Watch the short video below, or enroll in the Office of Economic Development and International Trade Rural Technical Assistance Program's training program to go more in-depth on the Main Street Approach and Colorado Main Street program (approximately 35 minutes of content).
Join Main Street
Colorado Main Street provides cities and towns with technical assistance and funding to support vibrant downtowns and enhance local character. Please contact Colorado Main Street to explore the program with you and your community.
Main Street Resources
Organization gets everyone working toward the same goal through a strategic plan set by community engagement, and assembles the appropriate human and financial resources in a work plan to implement a Main Street revitalization program.
Programs should include a governing board, volunteers, and specific project committees. When possible, a paid Main Street Manager supports and coordinates volunteers, dividing the workload and delineating responsibilities, building consensus and cooperation among stakeholders.
Resources
- The Main Thing - Fall 2022 (Organization - Your Key to a Better Plan)
- The Main Thing - Winter 2022 - Articles explore how – and why - to join Main Street, leverage funds, and work the Main Street program, along with a video highlight of the Town of Hugo.
- Inclusive Engagement Workbook
- Board of Directors Toolkit - Volunteers are often the ‘doers’ downtown –planting flowers, serving on boards, painting facades, etc. This toolkit aims to make engaging this critical resource efficient, effective, and enjoyable. Each of the modules contains a short video as well as template forms, spreadsheets, position descriptions, and more.
- Volunteer Management Toolkit - Volunteer are often the ‘doers’ downtown – they plant flowers, pour drinks at events, serve on boards and committees, paint facades – the list goes on. This toolkit aims to make engaging this critical resource efficient, effective, and enjoyable. Each of the ten modules contains a short video as well as template forms, spreadsheets, position descriptions, and more.
- Needs and Program Assessment
- Position Descriptions
- Sample Position Description - Social Media Outreach Coordinator
- Sample Position Description - Clean Up Day Event Volunteer
- Sample Position Description - Facade Squad Volunteer
- Sample Position Description - Festival Event Volunteer
- Sample Position Description - Local Business Outreach Volunteer
- Sample Position Description - Main Street Flower Power Volunteer
- Sample Position Description - Main Street Office Volunteer
- Intake Forms and Systems
- Screening Policies and Risk Management
- Orientation and Training
- Data Management and Volunteer Tracking
- Volunteer Requests and Project Assignment Systems
- Volunteer Recruitment
- Recognition and Appreciation
- Evaluation and Retention
- Community Building and Partnerships Toolkit - Partnerships and relationships with people and organizations working to improve your community can make or break Main Street efforts. This condensed reference guide leads you through understanding your program to saying thank you. Appendices provide examples, assessments, plans, and more.
- Webinar: National Standards of Accreditation - Oct. 27, 2022
- Webinar: Selecting a 501(c) Tax-Exempt (Non-Profit) Status (part 1) by KC McFerson
- Webinar: Selecting a 501(c) Tax-Exempt (Non-Profit) Status (part 2) by KC McFerson
- Webinar: Junior Main Streets
Resources for Main Street Program Managers
Design puts Main Street into top physical shape by capitalizing on assets — such as historic buildings and pedestrian-oriented streets; creating an inviting atmosphere (attractive window displays, well-managed parking areas, building improvements, street furniture, signs, sidewalks, lights and landscaping); instilling good maintenance practices; and enhancing the physical appearance by rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging appropriate new construction, developing sensible design management systems, and long-term planning.
Architectural Services
- Official Colorado Main Street communities and their business and building owners can request assistance from our full-time architect, Larry Lucas, using this online form.
- Webinar: Colorado Main Street Architectural Services
Heritage Energy
- The Heritage Energy Approach was developed to assist rural Colorado Main Street building and business owners to better reinvest in their historic properties. Sustainability has long been the overarching goal of both historic preservationists (heritage conservation) and energy conservationists (environmental conservation).
- Resources and Incentives Guide
- Webinar: Energy Funding for Main Streets
- Webinar: New Synergy in Historic Preservation & Sustainability
Preservation
- The Main Thing - Spring 2023 (Design - Preserving the Past for the Future)
- Webinar: Main Street Design 101
- Webinar: Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Historic Preservation
- Webinar: Main Streets and Certified Local Governments
- Understanding Certified Local Governments in Colorado
- Preservation and Energy Funding Resources
- Webinar: Preservation Tax Credits
- Webinar: Appropriate Infill for Historic Main Street Districts
- Video: Upstairs Downtown Part 1: The Housing Opportunity
- Video: Upstairs Downtown Part 2: Making Housing Happen
- Webinar: Colorado Youth Corps Association
- Webinar: Resources for Your Downtown
- Webinar: Preservation Funding
- Webinar: Layering Preservation Incentives for Local Governments (recording, slides)
Street Scape
- The Main Thing - Spring 2022 (Designing Main Street)
- Webinar: Colorado Downtown Streets - A Tool of Communities, Planners and Engineers
- Colorado Downtown Streets Toolkit
- Webinar: Appropriate Infill for Historic Main Street Districts
- Webinar: Colorado Youth Corps Association
- Art in the Public Right-of-Way Guidelines (Colorado Department of Transportation)
Placemaking
- “Creative Placemaking: How to Do It Well” – article from Community Development Investment Review
- Project for Public Spaces
- Community Heart & Soul
Public Art
Promotion sells a positive image of the commercial district and encourages consumers and investors to live, work, shop, play, and invest in the Main Street district. It markets unique characteristics (through advertising, media relations, retail promotional activity, special events and marketing campaigns) with an effective promotional strategy forges a positive image. Promotion also improves consumer confidence and encourages commercial activity and investment by identifying and appealing to market niches.
Resources
- How-To Guide: Social Media, Walking Tours, Photos Contests
- Oral Histories - A link to History Colorado's collection for inspiration; a tutorial on editing sound; and the recording of a webinar for Main Streets
- The Main Thing - Winter 2023 (Promotion - Developing Your Brand)
- The Main Thing – Fall 2021 With articles on shopping small in Woodland Park, an elf hunt in Windsor, and restaurant week in Steamboat Springs, along with a how-to guide and timeline, as well as a video highlight of Wellington.
- Video: Communicating the Value of Your Main Street Program
Economic vitality strengthens a community’s existing economic assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base to create jobs and to respond to today’s consumers’ needs, and to boost the profitability and sales tax revenue of the district. Main Street sharpens the competitiveness of existing business owners, fosters entrepreneurial start-ups and expansions, recruits compatible new businesses and new economic uses, and converts unused or underused commercial space into economically productive property.
Resources
- Webinar: Small Business Development Centers
- The Main Thing - Summer 2023 (Economic Growth on Main Street)
- The Main Thing - Summer 2022 (Developing Dynamic Districts)
- Webinar: Main Street Market Opportunity Reference Guide
- Webinar: Growing Your Outdoor Recreation Economy
- Webinar: Upstairs Downtown
- Webinar: Construction Mitigation
- Webinar: Think Like a Developer