Main Street Lansing honored at State ceremony

Main Street Lansing was bestowed with the honor of conducting the Retail Event of the Year at the 27th annual Main Street Iowa Awards celebration held Friday, May 2 at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in downtown Des Moines. Main Street Lansing's 2013 “Main Street Madness” promotion earned the honors by bringing in $157,500 in retail sales during the four weeks leading up to Christmas 2013, tripling the result of the promotion from the previous year.
The award was presented by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds to Main Street Lansing volunteer Mary Palmborg and 2013 Board Member and Promotions Committee Chairperson Judy Schild. Main Street Lansing was also represented at the event by Board President Bruce Palmborg, Board Member Joe Papp, Director Dan Howard and Sue Papp, who also received an award from the Governor for being Main Street Lansing’s Volunteer of the Year.
“I knew back in December that we had done something pretty incredible,” said Howard. “It takes something special to triple a value, any value, in one year. This award goes to prove that Lansing is a very viable retail attraction; a lot of money gets spent here for the size of the population. Businesses can thrive in Lansing given the right level of marketing and promotion and that’s what Main Street Lansing’s Promotion Committee is here to do, and this award proves we’re successful at it. We know it and now the State recognizes our efforts, too.”
This is the first competitive Main Street Iowa award that Main Street Lansing has won since it joined the state program in 2012.
The event was also attended by approximately 500 individuals representing communities across the state. Competitive nominations were submitted for 77 projects and activities within the five categories of design, economic restructuring, organization, promotion and overall program. Nineteen were recognized with awards and two received honorable mention.
The honors were presented by Governor Branstad, Lt. Governor Reynolds and Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA). In addition to the competitive nominations, 51 individuals or couples who were selected by their community for outstanding dedication and volunteer service benefiting the local Main Street program were recognized during the awards ceremony.
“In my 1985 State 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 27-year history, Main Street Iowa has tracked over $1.3 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, nearly two and a half million hours of volunteer time have been logged collectively by local main street organizations.
“We must all appreciate the fact that healthy historic commercial districts are a key deciding factor for industrial and business recruitment. In order for us to create 200,000 new jobs, we need healthy Main Streets,” commented Lt. Governor Reynolds. “Main Street Iowa was created to bring jobs, investment and new businesses to our downtowns and historic commercial neighborhoods, and taxpayers are certainly getting their money’s worth. Since 1986, for every dollar the state of Iowa has invested in operating the state Main Street program, the private sector in those communities has invested $87.99 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. For more information about Main Street Iowa and how all Iowa communities can access commercial revitalization assistance through the Iowa Downtown Resource Center, visit http://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/IDRC/MainStreetIowa, e-mail mainstreet@iowa.gov or call 515-725-3051.