MICHIGAN MAIN STREET PROGRAM AND PORTLAND DOWNTOWN CELEBRATE 15 YEARS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Fifteen years ago, the Michigan Main Street program was created, and Portland was in the first class of local communities to join. Today, there are 21 Main Street communities in Michigan that join 25 in Oakland County and over 2000 designated Main Street America neighborhoods and communities across the country. All are committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based development.

Michigan Main Street celebrating 15 years of service to Portland

Date: Thursday, July 19, 2018

Time: 5:30 pm Gathering & Refreshments

6 pm Remarks

Location: Portland Band Shell (Two Rivers Park, located off of Divine Highway at the junction where the Looking Glass River and Grand River meet). Refreshments will be served

MEDC Onsite Contact: Laura Krizov, Main Street Manager

517.420.8128 (cell)

Agenda

6:00 Welcome

6:00 The Honorable Jim Barnes, Mayor of Portland

Special recognition/comments

Kali Fox on behalf of U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow

Peter Dickow on behalf of U.S. Senator Gary Peters

Katharine Czarnecki – Senior Vice President, Community Development at MEDC

Local Community comments

Cory Grimminck – Chairperson Portland Downtown Board of Directors

Tutt Gorman - City Manager

6:25 Refreshments

MMS Background (www.miplace.org/communities/mms/)

• Michigan Main Street (MMS) began in 2003 and is a Main Street America™ Coordinating Program. As a Main Street America™ coordinating program, MMS is affiliated with the National Main Street Center, which helps to lead a powerful, grassroots network consisting of over 40 coordinating programs and over 2,000 neighborhoods and communities across the country committed to creating high-quality places and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development.

• MMS assists communities interested in revitalizing and preserving their traditional commercial district.

• The program provides technical assistance for communities desiring to develop their own local Main Street program by utilizing the Main Street Approach™ – a common-sense approach to tackling the complex issues of revitalization by capitalizing on downtown’s history and identifying the unique assets of the community itself.

• When a community participates in a comprehensive revitalization effort, its traditional downtown or traditional commercial neighborhood district can experience a return to economic vitality.

• MMS brochure with additional details available at https://www.miplace.org/globalassets/media-documents/mainstreet/mms-brochure.pdf

Portland City MMS Highlights (https://miportland.org/)

Attached is a summary of highlights for Portland from the MMS FY17 annual report. To date, results include:

• $3,641,999 Private Investment

• 57 Net new businesses

• 57 Façade Improvements

• 21,269 Total volunteer hours