Organization

Bringing people together to work toward the same goals

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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

Strategy
Operations
Fundraising
Partnership building

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

Design a Shirt for Emporia Main Street

By Jessica Buchholz | May 7, 2020

It is that time of year to start thinking about our next round of Emporia Shirts! We are accepting entries for design ideas. Entries need to be in a pdf format and emailed to [email protected] by June 1, 2020. Entries will be put into an online voting format for the public to view. When submitting…

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Emporia Main Street Rallies For a Chance at 25K

By Jessica Buchholz | April 27, 2020

Emporia Main Street Named Quarterfinalist for America’s Main Streets Contestin Celebration of Small Business During COVID-19 CrisisSupport Emporia Main Street by Voting Today from the Safety of Your Home Emporia, KS —The national small business movement, Independent We Stand, announces the quarterfinalists, including Emporia Main Street, in the 2020 “America’s Main Streets” contest. As the lifeblood of our cities and…

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Draw Your Main Street

By Jessica Buchholz | April 16, 2020

Bust out your artistic skills and show some love to our Main Street Member Businesses/Organizations. How do you participate? Choose your favorite Main Street businesses and draw their picture! Drawings can be done in any medium (pencil, pen, crayon, paint, etc.) and done in any size. List of Main Street Member Businesses/Organizations here : https://emporiamainstreet.com/members/…

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By Jessica Buchholz | April 15, 2020
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Great American Market and DK Finish Line Celebration to be held on Saturday, Sept 12th 2020

By Jessica Buchholz | April 6, 2020

We have seen several schedule adjustments over the past several weeks. The most recent being the postponement of the 2020 Dirty Kanza event. The new race date is set for September 12th- which is also the date for the Great American Market. We plan on fusing the Great American Market and the DK Finish Line…

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Small Business COVID-19 Grant Resources

By Jessica Buchholz | April 6, 2020

GoFundMe: As part of the Small Business Relief Fund, GoFundMe, Intuit QuickBooks and Yelp have each donated $500,000. Google: Announcing a new $800+ million commitment to support small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), health organizations and governments, and health workers on the frontline of this global pandemic. Hello Alice: $10,000 grants being distributed immediately to small business owners impacted by the coronavirus, as…

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