Blog
Design

A New Grant Opportunity – The Turnbull Facade Grant Program.
Mike Turnbull was a huge advocate for the Emporia community. His work on various community boards, including Emporia Main Street, helped the area grow and change. Mike thought about continuing...

Where is my banner?
Click HERE for a listing of the 2024 Banners at Emporia State University and in Downtown Emporia!

An Energy Dollar Saved is an Energy Dollar Earned! Understanding efficiency options for your business.
Kansas businesses spend a higher percentage of their gross income on utilities than most of the nation. That fact isn't a knock on our utility companies, it is a function...
New Incentives to Aid in Building Development
New incentives to aid in redevelopment, and strategies to "right size" buildings Development opportunities are important to the future of the community. Ensuring that existing buildings are utilized can assist...

See the Light! If you aren’t properly lighting your windows and entry points, you are losing consumer attention.
It's getting dark earlier, and that generates a needed upgrade for many businesses (especially in pedestrian areas). Lighting your windows, and all of your egress points (front entrance and alley...

Are You Maximizing Your Space?
An internal space inventory can help your business save on some static costs and drive more income streams! Successful businesses today are focused on the numbers. Costs of materials and shipping...

Transparency in Design: Seeing is believing (and makes you more accessible to your consuming public).
Our brains are hardwired with certain needs and preconceptions as we interact with our environment. Thousands of years of evolution have provided our subconscious with ways to help us judge...

Murals are More Than Paint
The Kansas Main Street network offers several different specialized trainings on topics relevant to community and economic development. Talking to area specialists on specialized topics can give us a better...

Highlighting our local art history through the quilt block project!
The East-Central Region of Kansas has a rich and diverse history that informs our present. Emporia Main Street works with partner agencies and volunteers to enhance cultural celebrations, create athletic...

A potential redesign of one of downtown’s largest parking lots requires your input!
With limited resources, the City of Emporia continues to invest in improving accessibility in the commercial corridors of the community. Public Works Director Dean Grant submitted a potential redesign of...

Experts, City Officials, Main Street Managers, and Developers from around the state talk through a type of housing that works for communities.
Communities throughout the United States are struggling with housing. Growing communities struggle to acquire land and pay for infrastructure associated with housing developments with local tax dollars. Communities with static...

New Shirts!
Purchase at https://emporiamainstreet.square.site/shop/3?fbclid=IwAR1DqvbmHt2DKjENtWAtiUZxFdLqPHHFxAkBLSKeHtImP27bZ_mxmsetCyA

New resources come online to support businesses repairing buildings, or evolving through the pandemic.
Emporia Main Street is always on the lookout for new funding opportunities to assist local businesses. There are three programs that we are going to highlight in this e-news.The Kansas...

Radical Transparency: Your customers, staff, and the general public need to hear from you in a different way RIGHT NOW
We have many positive traits in the Midwest. The people here work hard, they are punctual, people believe in teamwork, and they typically value getting things done. One of the...

Interactive Mural Encourages Community to Engage in Downtown
Last week was a fluttering of activity in downtown Emporia! The sun was shining, the weather teased of spring, Trox Gallery and Gifts held their Grand Opening and several Emporians...

Colder Weather Efficiency for your Business
Don't let your hard earned money blow out the window We had a beautiful day Saturday, and now the temperature is dropping FAST. There are some basic things you can...
Earth Day
Earth Day was Monday of this week, and each year people find ways to gather in parks as they plant trees and talk about recycling to emphasize our commitment to...
Entrepreneurs to Tenants
Millenial and Gen Z entrepreneurs grew up in a "rental" economy. Some of the reasons younger generations largely avoid ownership are economic, but some relate to long term risk aversion. ...
Utilization of the Great Outdoors
Spring is officially here, and although the Kansas weather can be a little unpredictable, we can start counting on warmer weather. As the climate gets a little more comfortable, people's...
Year in Review 2017
Each year we take one e-news and dedicate it towards looking back over the previous year. We don't want to linger in the past, but we do want to recognize...
The Homegrown Initiative
Emporia Main Street (EMS) is an economic and community development philosophy that operates within the City of Emporia and Lyon County. Using an effective four point approach, adopted from the...
4th Quarter Checkup
It's that magical time of year! Weather starts cooling down, people start thinking about holidays and businesses start promoting themselves to seasonal shoppers. As you enter the 4th Quarter (October,...
Form Over Function
Economies change quickly, and some of our purpose built structures (gas stations, banks, video stores) have a difficult time withstanding adaptations in consumer fads. Housing is changing, and entire blocks...
Spruce up Tuesday
1. Walk around the envelope of your building. The whole building... Front, back, (if you are on a corner or adjacent to a breezeway) side and look at your building from...

Honoring Our Veterans – Beyond the Banners
Emporia is the Founding City of Veterans Day. Our community holds many activities throughout the year to help support and honor those who have served. In 2014, Emporia Main Street...
A New Development Downtown
Emporia Downtown Redevelopment Group, LLC announced a major new addition to downtown Emporia. The Roosevelt Plaza & Lofts & Legacy Lofts, a new mixed use development containing forty-seven residential units...
Your answer to an important question
Last week, we asked you a question: "what type of city would you like to live in?" To contextualize the question, we gave you four different options that we classified...
What type of city do you want to live in?
ommunicating business and economic strategies to the public is difficult. In a sound bite society known for oversimplifying complex concepts, we need more effective ways to engage the public in...
How to DK
Big events are now a "thing" in Emporia. We have a series of international events that draw thousands of people into the community, but we need your help to keep...
A New Process to Honor our Veterans
The Veterans Banner project is easily one of our favorite projects at Emporia Main Street. Approximately 250 veterans have been honored through this process with photos collected, banners produced and...
Spring Cleaning
In the world of consumer physical interaction with businesses, we talk about "passive" and "active" forms of interaction. When a consumer is in "active" mode, they know the business that...
Honoring our History
One of the great parts about working for Emporia Main Street is the ability to compare Emporia to other communities. Comparative analysis is often used to determine best practices for...
2016 Year in Review
Emporia Main Street works with a variety of members and partners to push new initiatives and create new opportunities every year. We appreciate everyone's support as we work to create...
“Third Place” Creation
A few weeks ago, we had a newsletter article that referenced the term "Third Places". The inclusion of the third place ( sometimes called "Third Space") term resulted in a...
Activating Blocks
Listening to the descriptions of local citizens as they describe an area in their community is telling. In one area, a consumer may say "this block is alive" and in...
Thanks For Making Us Number One
A little preface to the press release we sent out in conjunction with the award announcement: The Top 10 Best Main Streets Award nominees were chosen by a panel of...
Talking to Property Owners
This is the second in a series of e-news articles inspired by sessions at the National Main Street conference in Milwaukee. This particular session was attended by a volunteer, and...
Can Small Towns Be Cool?
Many communities that attend the National Main Street conference simply send one staff member. In Emporia one of the keys to our community success has been encouraging board members and...
Four Point Refresh
Those of you that are familiar with the Main Street concept understand that we have a four point strategic approach. The four points are: Organization- Capacity Building, volunteer recruitment,...
A Window to your Building’s Soul
In 2004, Thomas Frank released his book "What's the Matter with Kansas?" This book held particular scorn for Emporia residents, not just because of the author's twist on the William...
20/20 Vision
Vision 2020 Emporia Main Street: Shaping the future of Emporia and Lyon County using re-development, rehabilitation and in-fill in the town center; making downtown a destination for dining, shopping, and entertainment;...
The Far Ranging Impacts of Community Design
I recently had the opportunity to attend the New Partners for Smart Growth Conference held in Portland, Oregon. I was invited to speak by a federal "smart growth" agency because of some...
2015 Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting
The Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting tends to emulate the organization itself. We have a group of super busy people that get together to honor productivity and offer thanks to those...
Emporia’s Art and Soul District
We've heard a lot about the "Black and Gold" District, but what about the other districts downtown? Emporia has an unusually long downtown for a community of our size. As...
2014 In Review At Emporia Main Street
Emporia Main Street is a results oriented organization. The culture of measurable activities that push for community growth has been fostered by you, our membership, since the inception of the...
Chelsea Lofts Coming To Downtown!
Emporia Main Street Development Group, LLC announced a major new addition to downtown Emporia. The Chelsea Lofts, a new mixed use development containing nearly fifty residential units and 1,500 square...
The Veteran’s Banner Project
All of the Veteran's Banners are now placed on poles due to the quick work of the City of Emporia Public Works department. Since the public announcement of the Veteran's...
Is Your Store Visually Appealing?
The Holidays are right around the corner (only 92 days until Christmas, can you believe it?). Is your store ready for 4th quarter? There are some very simple steps you...