We are excited to announce that soon we will be able to offer a new benefit to you as an Accredited community! Next year, for Preservation Month in May, we will be hosting a historic preservation hands-on training workshop with Bob Yapp in one of our Accredited Main Street communities. The location will be selected through an application process. After a community has been selected, Missouri Main Street Connection will reach out to surrounding communities to invite them to the evening presentation, open to the public.
This service package will include:
- The evening presentation is open to all in the community and surrounding areas.
- Classroom presentation space and food and beverage costs incurred by MMSC.
- All equipment and materials are provided by MMSC.
- Two days of hands-on preservation training where building owners learn the process each day by working alongside Bob.
Day 1 Masonry
Day 2 Window Repair
The workshop will be for up to 24 building owners from the Main Street district. Each day, Bob Yapp will work with 12 participants (it does not have to be the same 12 people for each day) from beginning to end. Bob and his various assistants guide and teach each day, working on buildings in your district.
**Bob Yapp is a nationally renowned preservationist. In the 1990s, he hosted a PBS show called “About Your House with Bob Yapp,” sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Bob has restored dozens of houses and shared his expertise on prestigious projects, including George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Now he’s focused on training a new generation of old house restorers at his Belvedere School for Hands-On Preservation in Hannibal.
Timeline:
- July 22nd – Application opens.
- October 17th – Deadline to apply.
- November – Applications reviewed by the Missouri Main Street Connection Historic Preservation Committee.
- November 21st – Announcement of selected community.
- January – May – Community to work with up to 24 building owners wanting to participate.
Complete the application before spending down funds on community engagement activities.
Please complete the application before beginning to spend down the funds. All applications must be approved before funds are used.
The People Energizing Places (PEP) Grant and the Strategic Teams Engaging Places (STEP) Grant were created to meet the growing need for advanced training and assistance within Missouri Main Street communities. Recognizing the challenges faced by Main Street organizations, these grants aim to provide structured support to elevate local revitalization efforts.
PEP Grant: This two-year grant offers comprehensive services with a 75/25 matching structure, where the community contributes 25% of the total cost, amounting to $9,600. The grant focuses on advanced training and development, positioning Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) as a vital partner in advancing your Main Street program.
STEP Grant: This one-year grant emphasizes sustainable revitalization through expert guidance and individualized training. Like the PEP Grant, it operates on a 75/25 matching basis, with the community responsible for 25% of the costs, totaling $5,000. The program is designed to enhance downtown development and strategic initiatives.
By applying for either grant, your organization will partner with Missouri Main Street Connection to achieve greater effectiveness and impact, ensuring continued success in your Main Street endeavors.
The Missouri Main Street program does sometimes offer financial grants to designated Main Street programs in Missouri, but that is not part of either the People Energizing Places or Strategic Teams Engaging People Grant participants. As noted in application document, extensive technical assistance and training will be provided by MMSC as its share of the Matching Grant and contracted downtown revitalization consultants may be brought in to assist with training and paid for by MMSC.
2025 BPC Project Grant Application Guidelines - $10,000
Details
· Amount - $10,000
Eligible Uses
· Must be a visible project or initiative that can be celebrated or showcased and helps build momentum in your community for the initiative.
o Examples: community garden, familiarization tour, arts projects, placemaking, beautification, youth activities, open space utilization, murals, wayfinding, or streetscape activities.
· Must be in alignment with the potential Blueprint strategic planning goals for your community.
· Teams must work with their community coaches to discuss funding ideas, how to be strategic with project funding ideas, how to leverage funds, and any alternative or additional funding sources available.
Timeline 2025 - 2026
o July 8, 2025 - Applications open – Submittable link will be shared electronically
o July 25, 2025 – Application due via Submittable
o November 21, 2025 – Update on progress due to PDC – form will be available in October.
o June 30, 2026 Final close-out report due & funds must be spent
Teams must track/collect (for reporting)
o Photos (smiling faces, projects in action, before-and-after photos) to submit with the final report. At least five. High-resolution images.
o A story to local or regional media that highlights the project- provide press release.
o Volunteer details – number of volunteers & hours.
o Budget – Income – if additional funding available & Expenses
Budget Template: ProjectBudgetBlank.xlsx
This interface is intended to assist you in reporting on the development of your Active Transportation Plan to WalkWorks. It will document your work and the way the grants funds are being applied.
For subsequent submissions, to the extent that any one of the activities has been completed and reflected in an earlier report or is not relevant to the period on which you are reporting, there is no need to address it again.
This interface is intended to assist you in reporting on the development of your Active Transportation Plan to WalkWorks. It will document your work and the way the grants funds are being applied.
For subsequent submissions, to the extent that any one of the activities has been completed and reflected in an earlier report or is not relevant to the period on which you are reporting, there is no need to address it again.
The Pennsylvania Downtown Center is seeking session proposals for the Commonwealth's Premier Revitalization Conference | Hard Work = Heart Work: Providing Purpose Driven Solutions for Community Development. The 2026 conference will be held in Erie, PA from June 28-July 1, 2026.
The Premier Revitalization Conference draws hundreds of community leaders from small towns, midsized cities, and urban neighborhood business districts. Attendees are professionals in preservation-based, economic development and community revitalization, including both experienced and new downtown and neighborhood Main Street directors and Elm Street directors, volunteers, architects, planners, economic development professionals, public officials, volunteers, and consultants.
ABOUT THIS YEAR'S THEME
Hard Work = Heart Work | Providing Purpose Driven Solutions for Community Development, highlights the nature of the Main and Elm Street Managers who are out in our communities every day making a difference. They are scrappy, resourceful, compassionate and driven. PDC’s annual conference strives to provide best practices and real-life implementation examples of what community leaders can do, often with limited resources. We strive to inspire, inform, ignite and empower leaders to be bold and to implement change. Our hope is that attendees apply what they learn from one another and bring back a gameplan to transform their communities. This year’s conference will provide purpose driven solutions for community development and show how we can accomplish more by working together.
We are looking for Exploratory Field Sessions (mobile tours), 2-hour “How-to” Sessions, 45-minute Crash Course Sessions, and the Traditional 75-minute Classroom Sessions. In addition to proposals that bolster the 2026 theme, we welcome submissions that touch on a variety of other topics. Whether you are a seasoned pro or a first-time presenter, we invite you to share your story.
The following ideas are often in high demand:
Advocacy | Community Planning | Public Relations & Marketing Main Street or Elm Street | Social Media | Board Development | Leadership Development | Business Recruitment and Retention Strategies | Business Incubators vs. Accelerators | Community Activities and Events | Clean and Safe Solutions | Community-Based Real Estate Development | Community Greening | Improving Meeting Facilitation and Interpersonal Skills | Downtown Gift Cards | New and Innovative Partnership Ideas | Parking Management | Disaster Preparedness | Placemaking | Public and Farmers Markets | Public Art, Murals, and Arts Development | Retail Support | Small Business Assistance and Development | Smart Growth Issues | Transportation | Planning | Sustaining a Viable Organization and Fundraising | Volunteer Recruitment and Management | Weathering an Economic Downturn
Proposals must be submitted by midnight, January 23, 2026 via the Submittable link.