 
Façade grants presented to downtown Tupelo businesses
Tupelo, Miss.—The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Façade Grant Program was announced in December of 2009. Ladygug’s Children & Maternity and Barry & J.J. Thornton are the first downtown businesses to be awarded the grant. Grants of $1500 were presented to both of these businesses during the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association’s (DTMSA) Open House held recently.
In addition to a general “open house," DTMSA is showing off their new façade and interior renovations as well.
“We felt that it was important for us to lead by example. The office housing the Main Street office for nearly 20 years had not been renovated or updated in several years,” said Debbie Brangenberg, DTMSA Executive Director. “We are very proud of the results of our project and are very excited that others are also updating their facades.”
A program of the DTMSA, the Façade Grant Program is designed to help businesses and property owners upgrade and improve their building’s exterior appearance, increasing their attractiveness to new customers and contributing a positive influence toward revitalization of their respective areas.
Grant rebates of up to $1500 or 50 percent of exterior rehabilitation costs (whichever is less) are available to projects located in downtown Tupelo. All applicants are required to be members of DTMSA in good standing and projects must be submitted for approval prior to construction.
In order to qualify for these grants, projects requesting these grants must comply with the design guidelines of the DTMSA Design Handbook. These are special one-time grants available on a first come/first served basis. Funding for the grants is from the proceeds of the 2009 Tupelo Elvis Festival.
For more information on eligibility requirements for the Façade Grant Program, please contact the DTMSA at 662.841.6598. Application packets are available at 108 South Broadway.
40 Mississippi Communities receive National Main Street Accreditation
JACKSON, Miss. -- Forty Mississippi communities have recently received accreditation as 2010 National Main Street Programs.
The Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA), in partnership with the National Trust Main Street Center, has verified that each of these local Main Street® programs has met performance standards that ensure a comprehensive, historic preservation-based approach to commercial district revitalization:
Aberdeen, Amory, Baldwyn, Batesville, Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, Canton, Carthage, Cleveland, Clinton, Columbia, Columbus, Corinth, Greenville, Greenwood, Gulfport, Hattiesburg, Hernando, Indianola, Jackson (Belhaven), Kosciusko, Laurel, Lexington, Louisville, New Albany, Ocean Springs, Okolona, Pascagoula, Philadelphia, Picayune, Pontotoc, Port Gibson, Ripley, Senatobia, Tunica, Tupelo, Vicksburg, Water Valley, West Point and Woodville.
"The highly prized recognition reflects the commitment made by both state and community leaders to create economic development while revitalizing the downtown core of their towns and cities," said Bob Wilson, MMSA Executive Director. "Main Street programs play a strategic role in stimulating the local, state and national economy."
More than 25 years ago, the National Trust Main Street Center developed the Main Street Four-Point Approach® - a historic preservation-based economic development strategy that more than 1,800 communities have adopted to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial districts.
Each year, the Center offers accreditation to the local Main Street programs that meet the 10 national standards of performance. In 2010, 759 programs in the nation received national accreditation based on criteria developed by the National Trust Main Street Center.
Cumulatively, the commercial districts taking part in the Main Street program nationally have generated more than $48.9 billion in new investment, with a net gain of more than 417,919 new jobs and 94,176 new businesses.
Every dollar a community uses to support its local Main Street program leverages an average of $25 in new investment, making the Main Street program one of the most successful economic development strategies in America.
For more information on the 10 performance criteria required for accreditation as National Main Street Programs, please visit http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/about-main-street/the-programs/national-programs.html. For more information on programs of the Mississippi Main Street Association, please visit http://www.msmainstreet.com.
5 Stages of Community Development
5 Stages of Community Development
By Phil Hardwick
Mississippi Business Journal
Many experts believe that all communities move through identifiable stages, or phases. As you consider the information offered below, take a moment to think about the stage, or stages, that your communities are in.
A community is a collection of people with a common interest. The collection may be as small as two people or as large as the planet. The common interest might be social, geographic, work-related, religious or any other interest. Most people think of a geographic interest when the term community development is mentioned. In other words, community usually refers to place. The place may be a neighborhood, a town or part of a large city. The people and the physical surroundings make up the community. In this column, we will examine the stages of community development more in terms of the people in the community.
In their book “Creating Community Anywhere,” authors Carolyn R. Shaffer and Kristin Anundsen propose the following five phases of community development:
Phase 1, Excitement – Getting high on possibilities;
Phase 2, Autonomy – Jockeying for power;
Phase 3, Stability – Settling into roles and structures;
Phase 4, Synergy – Allowing self and group to mutually unfold; and
Phase 5, Transformation – Expanding, segmenting or disbanding.
While these phases are applicable to groups in general, my comments will be from the perspective of one who is often asked to facilitate groups that have expressed a desire to come together for the purpose of planning the future. For whatever reason, a community decides that it wants to change. It is in effect saying, “We are ready to build a new community.” That is the essence of the first phase. People are excited. They dream of the possibilities. They come up with a plan and a vision for their community.
In Phase Two the power-grabbing begins. This happens when some members of the community realize that other members are not what they said they were or not what they were believed to be. The community becomes no longer unified. Some members become angry, disillusioned and disappointed. They will either try to change the other member, or members, to what they thought they should be, or they will unconsciously retaliate. While this sounds negative, it is an important part of the process because this is where leaders emerge and where some fundamental issues begin to get resolved. This is where open communication and paying attention to individual and group needs results in moving to the next phase.
Phase Three is one where individuals can say what they feel, and feel like they are being heard. Criticism of the community is tolerated and considered healthy. Roles have been defined, and with luck community members are in the roles that bring out their individual highest and best use while making the most valuable contribution to the community. It is the phase when someone will say, “Let’s call on Jane for that task because she does it better than anyone else.”
In Phase Four, individuals are no longer satisfied with just pleasing themselves. They are looking to become more. The physiologist Abraham Maslow would probably call it “self-actualization.” We often hear it referred to as “giving back to the community.”
Phase Five is a rebirth in which the community sees itself as feeling the need to serve a larger community. This often happens in the business community after a company has been so successful that it finds that it is beneficial to look externally to contribute to the success of its town or, for example, its chamber of commerce.
So which phase is your community in? One way to determine that is to examine whether the community is internal, i.e. doing things for itself, or external, meaning doing things for a larger community. If the former is the case, then your community is probably in one of the first three phases. But with that thought comes a warning. The phases are not linear. Sometimes they overlap or interweave. That is why community development is as much an art as a science for those who are the field of community development as an occupation.
What if you are stuck? If you feel that your community is stuck in a phase you may want to consider changing roles and trying out new skills. You can also take time to review those plans and goals that you envisioned back in Phase One. Also, think about how the environment has changed in the community. Have member leaders come and gone? Has there been an event that has had a fundamental impact on the community? If you feel that the community is falling apart, have an open and frank discussion about why members have left the community or are no longer involved.
When thinking about community building it us useful to recall the old Chinese proverb.
Go in search of your people:
Love Them;
Learn from Them;
Plan with Them;
Serve Them;
Begin with what They have;
Build on what They know.
But of the best leaders
when their task is accomplished,
their work is done,
The people all remark:
“We have done it ourselves.”
(Author unknown)
Phil Hardwick is coordinator of capacity development at the John C. Stennis Institute of Government. Contact him at
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Pageant Brings Thousands to Vicksburg
Pageant Brings Thousands to Vicksburg
VICKSBURG, MS (June 28, 2010)- The Miss Mississippi Pageant brings thousands of fans to the city of Vicksburg to cheer on their favorite contestant to win the Miss Mississippi crown. 45 contestants will compete to represent the state at the Miss America Pageant in January.
David Blackledge, Miss Mississippi Pageant director said that the Vicksburg Convention Center will have about 2100 people on Saturday night of the pageant, 2000 on Friday night and between 1800-1900 on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Pageant week is a tremendous economic boom for the city,” Blackledge said. “People come in for 8 days from around the state to stay in our hotels, use our florists, and to shop around town especially downtown and at the Outlets.”
This year’s host hotel, La Quinta Inn & Suites, is going above and beyond to make the pageant girls feel at home. Julie Ford, sales and marketing director for MY Hospitality Services L.L.C., said that they are very excited to host the girls and feel like they are helping in the effort to promote Vicksburg in the process. Special deliveries can be made to the contestants Monday through Friday at the La Quinta Inn & Suites from 2-4 p.m.
“We have some exciting things planned for the girls that have never been done before,” said Ford. “The hotel is completely decorated for the pageant. We have each contestant’s picture on a star on her door. Once the pageant starts, each day the winners will have their stars on display in the front of the hotel.”
Ford said that the host hotel has assisted with the parents and directors including putting together tour itineraries for things to do in Vicksburg and a list of Top Ten restaurants to dine at.
“Special requests were broadcasted on facebook and we received 30 phone calls from parents and families on wanting suggestions on what to do in Vicksburg,” said Ford. “We really take advantage of what all our city has to offer to get the parents and friends out and about in the community. One family has 25 people from around the United States and we have planned their whole itinerary on things to do in Vicksburg.
“Two of our hotel properties are sold out for that week and they typically don’t sell out during this week especially with all the new hotels in our area,” said Ford. MY Hospitality Services properties in Vicksburg include the Wingate by Wyndham, Motel 6, Fairfield Inn, La Quinta, and Days Inn. “The pageant is going to be bigger than every this year.”
This year’s Miss Mississippi Pageant is held at the Vicksburg Convention Center at 8 p.m. on Saturday July 10. Preliminary pageants will be Wednesday through Friday July 7-9 also at 8 p.m. Pageant activities begin on July 3 at the Southern Cultural Heritage Center Auditorium with the Prince and Princess Crowning Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
The Miss Mississippi Pageant Parade and autograph parties also contribute to Vicksburg’s “economic boom” during pageant week. The parade will be downtown along Washington Street on Monday July 5 at 7 p.m. An autograph party at participating downtown stores will follow and stores will stay open until 9 p.m.
“The Miss Mississippi Pageant week has a huge impact on downtown,” said Kim Hopkins, executive director of Vicksburg Main Street. “The parade attracts contestant’s family and friends along with people in our community. Relatives come from all over to support their girls in the pageant. The downtown stores order special items just for this time. Parents are able to send contestants gifts and gift baskets from different stores. Overall it is tremendous for our whole community.”
“Sales go up between gifts and people shopping in general,” said Karen Ruggles, owner of Cinnamon Tree, one of downtown’s boutique gift shops. “It gives people a reason to get out and about during the summertime. The pageant is such an asset for our city.”
The Outlets at Vicksburg will also host an autograph party from 10-11:30 a.m. on Thursday July 8 in the meeting room next to Billy’s Italian Restaurant. Select stores will open early at 9:30 a.m. so shoppers can take advantage of sales.
“It’s our busiest week of the summer,” said Paige Caldwell, Marketing & Special Events for the Outlets at Vicksburg. “We are happy to help promote the pageant and host one of the events.”
Miss Mississippi 2009 Anna Tadlock will make her last public performance outside the pageant at Vicksburg’s Fourth of July “Sparks on the River.” She will kick off Independence Day festivities at the Vicksburg Waterfront with the National Anthem at 7 p.m.. Music entertainment by Super T and fireworks on the Mississippi River will follow.
For ticket information for the Miss Mississippi Pageant call 601-638-6746 or visit http://www.missmississippipageant.com. For more information about Vicksburg and Vicksburg events call the Vicksburg Convention & Visitors Bureau at 601-636-9421 or toll free at 800-221-3536 or visit online at http://www.visitvicksburg.com.
By Laura Beth Lyons
Mississippi Press Association
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The Reserve Restaurant
The Mississippi Municipal League has selected Laurel for its “Most Livable Community” Award three times in the past decade. |
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