When Florida Main Street contacted Candace Callahan, Executive Director of the Stuart Main Street program, to host a state-wide workshop earlier this month, she jumped at the chance. “This was not only an opportunity to showcase Stuart, recently named the Best Coastal Small Town in the Country by USA Today, to more than a dozen other program managers across the state,” says Callahan, “but also to share that engaging with local economic development partners like Business Flare and the BDB can well serve one of Main Street’s core points—economic vitality. And other Main Street programs need to know that.”
On the second day of the workshop, Inez van Ravenzwaaij, from the BDB and Stuart Main Street board member, spoke about the various opportunities for accredited Main Street programs to partner with their local or regional economic development organization. Understanding that one of the Four Points of Main Street programming is Economic Vitality, she outlined several examples of how they can work together. “Economic vitality is economic development,” she said, “when we work together, the whole community is served. From the Main Street district with predominantly retail, hospitality, and tourism businesses to the more significant and contributory enterprises served by the local or regional EDO, a wonderful thing happens – placemaking in a solid and resilient economic ecosystem.
Pulse survey data also tells us that businesses cite a high quality of life as an important reason why they enjoy doing business in Martin County and call it their business home; specifically, they mention “our quaint historic downtown, great dining, things to see and do, and culture. It’s a great place for our employees and their families to live.”
