As all of you have read over the past few weeks, the National Main Street Center has been doing a ‘soft’ roll out (beta launch) of the 'refreshed' Main Street Approach. http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/main-street-america/the-main-street-approach.html#.Vk52p_mrTIU
SO much information has been provided that it’s a bit overwhelming to delve into all of it. I don’t want to add to that, but thought it might be helpful to know a few things from the Texas perspective and how we are moving forward…
These are just my impressions of what I think the Refresh will look like based upon what I've gotten as I've listened to the national staff when they've presented their progress during meetings, webinars and conference calls with coordinators. And I realize that YOU all are the ones day in and day out at the local level managing and nurturing volunteers and keeping your programs moving forward, so as you learn more about the Refresh, you may have different take-aways and I'd love to hear them. Let me know.
Part I.
In my opinion, there are four main things to know…
First, it’s a Refresh, not an overhaul. But, it was way past time for an update! Over 35+ years, the Main Street framework has been shown to work so why do away with it? At the same time, after 35+ years, the framework needed modernizing to reflect the way communities and people work today.
Secondly, you won’t have to drastically change the way you are doing things if you are achieving your goals, and if your goals are distinct, focused and measurable. But a big part of the Refresh is to make sure your goals are distinct, focused and measurable. Of course, the Texas Main Street staff is your partner in helping you achieve those goals and make the necessary adjustments.
Third, the Refreshed Main Street Approach is not a random act of change. The national Center has done nationwide surveys, focus groups and approached stakeholders in many different ways over the past 18 months or so to determine needs and issues and to set this new direction.
Fourth, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We will be adjusting the trainings, retreats, board development etc. that we do in your communities to deliver to you the information you need to have.
If that’s all you want to know, you can stop reading here. If you want more details, read on….
Part II.
All of this is coming about as a result of some major changes at the national level, beginning several years ago with the re-structure of the National Main Street Center that owns the trademarked Main Street brand. That also resulted in the re-branding of the Main Street movement (including the Refresh and the new logo above) and the re-introduction of both the Great American Main Street Awards program and the National Certification Institute.
Over time as the Four-Point committee-based Approach evolved, for some it became too process-oriented and didn't always directly lead to distinct, focused, and measurable outcomes. The new terminology, Community Transformation Strategies, addresses this. Sometimes, various points of the traditional model became confusing or difficult. (I realize I'm not telling you anything you don't already know....) For instance --Design is a technical pursuit, how can volunteers be involved in that committee? Promotion had the potential to become too one-dimensional -- general events instead of promotional activities that strategically help achieve overall program goals. What should the Economic Restructuring Committee do when there is already an EDC in town? And what about organization -- isn't that what the board is supposed to do? How do we keep our volunteers engaged and active? (They're tired, and sometimes it’s difficult to keep committees filled out with volunteers....)
In the Refreshed Approach, the committee structure still basically exists; it's just turned on its head....When you do your annual planning, you'll be encouraged to establish a few (3-5 or a few more) major, overarching goals that will grow out of the real needs of the Main Street district (determining those needs might be a first step). Then, various activities and projects to help achieve those big goals will be the focus of the refreshed committees: Effective Promotion, Sustainable Organization, Design and Economic Vitality. The focus won't necessarily be on whether you have each of those committees in existence and meeting regularly, but how are each of those functions being carried out? And what are their measurable outcomes? (You'll still have to have a noticeable and effective committee- or task-leader type of framework in place to manage work. We’ll help you with that.)
Best of all, we are already doing this! Over the past few years in Texas, this kind of more strategic, outcome-based focus has been encouraged during a lot of the planning retreats we facilitate for Main Street boards and staff. In the past few months, while doing organizational planning during their retreats, programs like Celina, Rosenberg, New Braunfels, Kerrville and Longview have all established a few big relevant goals that the whole effort of the program can get behind. It's still a volunteer-based approach; hopefully it will provide an avenue to have more effective volunteer engagement.
What's coming....
- The Texas staff will be expanding our Main Street 101 training schedule during 2016 (more on that in the coming months) to make sure everyone gets the information they need. I also work with many of you each year to facilitate your annual planning retreats, so I'll be revising and refining my own process for that to integrate within the Refresh.
- National staff will be developing an expanded Main Street Approach overview for coordinators before the end of the year to help us develop our training for you in 2016.
- A full “train the trainers” session for Coordinators on the new Main Street Approach is also expected to be held during the Milwaukee conference next May.
- The Center says the fully “refreshed” Main Street Approach will be launched in early 2017.