Amy Stracener named Volunteer of the Year at first Main Street Lansing Annual Meeting held since 2019


Main Street Lansing 2022 Volunteer of the Year ... Amy Stracener was selected as Main Street Lansing’s Volunteer of the Year at the organization’s annual meeting Wednesday, March 16. Pictured above at the award presentation are, left to right, previous Volunteer of the Year award winner Maryann Baldwin, 2022 Volunteer of the Year Amy Stracener and Main Street Lansing Executive Director Andy Kelleher. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond.

by Julie Berg-Raymond

Amy Stracener was named Volunteer of the Year during Main Street Lansing’s (MSL) 2022 annual meeting held Wednesday, March 16 at the Safehouse Saloon in Lansing. MSL held three annual meetingsin one that night, because COVID shutdowns across the state went into effect four days before the 2020 meeting was to be held.

Describing Stracener’s volunteer work in the organization, MSL Executive Director Andy Kelleher said she “has played a major role in creating successful outreach and marketing materials for Main Street Lansing. Her marketing experience has allowed her to provide numerous methods to improve the program’s communications, and her work to draft MSL’s physical PR material has enhanced the program’s visibility. As a member of the promotions committee, she has provided valuable insight that resulted in very successful promotions. Her effective fundraising efforts ensure the continued sustainability of Main Street Lansing.”

Stracener, manager of marketing at Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank, is married to Ken; they have one daughter (Shay in New York) and one son (Taylor in Los Angeles). “I’m honored to be recognized among a great group of people committed to seeing Lansing prosper and grow,” she said, after receiving the award.

In his presentation of the annual report, Kelleher focused on the way the organization’s focus has shifted as a result of the pandemic. He noted that one thing hasn’t changed, though - optimism about continuing growth in the community.

In 2019, Main Street Lansing conducted an intensive market study to evaluate conditions downtown and find ways to strengthen businesses and the community. “The survey received 539 responses, which blew our state consultants away,” Kelleher said. “Communities are lucky to get more than 10 percent of their populations to respond to surveys, so our rate of more than 50 percent was phenomenal.”

Kelleher noted that the fact the market study had been conducted was especially useful when businesses were re-opening after the COVID shutdown. “We were able to conduct another survey and see how perceptions had changed over time,” he said. “Surprisingly, people were just as optimistic about the growth happening downtown.”

As a result of the market study, Kelleher said, Main Street Lansing developed two main transformational strategies moving forward. “The first is a focus on outdoor recreation and tourism, which in practice means that we are working to better connect outdoor recreation activities to downtown and vice versa,” Kelleher said. “Some steps we’ve taken to further this goal are signage, like in the plaza, developing maps, and hosting social media and marketing trainings.”

The second transformational strategy the organization is focusing on is improving downtown infrastructure - “which means improving both public and private spaces to make Lansing more accessible, age-friendly, and vibrant,” he said. “Some steps we’ve taken for this are working with the City to begin planning streetscape work, applying for grants to renovate the Main Street Plaza and create housing opportunities, and trying to start a countywide building facade improvement program.”

INFORMATION HUB
Kelleher said that during the COVID-19 shutdown and beyond, Main Street Lansing’s office became an information hub, providing updated government information and grants not only to the community, but also to organizations across the state who joined the organization’s mailing list. “At one point one of our communication emails was highlighted in a national webinar discussing excellence in COVID work,” he said. “We maintained a constantly updated business guide showing hours and offerings as the situation changed every day. Main Street Lansing helped secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants, and we continue to share opportunities as they are created. Our community only lost one business to COVID, and I feel very fortunate that we are a town that can say that. We supported our businesses and we got through something that could have ruined us.”

HIGHLIGHTED SUCCESSES
“A lot of people view Main Street organizations as nothing more than event promoters,” Kelleher said. “But the pandemic allowed people to see other aspects of our program.”

Among the successful efforts MSL has made toward strengthening businesses, for example, is its relationship with the Kee High School STEM BEST program, “helping students bring their business dreams to life,” Kelleher noted. “One project I’d like to highlight is the renewed farmer’s market developed by Daniel Wagner. He had a vision, and he has worked hard to develop a strong foundation for a farmer’s market here in town. It will be happening this summer, over in Clear Creek Park, and I’m sure it will be a success.”

Additionally, MSL has been a part of regional childcare meetings, with a goal of creating a childcare solution for the Lansing/New Albin area. “Workers won’t live in a place if they don’t have anyone to care for their children,” Kelleher said. The organization also has been attempting to secure grant funding to assist with economic adjustment concerning the closure of the Alliant Energy Power Plant; and it has been working to find housing solutions in the community.

Top goals for 2022, Kelleher said, include continuing to fill vacant storefronts; more physical improvements to downtown; updates to the Main Street Plaza; and increased way-finding signage.

AWARDS
Kelleher noted awards received by community members and businesses over the past three years - including Coffee on the River, which won the Best Small Commercial Project award from Preservation Iowa for the work of turning their space into a coffee shop. Kelleher, himself, won an award for his COVID communications efforts; and two volunteers were recognized as Volunteers of the Year for their dedication to serving the community - Ellen Modersohn and Maryann Baldwin.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nominations of members to the Board of Directors were approved; all were incumbents who have previously served on the Board. Maryann Baldwin owns Lansing Office Works and serves as co-chair of the promotions committee. Melissa Hammell owns Simply Salon and is the mayor of Lansing. Bruce Palmborg is retired and currently served as board president. Chris Troendle is vice president of Lansing Housing Products.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Since the program’s inception, MSL has recorded more than 27,000 volunteer hours. “In 2022, we will have many volunteer needs,” Kelleher said. “The most obvious one is RAGBRAI, which needs hundreds of people working together to pull off a successful event.”

Beyond RAGBRAI, Kelleher said, MSL can always use volunteers for its four committees: Economic Vitality, which works to strengthen the downtown business community and develop ways to encourage business growth; Promotions, which sponsors events and joint advertising; Design, which focuses on visual aspects downtown including historic preservation and flower planting; and Organization, which helps with social media, communications and fundraising.

Like all Main Street Lansing volunteers, this year’s Volunteer of the Year Award recipient Amy Stracener gives of her time and energy because she believes in her community and wants to return something of what it has offered her. “I love the river, fishing, kayaking and all the advantages of small-town living,”

Stracener said. “Saying hello to people on my walk to work; the camaraderie; and the willingness of the town to pull together.”

For more information about volunteer opportunities, go to www.lansingiowa.com.