Mississippi Main Street Association

Training and education:legislative site visits were held to educate state legislators about the impact of main street. These tours took place on october 23, 2024, in clinton, november 6, 2024, in biloxi, and november 20, 2024, in booneville.mmsa provides valuable training to assist and equip directors of the 80+ member main street programs throughout the state. Continuing education is essential to grow in knowledge and skill in downtown development and preservation, and mmsa requires every designated main street program to earn a minimum of four points each calendar year (network programs must earn three points), and directors can choose from several training opportunities to receive this continuing education. Main street members receive discounts to attend mmsa trainings.destination downtown, an annual tri-state conference with main street arkansas and louisiana main street, was held in vicksburg, ms with more than 300 registrants from the tri-state area. Every designated program received a complimentary registration to attend destination downtown in september 2024. Concurrent sessions were held across three days with topics presented by 30 different speakers pertaining to the main street four point approach as well as tours and downtown networking activities. Economic vitality training was held in meridian in november 2024 with 60 attendees. Training topics included the impact of the real estate game plan grant project in mississippi, making development projects works in your district, using historic tax credits and pro formas as incentives for rehabilitation, and real life case studies in meridian, including castle, threefoot brewing company, and threefoot hotel. In october, mmsa staff presented at the mml small town conference to elected officials. Mississippi's shop small saturday retail initiative the saturday after thanksgiving was promoted in partnership with main street america and american express.in january 2025, a directors' retreat for directors of designated and network main street programs was held in clinton with 62 in attendance. Mmsa hosted an advocacy webinar in february of 2024. A main street legislative day was held with a press conference at the mississippi state capitol followed by a luncheon on feb. 19, with excellent attendance from state legislators and local directors. Organization training was held in pearl in march in coordination with the mississippi economic development council and mississippi tourism association with 80 in attendance. The training focus was building a thriving organization with strategies for success. The national main street conference was held in philadelphia, pa in may with 20 attendees from mississippi. One scholarship was awarded to the outstanding main street director of the year to attend the national main street conference.mmsa works with main street america to evaluate each local program for annual accreditation based on six national standards, and this list of nationally accredited communities was announced in may 2025. The 2025 annual awards luncheon was held in jackson with 327 attendees, and 45 awards were presented to downtown revitalization leaders across the state. Mmsa board members, investors, sponsors, local directors and members, local board members, state and local elected officials and partners attended the celebratory luncheon.

Special projects/partner collaboration:in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the mississippi hills national heritage area funded two grant projects. The first grant project was the development of economic impact marketing pieces where each designated program in the hills region received marketing pieces that capture the economic impact statistics for each community, as well as supplemental information that captured the community's local assets for promotion. The second grant project was the mississippi real estate redevelopment game plan project for eight communities in the hills region ($4,000 per community) that consisted of a 1.5 day process involving market data review, community engagement walking tour and property recommendations including pro formas for 3-5 properties in each of the downtown districts.mmsa opened the mississippi main street revitalization grant program (mmsrg) in july of 2024. This program was developed in partnership with the mississippi development authority and the mississippi department of archives and history to provide funds for downtown revitalization projects in mississippi's designated main street communities and later expanded to include all 501c3 or c6 entities with downtown revitalization organizations. Grant funds were available on a competitive basis for eligible projects up to $500,000 per community. With the 2024 grant program, nine main street member programs submitted applications that were vetted by the mmsa board of directors, and eight were put forth to the mississippi development authority and the mississippi legislature with a list of these prioritized projects in the fall of 2024. All eight projects were approved in hb1085 by the mississippi legislature for funding in april 2025. However, gov. Tate reeves vetoed the bill over language concerns, and mmsa and mda will work with his office to update the mmsrg legislation to ensure future funding of projects. The mississippi main street revitalization grant (mmsrg) program exists as an ongoing program under state statute to provide funds through the mississippi development authority for downtown revitalization projects in mississippi's local main street communities. The governor did sign the general appropriation bill in june that included $500,000 to mmsa for statewide support and operations.more than $8 million dollars in arpa funds appropriated to mmsa designated communities by the mississippi legislature in 2022 and 2023 continue to be implemented in downtown revitalization projects across the state.the mmsa team presented one session at the mississippi municipal league conference in january 2025, working to educate elected officials on the importance of supporting main street efforts in community development. Mmsa staff regularly speak at public and community events about the work of main street. Mmsa partners regularly on special projects and trainings with the mississippi department of archives & history, mississippi economic development council, mississippi heritage trust, msu stennis institute, mda, fred carl jr. Small town center, mississippi tourism association, and the mississippi arts commission. Mmsa sees these partners as extensions of mmsa staff and additional resources for our local communities. Mmsa also approves partner events and conferences as continuing education for main street directors.