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Monthly Program | Main Street: A Proven Strategy for Historic Small Towns

Wednesday, May 13 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Virtual Event

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society welcomes Erin Barnes, President and CEO of Main Street America!

This in-person program is free and open to the public.  All ages are welcome to attend.

PARKING: Both Shepherdstown City parking and Shepherd University Campus parking are available.

  • A map of city parking is here. Meters are not enforced after 6 pm. Spots along High Street are recommended.
  • A map of campus parking is here. You may park in any of the Red lots. C and A are closest to the Byrd Center. Part of B lot is gated, but you may park in any spots near the Facilities building that are not behind the gate.

SCHEDULE

  • 6:30 PM: Social time with light refreshments. In order to reduce waste, we are asking that people bring their own mugs.
  • 7:00 PM: Presentation begins!
  • 8:00 PM: Approximate end of the program – though it may last longer depending on questions and discussion!

We will also be offering this program virtually! Here is the Zoom link so you can join in from home.  If you are not able to attend live, in-person or virtually, you can view a recording of the Monthly Program presentation later! We typically post the recording within several days.

Presentation Description –

This presentation, cosponsored with the Historic Shepherdstown Speaker Series, will address the success of the Main Street movement over the past 45 years in demonstrating the effectiveness of a combination of historic preservation, including preservation of green spaces, economic development, marketing and business restructuring strategies in strengthening the competitiveness of the downtowns of historic small towns and historic urban neighborhoods. Main Street America, with a network that currently includes 1,200 towns in 44 states, continues to adapt to changing economic, demographic and retail trends and pressures facing America’s small historic towns – which Ms. Barnes will address in her talk. Main Street America is a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which created the initiative in the early 1980s in response to historic small town downtowns throughout the country where historic buildings were decaying and business competitiveness was not being adequately addressed. In 2024, the network had $7.65B of local reinvestment and 10,126 building rehabs.

About the Presenter:

For 15 years, Erin was CEO of ioby, an organization she cofounded, designed to mobilize neighbors who have good ideas to become powerful civic leaders who plan, fund, and make positive change in their own
neighborhoods. The Rockefeller Foundation awarded Erin and her co-founders at ioby the Jane Jacobs Medal for New Technology and Innovation. She has also been a freelance writer on climate change and
other environmental issues. Earlier in her career, she was a community organizer and public information officer at the Save Our Wild Salmon Coalition in Portland, Oregon. Erin holds a B.A. in English and
American Studies from the University of Virginia and a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University.

 

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