Understanding Downtown Terminology: Common Terms, Explained Simply Whether you’re new to downtown development or a seasoned Main Street pro, you’ve probably heard terms tossed around like “rent per square foot” or “activation strategies” and nodded along, secretly wondering what exactly they mean. We get it—and we’re here to help. Downtown revitalization comes with its own… Read More →
Plan Smarter, Not Harder: How Work Plans in Maestro Make Next Year a Breeze As Main Street coordinators, local leaders, and small business champions, you're juggling a million priorities—often with limited time and resources. But what if next year didn’t have to feel like starting from scratch? Enter: Work Plans in Maestro—your not-so-secret weapon for… Read More →
Why Your Organization’s Data is a Superpower (And How to Keep It Strong) Data isn't just for big corporations or tech giants—it’s for every Main Street program, every small town, and every community-led organization. In fact, when it’s properly collected, maintained, and used, your data becomes one of your strongest tools for storytelling, stewardship, and… Read More →
Where to Find the Data That Moves Your Downtown Forward If you’re part of a Coordinating Program or lead a local Main Street effort, you already know that strong decisions start with solid data. But where exactly do you find the information that can shape your strategies, prove your impact, and support both local planning… Read More →
Engaging Volunteers Downtown Revitalizing a downtown takes passion, creativity, and people power. Volunteers are the backbone of these efforts, bringing energy to events, beautification projects, and business initiatives. But how do you engage and retain volunteers to keep your downtown thriving? Here are some key strategies. 1. Make Volunteering Meaningful People want to feel their… Read More →
Spotlight: Ben Uzelac Ben Uzelac is our Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and the one tasked with bringing all of our designs to life. He isn’t a typical developer, he does both front-end and back-end (the stuff we see and the code that makes it work, for us novices), and he writes in more languages than… Read More →
Downtown Design Guidelines Having strong design guidelines should be a part of your organization's historic preservation efforts. As a Main Street organization, Design plays a critical role for our organization. We are often home to the most important buildings in our community, and need to ensure that those properties are preserved properly. Design Guidelines help… Read More →
Spotlight: Travis Brown If you’ve ever attended a conference, participated in a Maestro Town Hall, or watched a Maestro Training video, you may recognize Travis Brown. Travis is our Chief Business Development Officer and the Chief Conductor of all things Maestro. Travis started in Main Street in 2009 with the Historic Quincy Business District (now… Read More →
Politics Downtown It’s 2024 which means two things are for certain: we get a bonus day and an election! Ironically, by the time our bonus day rolls around, most of us will have already had our fill of talking heads and doomsday commercials surrounding the political campaigns. As for Leap Year, there are always fun… Read More →
Main Street Conferences Are Continuing Education As we turn the calendar to 2024 many of us are already planning our year. We’re blocking out vacations, scheduling our signature events, and lining up key dates. For those of us in the Main Street program, an event that should be on everyone’s calendar is the Main Street… Read More →