2014 Oregon Main Street Conference

Enhancing Main Street: Owners, Proprietors, and You!

Preliminary Session Descriptions

Wednesday, October 1

Pre-conference Tour: Discover Downtown Dayton

Join us for this special pre-conference tour to see and hear about the downtown revitalization efforts of Dayton (pop. 2,548). Don’t be fooled by this community’s small population size – from setting strategic direction, developing a brand identity, creating new community events, encouraging building improvement projects, and seeing new business openings – downtown Dayton has transformed itself in the past five years. Hear from the Dayton Community Development Association how they got started, some of their successes and challenges, and their plans for the future. Then go on a tour of the downtown with DCDA representatives as well as one of the lead architects on some of the projects to see some of the completed and on-going building improvement projects as well as a chance to meet some of the new business owners.

Tour Hosts: Kelly Haverkate, Dayton Community Development Association, and Paul Falsetto, Architect

Pre-conference Certified Local Government Meeting & Workshops (workshops are open to all conference attendees but pre-registration is required):

  • Creating a Preservation Ethic in Your Community: “Preservation is just a foo foo thing that can only be done or funded when economic times are at their best.” If you’ve ever heard this or something like this in your community, then this training session is for you. Bob Yapp walks participants through the process necessary to create a preservation ethic in your community.
  • Educate Before You Designate: Education is the key ingredient for any successful local, historic district. Should the educating process begin before the designation or after? Bob Yapp will answer these questions and provide strategies for a successful local designation process.
  • Are You the Paint Police or the Preservation Collaborators?: Learn effective ways to work with people living in local landmarks and historic districts. Avoiding the pitfalls that can turn folks against your ordinance is the key to this talk.

Keynote: Preservation Doesn’t Cost, It Pays.

You will be entertained and empowered by this fun and dynamic talk by Bob Yapp who will cover the economic benefits of historic preservation, including how to counteract property rights concerns. Bob Yapp has been involved in the restoration or rehabilitation of over 160 historic properties. In 1996, Bob produced and hosted the national, PBS series, “About Your House with Bob Yapp.” Bob is president of Preservation Resources Inc. based in Hannibal, Missouri, where he founded a school for teaching hands-on preservation skills, the Belvedere School for Hands-on Preservation.

Excellence in Downtown Revitalization Awards

Join Oregon Main Street and help us celebrate and recognize outstanding accomplishments in downtown revitalization throughout our state.It is an opportunity for YOUR COMMUNITY to showcase the people, projects, and activities that represent the great achievements of your downtown revitalization journey over the past year.

Thursday, October 2

Walking Tours

Tour 1: Historic Downtown McMinnville

Join retired Main Street Manager Patti Webb as she leads you on an exploration of McMinnville’s historic downtown. Learn about its birth 1844, when it was founded by William and Sarah Newby, through its development as a trade center in the 19th and 20th centuries, and finally its rebirth beginning with the founding of the McMinnville Downtown Association in 1986.

Tour 2: Public Art Walk

The City of McMinnville and the McMinnville Downtown Association invite you to discover the growing collection of public art to be found throughout Historic Downtown McMinnville. Twenty-two installations can be found throughout the city, but this tour will concentrate on those within walking distance downtown. Tour leader is Steve Rupp, Chair of the MDA Committee for Public Art.

Tour 3: The Granary District

Local developer Kelly McDonald will lead the group on a walk through and discussion of The Granary District. A former heavy industrial area adjacent to downtown, Kelly will talk about the transformation to mixed-use plays a supporting role to a vibrant downtown or main street. Discussion points will be focused on changes from historical uses that become outdated as communities grow and change, long term visioning, place making and community partnerships.

Thursday – Friday, October 2-3

Concurrent Sessions – Three Tracks:

  • Owners: This track will be of interest to building owners, city staff, and others interested in learning how to maintain or improve infrastructure, buildings, and streets; create a public art program; and fill vacancies.
  • Proprietors: This track focuses on developing a brand, marketing your community, assisting new and existing business owners, and building a culinary experience.
  • You!: This track has sessions geared to strengthening your organization and board, staff development, and growing your “people” and financial resources.

Track I: Owners

The Great Unveiling

Learn how to conduct a “Great Unveiling” in your neighborhood. It’s like a reverse barn-raising. Instead of putting up a barn, 20 to 40 people gather together to remove vinyl, aluminum, or insul-brick siding from a historic building in one day.

Speaker: Bob Yapp, Preservation Resources Inc.

Vacancy? Operation Increase Occupancy

Concerned about vacancies in the commercial district? In Downtown Denison, Texas, “Operation Increase Occupancy” addressed vacancy issues after the economic downtown in 2008. Since its implementation, Denison’s downtown has been increasingly successful, with 15 new businesses in a five-month span. This session will recap the "obvious" and point out the "not so obvious" things that worked in Denison. Removing weeds from sidewalks, washing windows, and decorating vacant storefronts are just the beginning of a list that is always a work in progress. The underlying theme: "You have to look like a place people would want to start a business in order to get the ball rolling."

Speaker: Donna Dow, Denison Main Street (TX)

Making Streets into Complete Streets

Can the streetscape spark economic revitalization? Hear how Complete Streets policies and standards are changing the way we view streets and their use to ensure that persons of all ages and abilities can safely travel by foot, bike, or transit in communities of all sizes. Get inspired by the successful Complete Streets-based projects highlighted in the recent publication, “Making Streets into Complete Streets: An Evidence-Based Design Manual,” as well as other recent publications promoting better streets. Learn how these new concepts , the thinking behind them, and the way planners can use them, advance local community objectives.

Speakers: Peter Koonce, P.E., Portland Bureau of Transportation, and Karen Swirsky, ODOT

Preservation 101

Historic Preservation and Main Street intersect in many ways. From listing in the National Register of Historic Places to financial incentives for building rehabilitation, the staff of Restore Oregon will provide a 90-minute overview of the basics of historic preservation in Oregon. This session will help property owners, Main Street staff, and local advocates sort out the difference between a SHPO and a Section 106 and will allow for a question and answer period to help clear up any preservation concerns you may have on your Main Street.

Speakers: Peggy Moretti and Brandon Spencer-Hartle, Restore Oregon

Engage Your Arts & Culture Community to Grow & Sustain Economic Development

In this session, participants will hear how Bend, Oregon City, and Port Orford are using arts and culture as a means to spark resident and visitor engagement and to grow economic development. In the process, they are building constituencies, political will, and forming partnershipsto support andsustain vibrant and livable downtowns.

Speaker: Brian Wagner, Oregon Arts Commission

From the Trenches: Main Street at Work in Oregon

One of the key principles of a sustainable, long-term revitalization strategy is to be comprehensive and incremental in your approach. During this session representatives from both veteran and newcomer programs will tell you about how they are working to sustain and enhance their traditional downtown "Main Streets" by building on their unique character, assets, and sense of place.

Track 2: Proprietors

Nuts and Bolts of Retail

Retail and restaurant are the lifeblood of a downtown – they generate the activity, the brand, the identity, and the excitement. But surprisingly, very few people really understand how retail works and in what ways it needs to contribute to downtown success. This session will provide an overview of all things retail: how do you foster it, leverage it, and interconnect it? And, it will provide hands-on training on retail execution, including an interactive merchandising exercise! There is an art and science to retail, and anyone can learn the science, improving retail execution for your district’s economic benefit. Speaker: Michele Reeves, Civilis, and UllikaPankratz, Design Studio

Growing Your Downtown Business District: Financial tools for your ER tool box

While the economy is slowly rebounding, many small businesses continue to struggle to secure funding for expansion or investment in new technology and inventory. With banks and investment funds focused on serving large corporate clients, small businesses are increasingly looking for alternative funding sources to build their businesses. In today’s changing economic climate, it is important to stay ahead of the curve in understanding the resources and tools that are available to support small businesses. During this session, we will review basic tools that should be in your program’s development toolbox as well as explore innovative and sustainable options that can be used to encourage entrepreneurs and help small businesses flourish in your downtown. From new SBA and USDA loan programs to crowdfunding platforms like Indiegogo, we will explore what works in today’s economy.

Speaker: Hilary Greenberg, Greenberg Development Services

Are You Ready for Business? Practical Tips to Improve Your Business Retention Program

While the economic slowdown of the past few years seems to be behind us, many communities are still struggling with a new economic reality that includes a more volatile employment base, challenging demographic and retail sale trends and tightened credit markets. As communities attempt to rebuild their tax base and create jobs, downtown programs are rethinking how downtowns function and what it means be healthy and successful. What is the best approach to take to support small businesses? What tools and strategies will attract new investors to downtown? Are there better ways to identify new business opportunities or increase sales from existing markets? During this fast paced session, we will explore how your community can build a stronger, more effective business retention program and avoid mistakes that could derail your efforts.

Speaker: Hilary Greenberg, Greenberg Development Services

Creating a Successful Downtown Brand

The principles of branding are increasingly being applied to downtowns and main streets. Using the recent branding process for Downtown Oregon City as a case study, this session will demystify branding and reveal the essential steps to develop and launch a brand strategy. It will cover the fundamentals for successful branding, the process to define the most potent positioning for a downtown, how to unify and engage stakeholders, and how to launch and manage a winning brand.

Speakers: Bill Baker, Total Destination Marketing , and Jonathan Stone, Downtown Oregon City Association

Adventures in Culinary Tourism

Place-based foods have a unique taste based on the soil, climate, and the ethnic or regional heritage of their producers. In addition to using the web to showcase the connections between place and food, communities can use food traditions to create culinary tourism opportunities. Culinary tourism models from successful endeavors will show how you can use food as a centerpiece to celebrate heritage and attract visitors.

Speaker: Riki Saltzman, Executive Director, Oregon Folklife Network

PR and Marketing Strategies for Greater Impact

Just because you have an event doesn’t mean people will come! Are you covering all the PR databases – just how far out are you marketing your event? Are you using radio, TV, print, magazines, Facebook, Twitter? What other elements do you use? Posters, flyers, banners, payroll stuffers? With great PR you quadruple your attendance, make sponsors happy and, oh yes, make your retailers happy!

Speaker: Sylvia Allen, Allen Consulting

Track 3: You!

Bad Boards: How to Kick 10 Terrible Habits

Do you serve on or staff a board that behaves badly? Sometimes the best intentioned boards get caught up in bad habits that reduce their effectiveness – or worse. This interactive session will explore at least ten common bad board behaviors, as well as solutions to overcome the bad habits that nonprofit boards fall into. We’ll also take a quick look at the responsibilities and duties of the nonprofit board, and discuss effective ways to get a dysfunctional board back on a positive path. Questions welcome!

Speaker: Stephanie Redman, Oregon Parks and Recreation Association

Downtown 2.0: Social Media Marketing Strategies for your Main Street

Social media is an invaluable tool when used effectively – most of us dabble in it with our personal lives but struggle to take that next step and engage on an organizational level. Not only can these online mediums successfully promote special events, highlight local businesses, and tell locals about what’s happening but they connect you with travelers from outside the area. This presentation will add social media tools to your marketing and outreach toolkit including best practices and content creation strategies for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and more. Come with a laptop, mobile device and/or notepad as well as with any questions you have to this interactive session.

Speaker: Alexa Carey, Rural Development Initiatives

Master Sponsorship

If you caught Sylvia Allen at our Network Meeting, you know she is a speaker you won’t want to miss! In this session, Sylvia will review the 12 Steps for Successful Sponsorship Sales and then focus on trends in sponsorship, what sponsors want, and how to endear yourself to your sponsors. You will also learn tips and techniques to be a successful salesperson.

Speaker: Sylvia Allen, Allen Consulting

Creating and Using Action-Oriented Workplans

Work plans are tools that no program should be without! Effective work plans save time, money, and headaches for your board of directors, committees, and staff. Take a look at the who, what, when, where, and why of work plan development. This session will convince you that a user-friendly work plan can be your greatest asset.

Speaker: Sara Wittenberg, Alberta Main Street

Perspectives and Psychographics of a Manager’s Life

Take a unique look at the life of a Main Street Manager. By using comics, paper dolls, and puzzles, this session should help you put your role in perspective. Take a light-hearted look at everyday occurrences, and you’ll get a sneak peak at qualities of the ideal manager. Downtown stakeholders come in all shapes and sizes, and it takes each one to make the downtown go around. Get ideas on how to maintain your equilibrium while facilitating progress. Come to grips with living in a 360 degree world and dealing with many different opinions about how you handle each situation. This session is designed to help put obstacles and opinions in perspective and provide comfort that you are not alone.

Speaker: Donna Dow, Denison Main Street (TX)

"The Art of Engagement" - Effective Marketing Strategies for Your Downtown

In this session, participants will learn how to implement a model for consistent and effective marketing throughout all communication channels to engage your target audience. Developing an integrated marketing strategy includes brand identity,identity standards, and use of targeted communications and content engagement.

Speaker: Diane Bentley Raymond, Next Step Marketing