states will take advantage of natural wind and solar resources to generate power. Those states highly dependent on coal and oil for their economic success may have long term economic issues.
9. Small scale manufacturing will create more niche items and artisan goods.- We are already seeing " batch manufacturing" with 3D printing and some C & C operations. Design and technical skill, when  coupled with the decreasing price and increasing quality of printers will enhance 3D batch manufacturing over time. Products like you see at Studio 11 or Rhinestones and Rust are hard to reproduce on an industrial scale. Radius obviously makes their own beer and the Sweet Granada makes their own chocolate confections ( although climate change can impact agricultural commodities). Businesses that can create and effectively market unique items that are resistant to margin based strategies ( cutting margins to compete on the basis of price) will have a greater degree of suitability. Things that can easily be converted into data and sent on-line will have a low survival rates (sound, video, computer programs) except in niche markets ( think of music stores that are almost completely gone now, except for a few "vintage" operations).
10. How communities & states invest and advocate will determine "winners" and "losers".- When  we've seen areas that struggle, the communities that find ways to continually invest in things important to attracting and keeping residents ( like education, entrepreneurship and infrastructure) typically grow their economies. Those that shrink investment in critical areas whither. Economies are made of people, and communities that understand ways to give themselves realistic competitive advantages to improve ( and then actually fund those innovations) will win in comparison to those communities that simply watch their demographics slip while refusing to change course.
The old Chinese saying "may you live in interesting times" was considered both a blessing and a curse. And, depending on how your business, organization, community, or you as an individual adapts to coming changes, upcoming shifts could be considered an opportunity or a threat. Businesses and organizations can't live twenty years out, because we've got a lot of changes between now and then, but communities have to plan far in advance. Organizations are right in the middle from a planning time perspective, and finding ways to innovated beyond a new fundraiser, event or print material is pretty tough for most organizations, but innovation is necessary to intersect with opportunity. When you look to your future, how will you thrive?
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Did you know???
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Last week we held a freedom fest meeting, hosted about 3,000 ESU and FHTC Students for the Welcome Back Block Party, advocated for a local business in start up mode, held a
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Main Street Board Member, Lauren Woolard, manned the ESU School of Business table at the Welcome Back Block Party!
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planning meeting for our upcoming public improvement auction (with some cool changes for this year), met with the community foundation, participated in a meeting with the US Department of Interior, hosted a board meeting, met with a local long-time community leader, provided consulting assistance to a few local businesses and helped prepare information for a potential cool new start up in downtown. Last week was beautiful, but it went FAST. But, with large scale events and business consulting, we got some great
questions from all of you
1. "So, what volunteer stuff do you have coming up?"- From conversation with a local. We always have a ton of different ways people can get involved in Emporia to make a real, positive difference. The next big opportunity is the Great American Market on September 12th. Our primary need is for "block captains" that help direct people to their booth spaces from 4:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., secondly, we can always use help cleaning up from 3:30 p.m. until things are cleaned up (usually 5:30 p.m.). We can also use some assistance with barricade placement early in the morning and volunteers to watch the booth for brief periods throughout the day so staff can interact with vendors. The Great American Market serves as a fundraiser for a lot of area non-profits, helps generate tax revenue for our community, supports local businesses, and we've seen local entrepreneurs move into store fronts after they experience success at this event. CLICK HERE if you would like to volunteer to make your community better!
2. "How much does the "How it's Made Tour" cost?" From a call to the office. The event is free. I know that seems weird in a time where everything has a cost associated with it, but we have some really cool local businesses that benefit from people understanding what they do. Once the public can advocate for those businesses more effectively, the businesses grow and that helps out the community. Business and community development is our "payback" from this event, and it's just another cool way that you can get involved in Emporia!
3. "How can we get the people that will do the implementation to set the vision for the community?" From a long time community leader. I enjoy hearing multiple perspectives about issues impacting the Emporia community, and I have community leaders (current, past and future) that often want to discuss concerns or opportunities. In this particular instance, an individual that has been instrumental in Emporia for several decades was asking questions about "young people", specifically in regards to their involvement in shaping the future of Emporia. The issue is multifaceted and more difficult that it may seem at first glance. In the execution of any long term plan, you have to ensure that the people that will actually be around to execute the plan have a greater "say" in its development. Listening to youth isn't always what we are conditioned to do. Conversely, people in my generation and younger have to understand the market and local economic realities (you can't be for increased expenditures on initiatives and decreased taxes simultaneously, for example). And, more importantly, the people shaping the community are the people willing to put their time, talents and treasure to work. No one wants some innocuous report telling them how they should invest their resources, and I've seen a lot of people tell "doers" how things should "get done" without offering tangible support (that doesn't work out too well). So, I think involvement contains a balance between opportunity and expectations from individuals willing to make a solid commitment to the realistic growth and development of Emporia.
Riverside Elementary will be holding a walk-about on September 22nd to learn more about their city. If your business would like to host a tour for the students or provide something that shows off your business, please contact Randielle at 620-757-9916 or Tracy at 620-481-9987.
4. "Do you share member contact information?" From a new member. Yes. We connect members to members for free. Simply contact the office for whatever you need and we will provide you with information as soon as time allows.
5. "So, can you explain this "importer/exporter" thing?" From an internal staff discussion. I'll give you a brief breakdown of an internal ongoing office discussion and how we resolve it with staff... Main Street believes in supporting the locals. Local restaurants, retailers, service businesses and events only work when people actually show up and spend with those different businesses/events. If people want more of those options, supporting the existing locals typically inspires more people to jump into the market because of the business or events success. For example, if people show up to live music events (and sponsor them), and those events are profitable, we will have more live music events. If people don't show up to live music events and they lose money, we will have less live music events. We say this internally with the knowledge that people will go out of town, and some people get pretty offended when they feel like others are "telling them what to do" even if those suggestions are what is best for the community.
The compromise solution is something we call "net importing". The concept of net importing is pretty simple- if you go out of town for a visit, make sure you are inviting people from out to town to our community to shop, eat, take advantage of services or attend events. If you are inviting people to go out of town consistently, or advocating for out of town businesses/activities consistently, we would ask that you consider a few things: First, understand the impact you are having on the community as a whole. My salary, in part, is paid by the dues of local businesses and taxpayer funding. If you work in a non-profit or government job of any type, your salary comes from the same basic (mainly) local sources. If you are a local business owner or employee, your income is derived from (mainly) local spending. It would be very hard for me to ask a business to give if I were constantly headed out of town to spend dollars on things that I purchase locally. The reciprocal support issue grows exponentially if I pull people out of town with me. However, I fully recognize that people leave town for shopping, dining and other experiences. In a net import strategy, you offset your out of town trips by bringing friends or family members to town to offset your out of town spending. With local shopping options, local services, local concerts, local community activities and more, it's pretty easy to find an excuse to bring people to town. By making the commitment to advocate for Emporia, you can take your occasional visit and still help your community grow.
If you are reading this newsletter, you are most likely an adult, so my next few words are designed to speak to adults like an adult. Your actions have an impact on the community. You are not an individual that simply floats in space and time that has no effect on the people and things you interact with. Your decisions, volunteer efforts, work, spending and support (or lack of all those things) matter. If you want a better community, it starts with YOUR individual actions and how YOU influence others to benefit the community. There are countless ways to build a better community by partnering with Main Street (or other agencies), but it all really starts with your individual behavior towards your town. So, do you want to take responsibility for making Emporia better or not?
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President's Circle
Emporia Realty Group
www.emporiarealtygroup.com
608 Commercial
620-412-9850
IM Design Group
www.imdesigngroup.com
17 W. 5th
620-343-3909
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Brickyard 20 Ale House
402 Merchant
www.brickyard20alehouse.com
2326 Industrial Road
620-342-0150
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Emporia Main Street Calendar of Events
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August 26
Business Enhancement Team Meeting
8:00 a.m. in the Emporia Main Street office
August 27
How It's Made Tour
September 12
Great American Market
September 19-20
Trilogy Open
September 22
Quarter Mania
October 15
Public Improvement Auction
October 22-23
Multi State Development Conference
October 24-25
Escape Rooms
October 30-31
Haunted Tours
October 31
Downtown Trick or Treat
November 8
Freedom Fest
April 23
The Taste
For more community event listings, please visit:
www.etownapp.com
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!
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General Level Members
AKA Marketing
Amish Woodworks
Applebees
Ash LLC
Atherton & Huth
Bath Expressions
The Beauty Bar
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
DG Wingz
Disciple Shoppe
Dorsey Eye Care
Douglas Chiropractic
Dr. Kerri Thompson, DDS
Dynamic Discs
Eastwood Lake Apartments
Eclectic Bikes
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
Jimmy Johns
Junque Drawer Emporium
Kansas Radio 96.1 The Wave
King Liquor
L & L Pets
Little Red Rooster
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
Paper Moon Antiques
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
Rockin' Accessories
Sauder Custom Fabrication
Schellers Lawn and Landscape
Scott's Lawn and Landscaping
Second Love Gifts
Stanley Jewelry
Studio 11
Studio 50.4
Subway
Sunflower Gymnastics
Sutherlands Lumber Co.
Sweet Granada
Textbook Corner
Thompson Auto Repair
Thrifts and Gifts
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
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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
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Home Based Business Members
Avon- Amanda Hopkins
Gold Canyon Candles- Stephanie Morgan
Green Door Recycling
Interdependent Web, LLC
Mary Kay- Lori Engle
Origami Owl- Angela Dowell
Paula's Creations
Pampered Chef- Chelsea Gerleman
Purse Lady- Nancy Crawford
Tastefully Simple- Vanessa Apodaca
Thirty One Gifts- Linsey Hopkins
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Individual Supporters
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
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