Main Street Madison planning some exciting events, developments

Hello Madison and all of our neighbors! Since our last update, Main Street Madison (MSM) completed a Workplan Training session, which essentially functioned as a kickstart for each of our committees! As a reminder, the Main Street Madison committees are aligned with the 4 Points of Main Street (a proven 50+ year approach for downtown revitalization). These points/committees are: Design, Organization, Promotion and Economic Vitality. This was an exciting session as it was the first time some of these committees had met as a full group.

This session/kickstart trained our committee members in the benefits and process of creating a workplan. As you might expect, the workplan defines the goal and each task required to meet that goal. Each task is assigned an owner and date of completion. In this way, it takes assumption completely out of the process. As Main Street is largely a volunteer organization, we understand that our volunteers have a lot on their plates and are donating precious time to our organization, so this helps ensure that we are all on the same page with the same expectations. Once a workplan has been completed by a committee, it is submitted to the MSM board for approval. And once approved…. Then they’re off! Off to do all of the important things that are part of our mission in building a strong foundation and supporting our downtown businesses and the local economy.

Here’s a peak at some of things our committees are busy working on :

Design

Stay on the lookout for new downtown banners, more places to sit, district signage and other exciting developments. We have an excellent committee working on all things design – including business and property owners, architects and landscape architects.

Promotions

We are super excited about our upcoming events: On April 30th there will be a Madison City Schools (MCS) Math on Main event. This family math night, open to all Madison City elementary schools, was held last year at Midtown Elementary and MSM is thrilled to partner with MCS to hold the event downtown this year. Look for free, fun family friendly math-themed activities throughout the downtown (last year there were “math escape rooms”!) One of the goals of this event is to walk away with fun activities that families can do together during the summer break. There will be food trucks available in addition to the dining options we have downtown. Look for the formal announcement soon on social media!

Main Street Madison is also thrilled to announce an inaugural block party event, “Taste of Downtown Block Party” on May 16th. Look for tapas-sized bites from our five restaurants – everything from a Cajun sausage boil to dessert! We will have fun activities for kids, live music and you can enjoy the beautiful spring weather outside with your green cup, don’t forget we are an Entertainment District! Look for tickets to go on sale soon.

Our 2nd annual Adult Easter Egg Hunt is happening on April 4th. To join in the fun, meet in Garner Alley for a quick overview of the rules and guidelines and then hunt away! You may win some prizes while visiting our participating businesses. Afterwards, enjoy lunch, get a green cup and support our retail shops!

Other happenings – did you know that a Nashville traveling music festival is coming to downtown Madison?! It is called All-Nashville Roadshow and will be traveling to Home Place Park on the evening May 9th. Get your tickets before they sell out! www.allnashvilleroadshow.com/madison-al Let’s show them our amazing community so they will come back!

Economic Vitality

Our Economic Vitality committee is working to set up one-on-one meetings with each of our downtown business owners to understand what we, as an organization can do to support them and to start researching those technical and financial resources. They will also be researching new financial incentives for building rehabilitation and development.

And did you know we have three new retail spaces that will be opening soon? Look for the Main Street Cafe Catering Kitchen on Short Street, next to the MSM office. There are also two retail spaces nearly complete at Wise and Main.

Organization – which is the heartbeat of MSM, is working hard to nurture and develop our relationships: We are working with the City of Madison and a community-wide task force to celebrate America’s 250th birthday! Stay tuned for all kinds of fun announcements regarding parades, fireworks and other surprises.

MSM, which operates on public-private partnerships, is grateful to have support from the City of Madison and our community. MSM is here solely to support our downtown small local businesses in all of the 4 Points of Main Street. The City of Madison truly cares about small business, as evidenced by Mayor Bartlett’s Small Business Council formation. MSM was fortunate to meet with Mayor Bartlett to discuss how the council and MSM can collaborate together to ensure success of small businesses both in and outside the MSM district.

Go to mainstreetmadison.org to learn more about Main Street Madison and to keep with upcoming events.

Jen DeLessio, Executive Director | Main Street Madison | mainstreetmadison.org