Wisconsin Main Street Program Offers Application Workshops

Communities interested in applying to the Wisconsin Main Street Downtown Revitalization Program must attend one of three application workshops presented by the Department of Commerce (Commerce )in October 2007. The Wisconsin Main Street Program provides technical assistance to local central business district redevelopment projects.

“Each year, the Department of Commerce considers communities for selection in the Main Street program,” said Commerce Secretary Mary P. Burke. “These workshops will give participants the assistance they need in applying for this program.”

Since the program’s inception in 1988, Wisconsin’s Mani Street communities have generated 3,121 new businesses and 14,224 new jobs for their downtowns.

The workshops will cover the Main Street Program, fundraising techniques, and the application process, including selection criteria for the upcoming year. Workshop times and locations are as follows:

Oct. 10, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Country Inn & Suites
350 E. Seven Hills rd.
Port Washington, WI 53074

Oct. 11, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Super 8
3209 E. Main St.
Merrill, WI 54452

Oct. 12, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
Radisson Hotel
200 Harborview Plaza
La Crosse, WI 54601

Registration deadline is Oct. 1, 2007. To apply, contact Catherine Dunlap, 608/267-3855, catherine.dunlap@wisconsin.gov.

Current Main Street communities include Algoma, Beloit, Chippewa Falls, Columbus, Darlington, De Pere, Eagle River, Fond du Lac, Gillett, On Broadway (Green Bay), Lake Mills, Lincoln Village (Milwaukee), Marshfield, Monroe, Osceola, Pewaukee, Platteville, Portage, Prairie du Chien, Rhinelander, Rice Lake, Richland Center, Ripon, Sharon, Sheboygan Falls, Stevens Point, Sturgeon Bay, Tigerton, Two Rivers, Viroqua, Watertown, Wausau, West Allis, West Bend and Whitewater.

The Wisconsin Main Street Program advocates restoration of the historic character of downtown while pursuing traditional development strategies such as marketing, business recruitment and retention, real estate development, market analysis, and public improvements. The Main Street Program uses a four-point approach -- design, organization, economic restructuring and promotion -- to help communities realize success. Some of the services that the Wisconsin Main Street Program provides for member communities are onsite volunteer training programs, design assistance, manager orientation and informational materials such as manuals and slide programs.

For more information on the state’s Main Street Program, contact Jim Engle, Commerce, at 608/267-0766.

-- Tony Hozeny