Founder of Main Street Movement Shares Story, Communities Celebrate Awards
(Mary Dupuis, May 12, 2022)
Pontiac, MI – Main Street Oakland County recently held its first in person award ceremony since the COVID-19 pandemic began, gathering at the Flagstar Strand Theatre in Pontiac on May 5.
David Coulter, the Oakland County Executive, and John Bry, the Administrator and Main Street Oakland County Program Coordinator, led the welcome and recognition portion of the evening.
It was during this time that it was announced that South Lyon and Auburn Hills advanced to Partner Level and Lyon Township and Huron Corridor in Pontiac joined the Main Street Oakland County Program.
Mary Means, the Founder of the Main Street Movement and CEO of Mary Means & Associates, Inc., was the keynote speaker of the evening with a presentation titled, “How Story Saved The Nation’s Main Streets.”
In the 1970s it was Means’ job to sell historic preservation sites in the Midwest. It was due to this job that she traveled to many different states and met numerous advocates and skeptics of the idea that downtowns could be saved.
At the time, businesses had begun moving to highways, shopping centers and malls – leaving small town America in the dust.
In neglected downtowns, often the older buildings were repainted or simply covered over to look more modern. Historic buildings deteriorated and in some places were just removed. She included images of main streets facing an empty grass field instead of another line of shops, being a “constant reminder” of the emptiness that came with the abandonment of a once-thriving town center.
Means became inspired by this to start the Main Street Project to help preserve and revive main streets.
She said she divided her plans for the project into two over-arching issues to tackle: Finding ways for communities to save their town centers and making preservation relevant to those in power.
The project spanned across three different towns for three years and Means said their goal was to prove that it was possible to have economic development alongside historic preservation.
Following the three year project the group finalized the “Four Point Main Street Approach” which can be broken down into organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring.
Means said the underlying purpose of the project is to improve the image of the main street in the peoples’ eyes and in doing so, a new narrative can be born in the town.
At the end of its first three years the Main Street Project received funding from federal agencies to expand across six states, in three towns each.
Means took this knowledge from the Main Street Project and put it all in her book, “Main Street’s Comeback.”
However, as she began preparations to finish the book, the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Means then decided to continue the book as she discovered that main streets functioned as a “built in regeneration network” and became a “vital system of recovery” for small towns throughout the pandemic.
The final product was titled, “Main Street’s Comeback…And How It Can Come Back Again.”
Means rounded out her presentation by circling back to the title of the presentation and its focus on the power of a story.
She emphasized the importance of group community visioning and strategic planning when working to revitalize main streets whilst keeping the community’s heritage and culture in mind.
Means said the story has the power to overcome boundaries and envision a new future, and that main streets and town centers can do exactly the same thing. She described how shared stories foster collaboration and pride of place within communities.
Across the country communities have followed Mean’s ideas, with Oakland being the only county in the nation to have a county-wide revitalization effort. MSOC has reached a milestone of $1 billion in cumulative public and private investment since 2001.
In addition to the presentation, attendees celebrated Main Street awards.
The Highland Township DDA received a $2,000 cash award from Genisys Credit Union as the “Spirit of Main Street” winner for its unique video themed “Live Highland, Shop Highland,” highlighting community businesses like Maher Feed and Pet Supply, Comeback Inn, and Jeni’s Ugly Pies.
The video chronicles how the Highland DDA and community came together to support local businesses during the pandemic, including $28,000 in business support grants from the Highland DDA and a community-driven crowdfunding campaign that raised $100,000 to support the Comeback Inn.
“These downtowns are what make Oakland County such a vibrant and attractive place for residents, visitors and entrepreneurs,” said Oakland County Executive David Coulter. “The Main Street program is an essential partner, providing resources, training and grants that have helped communities navigate and emerge from the challenges of the last two years.”
Other winners were:
- Main Street Leader: Ken VanPortfliet, Lake Orion
- Main Street Safe: Downtown Collaboration Studio, Rochester
- Main Street Open: COVID Relief in the Circuit Social District, Pontiac
- Main Street Innovator: Rod Charles, Oxford
- Power in Our Places: Welcome Back to Ortonville Mural, Ortonville
- Campaign for Main Street: #Stronger Together, Oxford and Lake Orion
- Transforming the Economy: The Syndicate Social District, Farmington
- Program on the Rise: Wednesdays in Wixom, Wixom
The event’s sponsors included the DTE Foundation, as the presenting sponsor; Genisys Credit Union, SMART; McLaren Oakland; Dobrusin Strategic Intellectual Property Law; and the Oakland County Business Finance Corporation.
