Two weeks ago, we gathered in Philadelphia for Main Street Now 2025. Between the two Main Idea sessions and various workshops, discussions, presentations, and networking opportunities, the experience left us with a lot to think about. Here is a sampling of the thought-provoking, inspiring, and valuable information we learned during the 2025 Main Street Now Conference. 

Why Trust Matters on Main Street

The first Main Idea session at the 2025 Main Street Now Conference brought together Frederick Riley, Executive Director at Weave: The Social fabric Project at The Aspen Institute, Jackie Wolven, Executive Director at Main Street Eureka Springs, Asiaha Butler, Co-Founder & CEO at Resident Association of Greater Englewood, and Dawn Arlington, Founder at Comics at the Corner for a conversation about people and the role of relationships and trust on Main Streets. The panel explored the growing loneliness epidemic, the importance of belonging, and how to build trust and let go. 

We need to focus on connection. Over a fifth of young people don’t have any close personal friends, and community organizations are disappearing. If we center belonging in our work, we can bring people into it and create places where everyone — workers, owners, entrepreneurs, residents, visitors — feels like they have a stake in the community. 

We need to trust our communities. To build deeper engagement, we need to talk to people and openly listen to their dreams for their communities, even if they aren’t what we had initially envisioned. People want to be involved, and we should give them the opportunity. 

We need to share the workload. When you trust your partners to work in their styles, approaches, and goals, you introduce new ideas and successes beyond what you can achieve on your own. We must figure out how to trust and let go so we can work together to create connected communities. 

How to Dream, Play, and Build

For the second Main Idea session at the 2025 Main Street Now Conference, James Rojas and John Kamp, co-authors of ​“Dream Play Build: Hands-on Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places,” shared their innovative community engagement strategy, which involves hands-on model building, pop-ups, and sensory site explorations.

Typical community meetings require people to speak in front of large audiences, which only engages one part of the brain and may prevent some from sharing their opinions. James and John use hands-on activities like model-building workshops, walking tours, and music to engage people differently. This breaks down barriers, sparks creative problem-solving, and helps people feel more open and connected. 

During a walking tour for a project in Southern California, the team discovered that the community wanted their streets to serve as more than just thoroughfares — they wanted them to be play spaces, gathering spaces, and art installations. They worked with the city to find a solution that met local requirements while also allowing the community to design the streets to meet their needs and desires.

Crowdfunding for Small Businesses and Small-Scale Developers

Vice President of Strategic Projects Bethany Rogers, Ph.D., led a thought-provoking discussion on crowdfunding and how it can boost local investment. Many communities are losing local banks that have historically built relationships, understood community needs, and invested in underserved businesses. Traditional large investors are filling that gap, but they are more risk-averse, which limits the number of new businesses and real estate ventures that can happen. Crowdfunding can fill this gap by empowering the community to invest in itself and dictate its future. 

Practical Applications of Visitor Data

Are you interested in exploring the world of visitation data? Michigan Main Street’s Joshua Prusik, MPA, and MSA’s Aoife Harte shared advice to help you create real-world results using plac​er​.ai data.

• Make sure you focus on the right data. This will depend on your needs and goals, but some good numbers to look at include the number of visitors and visits, the number of residents, and your busiest times of year/​week/​day.
• Data is a powerful tool for making your case to funders, government officials, local business owners, and other stakeholders. Use the numbers to demonstrate your impact, celebrate your wins, and predict future needs.
• Case Study: Saline Main Street leveraged their visitor data to refine their sponsorship package with event visitation data, giving them the confidence to make higher sponsorship asks and secure their largest-ever single-sponsor contribution.

How to Build a Grant Program

Are you ready to start writing the big checks? MSA’s Hannah Mira Friedland, Magdalena Gillespie, and Amanda Siskind joined Maine Downtown Center’s Anne Ball to explore strategies for building a grant program in your community.

Transparency is key. Communicate eligibility, requirements, guidelines, and determination criteria up front to avoid wasting people’s time or inviting controversy. Consider hosting an applicant webinar and creating an FAQ page for additional support.

Be mindful of your reviewers’ time. If you aren’t paying people, consider other forms of compensation, like providing a meal and hosting a celebration. Provide clear guidelines and expectations, but also make it fun!

Communicate timelines clearly. Share deadlines and reporting requirements as soon as possible and provide guidance on potential extensions or scope changes. 

If you have multiple grantees, consider hosting a cohort meeting. This will help you communicate with grantees and create a space where they can learn from each other, solve shared problems, and build connections.

30% of All Main Street Businesses are Makers & Small Manufacturers — Now What?

Many Main Streets struggle with vacancy and neglect, a lack of high-paying jobs, brain drain, and low tourism. These issues can cause significant damage to local economies, community character, and long-term sustainability. Ilana Preuss at Recast City and MSA’s Michael Powe, Ph.D., explored how small-scale manufacturing can help address these problems. These unique businesses can utilize vacant spaces, create new jobs, and turn your community into a destination. They also support the next generation of entrepreneurs — Millennials or Gen Z own most small-scale maker businesses.

Learning through Gathering

Thank you to everyone who led a session, asked a question, spoke up in a discussion, shared a perspective, and danced at the Big Bash. Main Street Now is a collective endeavor, and every contribution makes an impact. 

If you’re already looking for more inspiration, save the date for the 2026 Main Street Now Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 13 – 15! Learn more >

Downtown Decorations, a Main Street America Allied Member, is this quarter’s Main Spotlight advertiser. For more information about what they do to support Main Street organizations, click here.