Our board of directors leads our organization. The board of directors works along with Emporia Main Staff to engage and grow our membership, steer our overall vision, and forge partnerships with other community organizations.
Our organizational initiatives create a strong foundation for a sustainable growth of Emporia's downtown commercial district. In addition, organizational initiatives with our city and county partners benefit the entire area.
Organizational Initiatives
Community Initiated Development
In partnership with the City of Emporia, this project is for the community to proactively identify and initiate redevelopment.
Membership
Emporia Main Street was founded to serve the business needs of our members. Our board of directors works to grow our membership by ensuring that our programs provide educational, financial, and promotional value to our members.
Vision 2030
A strategic vision for the next decade, led by input from the community and our members.
Homegrown Capital Campaign
Our capital campaign raises funds to grow local business and employment in Emporia, by fostering entrepreneurship. The campaign has funded the new Emporia Main Street facility at 727 Commercial, which includes a business incubator space.
Other Organization Projects
Want to be a part of an active organization who gets things done?
Emporia Main Street makes visible and measurable impacts to help our community prosper.
Board of directors
Jeremy Johns – President
Radius Brewing Company
Aaron Sewell – Vice President
EK Real Estate
Mark McAnarney – Treasurer
City of Emporia
Tracy Weltha – Secretary
IM Design Group
Cory Falldine
Emporia State University
Eric Porter
ESB Financial
Staci Hamman
Coffelt Sign Company
Caron Daugherty
Flint Hills Technical College
Sally Sanchez
Hispanics of Today and Tomorrow
Aaron Otto
Brown's Shoe Fit
Jim Lauer
Town Royal
Organization Articles
Business Life Cycles: Where is your business at, and what is your strategy to grow?
Businesses have different lifecycles, and the strategies to support businesses can vary by business type, owner acumen, and lifecycle tools. It is important for entrepreneurs to know what lifecycle stage they are currently in, but it is absolutely critical for businesses to understand what to do as they enter into different lifecycle phases. If you…
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New business trends emerge from the pandemic. What should you keep moving forward?
One of the advantages of Emporia Main Street’s affiliation with Kansas Main Street and the National Main Street organization is training. We consistently receive access to high quality data that highlight newest business, organizational, and community development trends. We also hear new business questions that emerge from market changes, and we use those questions to…
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The New Federal Stimulus – what Does it Mean for Your Business?
Smart businesses have accessed governmental and nongovernmental resources to fit their needs during the pandemic. Those resources continue to change, and some dollars are specifically targeted to industry types that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID.The following is a version of a National Main Street outreach that has been slightly augmented to meet local needs.…
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New Kansas Main Street Incentives.
The reformation of the Kansas Main Street program within the Kansas Department of Commerce promised to provide new technical and financial resources for Main Street communities and members. Everything was derailed with the pandemic, but the state worked hard behind the scenes to provide communities with a new slate of incentives that could stimulate modern…
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Emergency Messaging
Three weeks ago we ran into an issue. We needed to contact a number of business and building owners very quickly to communicate an emergency infrastructure issue, but our access to “off hours” contacts was limited. This isn’t the first time an emergency contact situation has popped up. Although our Emergency Communications folks do a…
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Spring Cleaning – Getting Ready for Different Types of Business.
We aren’t exactly out of winter yet. We are just one week removed from a -32 degree wind chill, but warmer weather is becoming more frequent. With the weather change, a cooped up populace is looking for more reasons to venture outdoors. We are still in a pandemic, so some of that outdoor exploration can…
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