The Business Side of Main Street Kent

Earlier this week I made reference to the softer side of Main Street Kent when I shared Mary Gilbert’s weekly update on events and happenings in downtown Kent. I say softer side because compared to many of the other things that Main Street Kent has done keeping people informed and promoting downtown Kent is softer than the nuts and bolts of putting in new trash cans downtown. But my soft is another person’s hard cash and a number of the downtown business owners have said how much the free advertising has helped them have record setting sales days this past year with events like the Clydesdales and the Wine and Cheese festival organized by Main Street. The thing is, Main Street is a multi-faceted organization, and from day one they have advocated their 4 areas of activity — Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Restructuring — which is what convinced me they were worth the investment.

Downtown vibrancy doesn’t just happen, it takes a lot of work to create the right atmosphere for vibrancy to start popping. With over 20 years under its belt the national Main Street organizations have a proven fomula that works which is a big reason I felt investing in a Main Street Kent organization made sense.

Like any investment there’s always a risk of failure but Main Street had a successful track record in communities just like Kent, it had a group of energized people in Kent, and it had built in reporting and accountability mechanisms.

You don’t get to use the Main Street name just because you have a great smile. You have to prove that you are serious about downtown revitalization and if you want to keep the name you’ve got to show results. Each year the State Main Street people audit each Main Street community to make sure they’re fulfilling the obligations of the Main Street program and producing results. If a local Main Street group fails to perform they lose their Main Street status, it’s that simple.

I understand that the State of Ohio Main Street folks will be coming into Kent in the next couple of weeks to evaluate their performance against Main Street standards. From what I’ve seen, I think Main Street Kent should be in good standing but as an investor in the program I’m glad the State provides this kind of scrutiny. It gives me greater confidence in how the City’s investment is being used. Frankly, I wish all my investments came with that kind of performance accountability.

Below are the operating reports that Main Street Kent is required to send to the State Main Street organization each month to demonstrate their performance.

Heritage Ohio Main Street Program Monthly Report – January 2007

Report only those items completed in your project area.

Heritage Ohio 846-½ East Main Street Columbus, Ohio 43205

Month and Year	District/Municipality	Program Manager
January 2007	Main Street Kent	Mary Gilbert

DESIGN

Completed FaÇade Renovations ( include any work completed on building storefronts)

Building Name or Address	Amount Invested	Source of Funds	Tax Credit
None

Other Completed Building Rehabilitation Projects

(include completed work other than faÇade, on buildings)

Building Name or Address	Amount Invested	Source of Funds	Tax Credit
Home Savings Bank 142 North Water Street – add basement office	$18,000.00	Private
Vacant Building – Transohio Properties 118 East Main Street – install partition walls	$986.00	Private
Expansion of Rock Cafe 255 South Water Street – Electrical Service Change	N/A	Private
Dyer, Attorney at Law 123 North Water Street – Electrical/HVAC – remodel 3^rd floor	N/A	Private
Multifamily Housing 300 East Main Street – remodel basement	$5,000.00	Private

Other Completed New Construction

(include completed new construction other than facade, on buildings)

Building Name or Address	Amount Invested	Source of Funds	Tax Credit
None

Buildings Sold (list any property transfers in your project area)

Building Name or Address	Amount of Sale	Amount of Previous Sale
None

Public Improvements Completed Affecting District (list only permanent improvements)

Project Description	Cost of Project	Source of $
None

ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING

New Businesses Opened in District (FTE = Full Time Employee; PTE = Part Time Employee)

Name and Address	Type of Business	# FTE	# PTE
Jimmy John’s Gourmet Subs (opened Jan. 24^th)	Restaurant	3	50

Businesses Closed/Moved Out of District

Name and Address	Type of Business	FTE lost	PTE lost
None

Businesses Expanded in District

Name and Address	Type of Business	New FTE	New PTE
None

New Housing Completed in District

Address	# Of Units Created	Completion Cost	Monthly Rent
None

PROMOTION

District Promotions Completed (please indicate type of promotion {R = retail; SE = special event; I = image})

Event	Sponsors	Type	Total Cost
None

ORGANIZATION

Training Sessions Attended

Total Number of Trainings Attended	MS Manager (X)	Volunteer (X)
None

Volunteer Hours

Donated Hours
Total Volunteer Hours Donated	0
Total Hours Volunteered to Heritage Ohio	0

Fundraising Efforts

Event/Project	Source and Amount
None

Membership Efforts

Total New Members	Total Membership Amount Collected/Pledged
None

Commentary Commentary by Committee

Design:

Promotion:

Made three presentations to the community at the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and Jaycees.

Completed a visioning session for the public to gather ideas for the Main Street Kent project.

Assisted in planning a promotional ice carving event for February.

Spoke to a Leadership class in the business school at KSU who will be doing a market study on campus for the Main Street Kent program.

Attended a presentation by the Kent schools 4^th graders – they did a project to create ideas for improving downtown Kent.

Economic Restructuring:

Met with a potential new owner of a downtown building to discuss possible new businesses and convinced the owner to look for some type of unique retail for the 1^st floor instead of office space.

Met with the City of Kent economic development personnel to discuss a marketing study that is in progress and changes to the annual economic development promotions grants.

Worked with several different real estate agents, property owners, business owners and potential new business owners to discuss possible new businesses, expansions, etc.

Recruited a volunteer to compile a database of all properties in the downtown area.

Met with the owner of the old hotel and toured the facility.

Organization:

Set up Main Street office – phone, internet, painting, etc.

Trained KSU student and resident volunteer who will be working in the office.

Board of Directors discussed plans for visioning session, plans for work plan development and completing the Code of Regulations for the organization.

Joined:

· Chamber Economic Development Committee

· City’s Parking Action Committee

· Summer festival planning group.

Program Commentary (list critical issues, challenges, and successes of the past month)

The month of January started off with a bang when a feature article appeared in the Akron Beacon Journal highlighting the new Main Street Kent project. This article was also printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Youngstown, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh papers. We even received a copy of the article that appeared in a Connecticut main street publication. This article brought lots of excitement and interest in Main Street Kent. Many calls were received regarding possible new businesses, residents interested in volunteering as well as callers just interested in offering their support for the program.

Plans for February include 1) attendance at the Main Street Institute by approximately 16 board members, committee members and the executive director, 2) downtown ice carving promotional event, 3) committee members orientation sessions, 4) Begin first phases of the work plan process, 5) Continue working with the old hotel owner – currently have a meeting scheduled with the owner and architect Jonathan Sandvick to discuss historic preservation of the building.

Suggestions for Heritage Ohio Staff (list suggestions on services or training topics; new resources; questions)