About the Community Outreach Committee
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Much of the success and viability of a local Main Street program will depend on its ability to recruit and develop new leadership, to stay in close touch with its supporters and meet their needs and to attract a large number of volunteers. This is an intense, ongoing effort that requires diligent work all year by one group-the community outreach committee-established to meet several needs of the organization:
· To recruit new members to serve on the board and committees
· To recruit new volunteers and help them find assignments they will enjoy
· To raise funds for the program’s ongoing operation
The tasks of the outreach committee are so important that many Main Street programs divide its responsibilities into three standing subcommittees: nominations subcommittee, membership subcommittee and the fundraising subcommittee.
Complete this committee member interest form if you'd like to serve on the Community Outreach Committee.
About the Design Committee
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The design committee’s purpose is to create an attractive, coordinated and quality image of the downtown by capitalizing on its unique assets and heritage. The committee’s responsibilities do not lie solely with the improvement of traditional commercial buildings: It should be involved in all aspects of design that affect downtown’s image. Such activities include analyzing parking, developing a logo, coordinating window displays, and acting as a design resource for property owners. If the Main Street program is planning to develop a low-interest loan pool or other financial incentives to stimulate interest in design projects, this committee will play a critical role in setting up and administering a design review and approval process. Many design committees make the mistake of trying immediately to establish design ordinances. An ordinance, however, is only one of a variety of measures that can be used to protect the business district’s visual quality.
The committee’s members should include people who are qualified-either by profession or volunteer interest and experience to supervise its projects. Potential members include architects, landscapers, interior designers, graphic artists, sign painters, contractors, historic commission representatives, artists, and citizens interested in good design. The committee might also include a downtown property owner and the city’s building inspector.
Complete this committee member interest form if you'd like to serve on the Design Committee.
About the Economic Restructuring Committee
The economic restructuring committee works to develop a marketing strategy that will result in an improved retail mix, a stronger tax base, increased investor confidence, and a stable role for the downtown as a major component of the city’s economy.
Because the economic restructuring committee’s responsibilities are complex, finding volunteers to serve on this group can often be difficult. To overcome this problem, the board can identify initial tasks that do not require specialized expertise, such as collecting data on downtown buildings for a retail recruitment program or reviewing and summarizing existing market information. One of the committee’s first projects might be to identify public and private community groups already active in economic development. Such groups include local development companies, development authorities and city planning, and development agencies. Set up appointments with all these groups to discuss their activities and explain the goals of the Main Street program. Ask for copies of any plans and market studies they have produced or commissioned.
The economic restructuring committee could be composed of city council members, officers of financial institutions, realtors and chamber of commerce board members or staff. Other members might include merchants, property owners, attorneys and business teachers.
Complete this committee member interest form if you'd like to serve on the Economic Restructuring Committee.
About the Promotions Committee
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The promotion committee’s primary responsibility is to market a unified, quality image of the business district as the center of activities, goods and services to retailers, shoppers, investors and tourists. The responsibilities of this committee are broad and typically include coordinating advertising, reversing negative images of the downtown, implementing special events and establishing and maintaining good media relations.
The promotion committee’s first job should be to conduct a thorough inventory of all current community and downtown promotional activities by checking with the chamber of commerce, local arts groups, the merchants’ association and all service clubs. Next, the promotion committee and the board should make some basic organizational decisions about the committee’s role and activities. Most Main Street programs have found that combining assistance to existing programs with development of a limited number of new promotional activities is the best way to implement a comprehensive, balanced promotions calendar.
The promotion committee’s responsibilities are different from those of the chamber’s business and promotion committees or those of the downtown merchants’ association. The chamber has community-wide responsibilities and thus cannot concentrate solely on the downtown area. The merchants’ association focuses on events that build retail sales and increase store traffic. The activities of these groups support the goal of creating a positive image for the downtown and, therefore, can usually tie in with general promotional activities and special events sponsored by the Main Street program. Members of the promotion committee might include representatives of the downtown merchant’s association, chamber of commerce, local arts association, school board, library, civic associations, special interest clubs, YMCA/YWCA, an ad agency or bank marketing department. Beware of the conflict of interest local radio and TV stations and newspapers may experience if their advertising sales representatives participate in the promotion committee.
Complete this committee member interest form if you'd like to serve on the Promotions Committee.