State of the Street: Director’s Letter

04.08.2025

Greetings and Happy Spring! This is one of my favorite times of the year. If you’re like me, you agree there’s something uplifting about the new life and activity the season brings – flowers and plants blooming out, woodpeckers hard at work, and bees buzzing. As a turkey hunter, I spend a lot of time outside during the spring months, and I love to see the changes taking place in March and April, as the woods transition from grey winter form to the vivid greens of the new year.

In similar fashion, the Mississippi Main Street Association (MMSA) has been hard at work over the past few months planning and strategizing for the new year ahead. One component of the organization’s efforts will be a five-year community development strategy designed to provide key services to Designated Main Street communities during a 2025-2030 timeframe. Based upon community feedback received regarding high-impact needs, during this timeframe MMSA will devote budgeted Community Development funds, as well as seek out grant dollars, to provide all Designated communities with place-driven branding services, community-specific economic impact pieces to facilitate increased public stakeholder engagement and support, a community marketing video highlighting each community’s unique historic, cultural, and interpretive assets, and a “Roadmap Refresh” for each community’s downtown Roadmap plan. We’re excited to have these efforts underway and look forward to seeing the impacts they will bring!

Tara Lytal and the Main Street Clinton team were also kind enough to host MMSA’s annual Directors’ Retreat in January, where we had the opportunity to gather together over a couple days and kick off the year ahead (thanks, Main Street Clinton!).

Considerable time has also been devoted over the past few months to this year’s legislative session, where MMSA priorities included getting dollars out the door to communities that have applied for funding under the Mississippi Main Street Revitalization Grant (MMSRG) program. While we did have some setbacks on that front, we are hopeful for a fix soon to ensure these impactful MMSRG projects receive funding.

On a bittersweet note, Jennifer Lay, MMSA Director of Community Development, recently announced her resignation from MMSA to take the position of Executive Director of Historic Brandon Main Street. While we are sad to see Jennifer go, we know that Brandon’s Main Street will thrive under her leadership and look forward to working with Jennifer in her new capacity!

Ultimately, I’m excited about the progress that has been made as we collectively work to enhance revitalization efforts in our respective communities. I’m excited to hear of grants received, buildings saved, and festivals planned. I’m excited to see the collaborations taking place among local Directors and various stakeholders. And I’m most excited to see where our continued work will bring us in 2025. Thanks for all you do and I hope to bump into you on Main Street soon!

Jim