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
2022 Year in Review
Year end reviews are important. We take time to converse with staff, volunteers, and advocates to cover activities on a monthly basis, look at metrics, and determine if we met our internal standards. In some areas, we exceeded expectations. In others, we have identified strategies for improvements. We also had several “first time” activities that…
Continue Reading >
Downtown Emporia Looking Merry and Bright
Local Organization, Foundation and City Government Collaborate on Holiday Décor Refurbishment project. Emporia, KS – As another Holiday season fast approaches, Emporia Main Street, The City of Emporia, and the Trusler Foundation have worked together to bring Upcycled Cheer to downtown. Each year after Veterans Day, city crews spend several days installing over 350 Holiday…
Continue Reading >
Rural Rise Rewind – Lessons learned and connections made during the summit.
Last week we had national leaders in the realm of “entrepreneurial ecosystem” building that attended the third Rural Rise Summit. The first summit took place in a very small community (700 people) in West Virginia, followed by a convening in Arkansas, with plans for a 2020 summit in Emporia. We know how 2020 went…. So, after several planning…
Continue Reading >
Navigating the Metaverse
Over the past two decades Facebook has risen to the top of its game acquiring sister applications like Instagram and WhatsApp and connecting with over 3.5 billion people globally – according to the New York Times. I still remember starting grad school and friends asking me if I knew about this “new site” for college…
Continue Reading >
Back to School – Support Local Educators & Businesses
August is here and that means school is right around the corner. Although we have several large events that pull people into the area during summer months, I think we can all agree that the environment changes once local school districts, Emporia State University, and Flint Hills Technical College are back in session. For the…
Continue Reading >
Leadership Goals for the Coming Year
One of the best parts of the Emporia Main Street Annual Meeting is honoring award recipients. We always enjoy highlighting the doers in the community. Another favorite part of the meeting is the new President’s “Look Forward”.Emporia Main Street has a “working” board, which is different from an “advisory board”. As the name suggests, a…
Continue Reading >