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How are metrics looking half way through 2024?
by Casey Woods, Executive Director | July 4, 2024
| Can you believe we are half way through 2024? As we gear up for an August through December run that is chalk full of initiatives, let’s take a moment to check in with progress made through the first half of the year. Main Street utilizes the Main Street America “Four Point Approach” to generate sustainable economic opportunities, and the following assessment will utilize those four points to highlight areas of impact. Design- The Design point focuses on the built environment, not simply from a “let’s make things look pretty” perspective, but from a “let’s program and activate this space” concept. Some design wins over the past few months include: -Upper Story activation -A new interactive mural -Conducting over twenty downtown cleanup activities -New cleanup tech -Internal/external placemaking assistance for businesses -Historic Tax Credit partnerships -Adopt a Garden -Leading community pride by example -Providing design enhancements at local events to improve socialization and community support -Conducting state design assessments to provide building owners with graphic representations of potential building upgrades -Working with the Fabrication Lab to produce 3D printed eggs for downtown easter egg hunts that highlighted local businesses -Working with the Fabrication Lab to produce new fairy doors with heat resistant printable materials -Creating Girls Basketball State Posters to support the EHS Lady Spartans basketball team through the Fabrication Lab Business Enhancement- As the name would imply, the Business Enhancement team focuses on business trends, resources, and other forms of assistance to help start, grow, and sustain local businesses. The following are some Business Enhancement wins over the past few months: -The first ever HOPE VI grant in Emporia -GrowKS expansion -Show of Hands -Network KS/Lyon County E-Community loans -Accurate data reporting for economic impact calculation -HEAL Grants -ROOM Grants -New target sector business openings – Fabrication Lab production to support new businesses and emerging local technology through product creation/prototyping -Generating teacher appreciation gift certificate purchase portals for local schools -Enhancing the Emporia Main Street jobs board to connect local job seekers to member businesses -Providing multiple IWW, E-Community, and GrowKS loans to area business interests Organization- The Organization/Board focuses on organizational sustainability, volunteer efforts, and pushing innovation. Since January 1st of this year, here are a few of the Organizational accomplishments: -Enhanced community messaging and support through the Hype Team and Hype Hounds -A sold out Taste event -An extremely successful dueling pianos/auction event -One of only twelve Kansas communities to achieve accreditation status through Main Street America and Kansas Main Street -Finishing 2nd nationally in a USA Today “Best Main Street” poll -Hosting a Governor’s visit where Emporia Main Street was referred to as “the blueprint for Main Street programs in Kansas”. -Invitation to speak at the National Main Street conference -Selection as one of eight national economic development organizations to generate an educational software platform for entrepreneurs -Awarded a “Regional Resource Cultivation Award” by Network Kansas -Assisting in two regional summit activities to enhance economic/community development throughout the broader region -Being featured on the Main Street America podcast to highlight unique programming through Emporia Main Street -Creating a series of community/events pride maps and merchandise through the Fabrication Lab -Being named one of the 7 most walkable communities in Kansas by World Atlas -Participating in multiple regional television interviews to highlight area businesses/events -Working with a local media outlet to highlight area athletes through Fabrication Lab produced items -Being named one of the seven best downtowns in Kansas by World Atlas -Accumulating hundreds of pounds of items sent to local soldiers deployed overseas through soldier care package programs -Partnering with a local financial institution to collect eclipse glasses for reuse in Latin America Promotion– Many people think of promotions as “huge events”, but it’s more than that. Promotions is market identification, understanding our regional demographics/psychographics, forming a cogent plan for outreach to target customers, highlighting brand awareness, and hosting activities that drive traffic in proximity to commercial centers. The following are some things accomplished since January 1 of this year: -Utilized Placer data to design outreach for state basketball. -Assigned weekly hype outreach to promote entrepreneurial support -Hosted four grand opening event activities -Worked with Emporia State University for incoming freshman activities -Supported elements of St. Patrick’s Day activities to encourage local traffic. -Co-Hosted the Cinco de Mayo and Dynamic Discs Open Block Parties -Produced targeted outreach for area graduations to encourage business traffic -Provided logistical support for the Flatland Cruisers Car Show downtown -Conducted promotional outreach to participating teams/visitors for the Division II National Track and Field Championships -Hosted the Unbound Gravel finish line party -Produced the Spring Shop Hop -Hosted the PDGA Masters World Championship Fly Mart and Pub Crawl -Co-hosted the first ever Jigsaw Jam competitive puzzle competition -Provided logistical support for local PRIDE celebrations -Utilized Placer data for Shrine Bowl outreach -Promoted a “light the launch” activity for local cyclists -Produced a cooperative summer events, Valentines, Spring Break, and St. Patrick’s Day landing pages for area residents and visitors -Utilized our “win it Wednesday” concept to highlight local businesses and events through Emporia Main Street’s substantial social media reach. -Promoted our first Emporia State University “meet and greet” -Featured in a nationwide podcast for the ACLU highlighting inclusive activities Let’s look at some actual metrics for both the downtown, and the City of Emporia from January 1, through June 30, 2024:  The year started off slowly, with January’s extreme weather causing some significant issues for local businesses. Once some of the significant events hit the community, visitation numbers increased significantly. The one positive outlier prior to the main event season was State Basketball; that event continues to drive crowds and support local businesses with visitor traffic. There are some concerning trends within the data set that we will need to rectify. A decreasing average dwell time means consumers are likely visiting fewer stops when they come to the downtown area. We need to do a better job establishing visitation nodes for those coming to the downtown area. Although visitations overall are up, they are increasing at a decreasing rate. Growth isn’t infinite, but this shows that we have work to do in establishing a more diverse destination business base, creating replacement opportunities for staple items, enhancing consumer density (continuing upper story housing initiatives) and building up anchor institution populations (particularly ESU incoming students).  The traffic conduits show that Emporia is a regional hub, but our strategic focus may need to realign with the areas where we engage the most visitor travel. We should continue to engage surrounding counties as valued partners in growing the entire region, but we have some work ahead to establish new conduits to act as a connection point between the state’s two largest economic regions (Kansas City and Wichita). |
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The visitor heat map shows a definite corridor for focused marketing efforts and engagement activities. Emporia exists in the center of the population center of Kansas, with solid transportation options that need leveraged in a more cogent manner. Saturday and Friday are two of our largest visitation days within the downtown area, though late night traffic is lower than in years past. More concentrated efforts on reaching destination entertainment visitors is probably necessary. Sunday traffic continues to be an opportunity, and as more destination businesses engage Sundays (some recently opened; some set to open over the coming months), we may have an opportunity to target day trippers and act as a series of “third space” gathering spots. Later hours (the top two usage times for visitors are 6:00-7:00 p.m. and 5:00-6:00 p.m.) are necessary to engage a visitor population. Saturday visitations are still king, and a weekend focus for marketing efforts works best when businesses are working to align business goals with visitor behaviors.  City wide data has shifted over the past few months. Some of the shift is outside of the control of the community (hotels might be full for outage, but that has an impact on short term visitations, for example). We have to remain cognizant of differential marketing that understands our competitive advantages and disadvantages in the broader region. The visitor goal should be engagement with unique community elements and unique community businesses. Downtown is heavily reliant on major events to act as an introduction to unique businesses and generate traffic. Major events in the context of the entire city can have a more nuanced effect.  Emporia as a whole has potential to continue to build on broader existing travel conduits and unique local amenities. Utilizing data can help us formulate and adjust community and district plans to maximize visitor impact. The heat map above shows the extensive geography of visitors that came to our community over the first six months of the year. Individual business traffic patterns will vary wildly in relation to the overall market. One of the many services Emporia Main Street provides our member businesses is a detailed analysis of traffic and usage patterns. We have data sets that extend back seven years, and we can help you understand changes in the market and in your customer patterns. We can also work with you to determine “like” businesses in similar communities to conduct research on ascending business strategies in your industry. Contact Emporia Main Street if you would like assistance. |