INDEPENDENCE – The Kansas Department of Commerce announced Thursday night, the winners of the Main Street Awards of Excellence at the annual Kansas Downtown Symposium at Memorial Hall in Independence.
The event, which began Wednesday and ends Friday, is sponsored by the Department’s Kansas Main Street program and provides community developers and business leaders a chance to network, attend workshops and discuss downtown development in Kansas.
Main Street Awards of Excellence winners in our area included,
Hutchinson Community Award – Victoria Crow
Excellence in Marketing – Website Design & Implementation
Excellence in Architectural Design – Tesori Boutique-Marty and Mike Lee
McPherson Community Award – Convention and Visitors Bureau
Excellence in Fundraising – “Burnin’ Down Main”
Excellence in Architectural Design – Venable Jewelers, Gina and Larry Venable
Excellence in Downtown Planning and Public Space Design – Julia J. Mingenback Foundation
Excellence in Business Development – Farmer’s Market, in Stafford
Excellence in Promotion – Murder on Main also for Stafford
The annual event typically draws nearly 200 business and community leaders interested in downtown development, including city and county officials, entrepreneurs and small-business owners, as well as Main Street directors, board members and volunteers.
The Kansas Main Street program helps community volunteers revitalize their city’s historic business district. The program tackles the complex issues of revitalization, capitalizing on downtown’s history and identifying the resources of the community itself. The Kansas program started in 1985 and provides management training, consultation visits, program evaluation, design assistance, business enhancement strategies, incentive dollars and training for board and committee members and program directors. Kansas Main Street is a self-help program. Staff provides technical assistance, but the responsibility and credit for success rests with the community leaders who offer time, expertise and enthusiasm to revitalizing downtown.