Main Street Lansing’s Curt Snitker honored with Volunteer of the Year Award at Main Street Iowa Awards celebration


Curt Snitker, owner of Archive on Main in downtown Lansing, was presented with a Volunteer of the Year Award at the annual Main Street Iowa Awards celebration held May 1 in Des Moines. Snitker is the chairperson for the Design Committee of Main Street Lansing and is described as “an integral part of the Main Street Lansing program.” Pictured above at the awards presentation are, left to right, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, Curt Snitker, Main Street Lansing President Bruce Palmborg and Director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority Debi Durham. Submitted photo.

Main Street Iowa hosted its annual awards celebration Friday, May 1 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center (Iowa Events Center) in downtown Des Moines. The event to recognize local Main Street projects, activities and volunteers was attended by approximately 500 individuals representing communities across the state. Competitive nominations were submitted for 107 projects and activities within the five categories of design, economic restructuring, organization, promotion and overall program. Twenty-one projects received winner awards recognition and nine received honorable mention.
The honors were presented by Governor Terry E. Branstad and Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). In addition to the competitive nominations, individuals, couples or co-chairs representing the 52 Main Street programs were recognized for their outstanding dedication and volunteer service. The program directors accompanied their volunteers on stage as they received their certificates.
Among those individuals recognized was Curt Snitker, owner of Archive on Main in downtown Lansing and chairperson of the Design Committee for the Main Street Lansing program. “Congratulations go out to our 2014 Volunteer of the Year, Curt Snitker!” shared members of the Main Street Lansing Board of Directors. “When he’s not busy running the popular Archive on Main store in downtown Lansing, Curt spends countless hours each month helping to make Lansing a better place. Curt is an integral part of the Main Street Lansing program. He chairs the Design Committee and also takes special interest in Main Street’s appearance by organizing the spring clean-up and annual plantings.”
“In my 1985 Condition of the State address to the Iowa Legislature, I proposed finding the funds to create Main Street Iowa,” stated Governor Branstad. “We knew from the very beginning that Main Street was not a quick-fix solution, but rather an incremental approach to fostering positive change. In my travels across the state, I have seen the program at work in small towns, mid–size cities, urban centers and neighborhood commercial districts. It has had far greater impact than we ever could have imagined in 1985.”
In its 29-year history, Main Street Iowa has tracked over $1.4 billion in private investment in the purchase, construction and rehabilitation of property in participating commercial districts, significantly increasing the state’s job and business base. In addition, over 2.5 million hours of volunteer time have been logged collectively by local main street organizations.
“Healthy historic commercial districts are a key deciding factor for industrial and business recruitment. Main Street Iowa brings jobs, investment and new businesses to our downtowns and historic commercial neighborhoods,” said Durham. “Taxpayers are certainly getting their money’s worth. In FY14, for every dollar the state of Iowa has invested in operating the state Main Street program, the private sector in those communities has invested $93 into building improvements and acquisitions.”
In 1985, the Iowa Legislature adopted the National Main Street Center’s Four Point Approach® to district revitalization by establishing Main Street Iowa within the agency that is now the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Since its inception, the state program and its communities have been considered examples of excellence in the national effort to revitalize historic commercial districts across the country.
For more information about Main Street Iowa and how all Iowa communities can access commercial revitalization assistance through the Iowa Downtown Resource Center, visit iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/IDRC/MainStreetIowa, e-mail mainstreet@iowa.gov or call 515-725-3051.