Montana Main Street Affiliate Program Now Open to More Small Communities

In an effort to provide downtown economic development training and education to a larger group of small communities throughout Montana, the Montana Department of Commerce has expanded its Montana Main Street http://www.mtmainstreet.mt.gov Affiliate program by adding a new level of membership to communities with populations between 2,000 and 5,000 residents. Eligible communities are encouraged to apply to the newly expanded Main Street Affiliate program by August 25, 2008.

The Montana Main Street program is a historic preservation-based economic development program that has been used in thousands of rural and urban communities nationwide to spark life into traditional downtown commercial districts. It was developed in 1980 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and focuses on four major areas: organization, promotions, design, and economic restructuring. In 2007, the Montana Department of Commerce launched the Montana Main Street Affiliate program as a pilot program for smaller communities.

“The Main Street Affiliate program is designed for small, rural communities that are exploring downtown revitalization,” said Governor Brian Schweitzer. “This new level of affiliate membership will make downtown development training and education available to a larger number of Montana communities, and it will prepare these communities for full Main Street designation.”

In the past, only communities with fewer than 2,000 residents could apply for affiliate status. All other communities were required to apply for full designation, which means hiring at least a part-time paid executive director to manage the local Main Street organization.

“Because it can be difficult for small communities to raise the money to hire a paid Main Street director, the Montana Department of Commerce expanded the Montana Main Street Affiliate program to make it more accessible to communities that are larger than the designated affiliates but smaller than full Main Street communities,” said Anthony Preite, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce.

As a result, communities with populations between 2,000 and 5,000 can now apply for temporary affiliate status, which means they will have three years to raise the money to hire a part-time executive director. The goal, Montana Main Street Coordinator Julie Burk said, is to help some of these communities achieve full Main Street designation. Fully designated communities have paid executive directors to recruit volunteers, manage the organization’s finances, and oversee the work of volunteers.

“Since Main Street programs are volunteer-driven, it’s really important that each local community have someone in charge to manage the downtown,” Burk said.

The state Main Street program provides the following services to affiliate members:

* Main Street 101 training in the four areas (organization, promotions, design, and economic restructuring)

* Registration scholarship to the annual Montana Main Street conference, which takes place this year in Butte on Sept. 28-29

* Main Street reference materials for the Main Street volunteers

* Participation in executive director’s meetings and trainings 2-3 times per year

* Membership in the National Main Street Network

Applications for the Montana Main Street Affiliate program are available online at the Montana Department of Commerce’s website at http://www.mtmainstreet.mt.gov or by calling Julie Burk in Helena at 406-841-2756.