Kaitlyn Camilleri
Six cities have been selected for round two of the Michigan Main Street program. Burton, Davison, Essexville and Lake City are among those named. The Main Street program started in 2003 and has already helped 16 cities rebuild their downtown areas.
The Program will provide training to the communities in organizing volunteers, designing a downtown, economic restructuring, and promotion.
Joe Borgstrom is the Director of Downtown and Community Services for the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority. They run the Main Street Program.
"So they'll hear not only from our professional staff in each one of those four points, but they'll also talk to the communities that are currently practicing it about how well this works in their community. So, part of it will be us from the state perspective giving kind of our professional advice. The other part is going to be learning kind of peer-to-peer learning so communities are learning from one another about how they can be doing Main Street."
Borgstrom said the communities will start at the Associate's level. To move up to the Select or Master level the community must prove they have a historic downtown.
He said, statistically, a large number of jobs have been created by the communities that have participated in the Michigan Main Street Program.
Six cities have been selected for round two of the Michigan Main Street program. Burton, Davison, Essexville and Lake City are among those named. The Main Street program started in 2003 and has already helped 16 cities rebuild their downtown areas.
The Program will provide training to the communities in organizing volunteers, designing a downtown, economic restructuring, and promotion.
Joe Borgstrom is the Director of Downtown and Community Services for the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority. They run the Main Street Program.
"So they'll hear not only from our professional staff in each one of those four points, but they'll also talk to the communities that are currently practicing it about how well this works in their community. So, part of it will be us from the state perspective giving kind of our professional advice. The other part is going to be learning kind of peer-to-peer learning so communities are learning from one another about how they can be doing Main Street."
Borgstrom said the communities will start at the Associate's level. To move up to the Select or Master level the community must prove they have a historic downtown.
He said, statistically, a large number of jobs have been created by the communities that have participated in the Michigan Main Street Program.