(July 20, 2017) Snow Hill’s Main Street Committee held an organizational meeting to last Tuesday at the Old Firehouse on Green Street, hoping to kick start downtown revitalization.
Michael Day, economic development consultant, announced last fall that Snow Hill was accepted to the recently created Main Street Maryland Affiliate Program sponsored through the Department of Housing and Community Development. According to its website, the state program provides “funding and technical support for towns seeking to revitalize traditional business districts.”
The affiliate status was created for communities interested in, but not yet prepared to become full members. Day said based on early indicators the state would like to see Snow Hill move beyond affiliate membership.
“They would like us to become a full fledged Main Street member,” he said.
From his past experience participating in the Main Street program during his tenure as economic development coordinator in Berlin, Day said the organizational structure is not dictated by the state.
“It’s now different in almost every town,” he said. “It’s however this group wants to do it … [and] every state has a different way of approaching it.”
Depending on the jurisdiction, Day said some communities have designated the Main Street committee as a nonprofit entity, while others have tied it into the town government.
Day said the first order of business involved forming committees including design, promotion, organization and economic development, to begin designating tasks.
“It’s economic revitalization through preservation,” he said. “We want to preserve buildings and storefronts downtown to keep it historic.”
Eventual designation as a Main Street member does have some different stipulations, Day said.
“One requirement is you have to have a paid person running this,” he said.
The membership numbers for each committee are also an important consideration, Day said.
“You need at least one-to-two people in each committee,” he said. “Six is better, but up to 10 gets unwieldy.”
Day said the Main Street committee avoids duplicating efforts of other groups in town, such as the chamber of commerce.
“You have different organizations trying to achieve the same thing,” he said. “At first in Berlin, the chamber was very threatened by Main Street.”
Although he witnessed initial misgivings, Day said in time the various players tend to coalesce around common goals.
“The smaller the town the more consolidated it gets,” he said.
Day also noted the importance of involving the community to assist in establishing and achieving goals.
“We need to get this out to the residents of the community,” he said.
The Main Street program enables towns to work on small projects that in time alter the big picture, Day said.
“It’s baby steps,” he said. “Don’t expect great strides the first month or year, but when you look back you’ve accumulated some progress. It’s just kind of meeting, picking a project and getting through it.”
Looking up north to Berlin, Day said since becoming a Main Street Maryland community the town has continued to grow exponentially.
“They think they’ve got too many events and they’ve got too many people,” he said. “It just perpetuates itself and moves forward.”
Michael Day, economic development consultant, announced last fall that Snow Hill was accepted to the recently created Main Street Maryland Affiliate Program sponsored through the Department of Housing and Community Development. According to its website, the state program provides “funding and technical support for towns seeking to revitalize traditional business districts.”
The affiliate status was created for communities interested in, but not yet prepared to become full members. Day said based on early indicators the state would like to see Snow Hill move beyond affiliate membership.
“They would like us to become a full fledged Main Street member,” he said.
From his past experience participating in the Main Street program during his tenure as economic development coordinator in Berlin, Day said the organizational structure is not dictated by the state.
“It’s now different in almost every town,” he said. “It’s however this group wants to do it … [and] every state has a different way of approaching it.”
Depending on the jurisdiction, Day said some communities have designated the Main Street committee as a nonprofit entity, while others have tied it into the town government.
Day said the first order of business involved forming committees including design, promotion, organization and economic development, to begin designating tasks.
“It’s economic revitalization through preservation,” he said. “We want to preserve buildings and storefronts downtown to keep it historic.”
Eventual designation as a Main Street member does have some different stipulations, Day said.
“One requirement is you have to have a paid person running this,” he said.
The membership numbers for each committee are also an important consideration, Day said.
“You need at least one-to-two people in each committee,” he said. “Six is better, but up to 10 gets unwieldy.”
Day said the Main Street committee avoids duplicating efforts of other groups in town, such as the chamber of commerce.
“You have different organizations trying to achieve the same thing,” he said. “At first in Berlin, the chamber was very threatened by Main Street.”
Although he witnessed initial misgivings, Day said in time the various players tend to coalesce around common goals.
“The smaller the town the more consolidated it gets,” he said.
Day also noted the importance of involving the community to assist in establishing and achieving goals.
“We need to get this out to the residents of the community,” he said.
The Main Street program enables towns to work on small projects that in time alter the big picture, Day said.
“It’s baby steps,” he said. “Don’t expect great strides the first month or year, but when you look back you’ve accumulated some progress. It’s just kind of meeting, picking a project and getting through it.”
Looking up north to Berlin, Day said since becoming a Main Street Maryland community the town has continued to grow exponentially.
“They think they’ve got too many events and they’ve got too many people,” he said. “It just perpetuates itself and moves forward.”