centerPiecePENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER WINTER 2015

P8 | lewisburg's dynamic approach Main Street and Elm Street merge efforts

P2 |stepping up our game The importance of monitoring performance metriucs

MAIN STREETRefresh | p10

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an assistant football coach back in Pittsburgh at Bishop Canevin High School. And every year in the late fall, as playoff season approached, we always talked to the kids about the need to “step up their game.” There is a term used in sports called “going to the show.” It was slang for making the playoffs, and if you made it to the state championship game, as we did in 1990, you were “going to the

big show.” So we said to the players, “if you want to go to the show, you need to step up your game.”

The concept is one that strikes me as particularly appropriate at this point in the evolution of the Main Street and Elm Street programs as the foundational elements of core community revitalization in the Commonwealth. We are at a juncture where we have a chance to make it to the playoffs – to go to the show, if you will. There are a host of factors that are bringing us to this juncture. Those factors include:

• A gubernatorial administration and an economy that for the first time since 2008 are in alignment for the potential to bring more financial resources to our revitalization efforts.

• A Secretary and staff at DCED which are extremely supportive of these programs and looking to make them stronger.• Changes at the National Main Street Center that should raise the visibility of the Main Street Program and by extension, the Elm Street Program, not just in Pennsylvania, but nationally.

• A Four Point Refresh that holds the promise to make local programs more of a player and less of a spectator in the realm of local economic development.

• Evolving partnerships, particularly with organizations like the US Dept of Agriculture and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, that are growing stronger and hold the promise for increased funding from what will be for many non-traditional sources.

Yep! We have the opportunity over the next few years to “go to the show.” And unlike many of our counterparts in some other states, the trip doesn’t have to be all that difficult. Much of what we have been putting out there in terms of educational and technical assistance is right in line with the changes that are taking place. But there are some areas where we still need to step up our game. Here are the most important areas:

Executive Director’s

Corner

Stepping Up Our Game

by Bill Fontana

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 3

1. Increased Emphasis on Economic Vitality: Out with the old and in with the new as they say. Economic Restructuring is out, Economic Vitality is in. And both the National Main Street Center and PDC want to see more of your organization’s time spent on that aspect of your “game.” This may mean having some real heart-to-heart conversations between the board and the manager/staff on the knowledge base and skill sets of both to accomplish this. Boards may have to invest more dollars in appropriate education for staff and more time on education for the board.

2. Increased Emphasis on Program Performance Metrics: I know we keep harping on this, but believe me when I tell you – IT'S NOT GOING AWAY. As I mentioned elsewhere in this edition, I was at a meeting with Governor Wolf where one of the participants was talking about the successes of a Lehigh Valley program. The first words out of the Governor’s mouth after the speaker finished were “how do you know you were successful, how do you measure performance.” (I may be paraphrasing slightly here). Look at the key elements of

the Four Point Refresh in this edition’s feature story. What’s on the list? Quantitative and qualitative outcomes. I have said it before and I will say it again, you need to pay attention to and monitor your performance metrics. Not because we tell you to. Because it validates what you do as a revitalization organization. It gets you to the show.

Oh by the way, The Bishop Canevin Crusaders, after winning the WPIAL AA championship by defeating the Washington Little Prexies at Three Rivers Stadium in the last two minutes of that game, then lost to Hanover in Hershey, 20-19. We went for two points after a touchdown, in overtime, and came up just a bit short. But I will never forget those kids. They stepped up their game and they went to the big show.

From the board and staff of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, I wish you all a very happy holiday season and very healthy and prosperous 2016.

“QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE OUTCOMES. I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN, YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO AND

MONITOR YOUR PERFORMANCE METRICS. NOT BECAUSE WE TELL YOU TO. BECAUSE IT VALIDATES WHAT YOU DO AS A REVITALIZATION

ORGANIZATION. IT GETS YOU TO THE SHOW..” - BILL FONTANA, PDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

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The PDC Board of Directors held their regular quarterly meeting on November 5th in the Community Room of the Historic Harrisburg Association in midtown Harrisburg. The meeting was officiated over by PDC Board Chairman Larry Newman, Executive Director of the Diamond City Partnership in Wilkes-Barre.

As is normally the case with the November board meeting, PDC received its annual audit report from Mr. Greg Hall, CPA from the accounting firm of Smith, Elliott & Kearns. Mr. Hall presented a “consolidated audit report,’ which means that the audit combines the financial reports of both the Pennsylvania Downtown Center and its non-profit subsidiary, Keystone CORE Services. As indicated by Mr. Hall, the audit report presented provided a “clean opinion” meaning that there were no findings by auditors.

Also at the board meeting, Ms. Adrienne Squillace of PNC Bank presented PDC with a check for $15,000. This funding will be used to provide some discretionary funding allowing the management of PDC to devote some much needed time to strategic planning, fundraising and development, and the “overall evolution of the organization,” according to PDC Executive Director Bill Fontana. PDC Board Chairperson Larry Newman graciously accepted the contribution on behalf of PDC and thanked PNC bank for their ongoing support of the organization. PNC has traditionally been PDC’s largest philanthropic supporter.

The remainder of the meeting was largely consumed by a discussion of the changes taking place at the National Main Street Center. Mr. Fontana presented a host of informational slides detailing the National Main Street Center’s launch of the “Four Point Refresh” initiative and the new branding of the National Main Street Center associated with the refresh (see feature story in this edition of the CenterPiece.)

The meeting concluded with a brief update from the Executive Director on the ongoing effort to bring the 2017 National Main Street Conference to Pittsburgh. Mr. Fontana indicated that a site visit to Pittsburgh in early December would take place before any final deal was negotiated and agreed to. It was again restated that part of PDC’s responsibility would be to help the NMSC raise between $300,000 and $400,000 in sponsorships to support the conference.

The board also determined that it will hold a strategic planning retreat as part of its next meeting on February 3 and 4, 2016. In advance of that planning retreat, the PDC staff was authorized to conduct a membership survey.

Recent Board Meeting Overview

PDC UPDATES

Photos from PDC's recent press event for the 2016 Annual Community Revitalization Conference, to be hosted in Allentown at the Reniassance Hotel on June 12-15 2016.

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 5

PDC Gets New Organizational SeatsThe Pennsylvania Downtown Center, in the person of Executive Director Bill Fontana, recently received appointments to two high profile organizations, one at the national level and one at the state level.

Mr. Fontana was elected by the representatives of the forty-five state coordinating programs to a seat on the National Main Street Center’s Executive Council. The Executive Council is the conduit between the various state coordinating programs and the board of directors of the National Main Street Center. It also serves to prepare and oversee the two annual, national meetings of the state coordinating programs. His term will begin on January 1, 2016 and run for three years.

PDC was also appointed to a seat on the Governor’s Advisory Board for Community Development. With that organization, Mr. Fontana was nominated to a seat by Secretary Cindy Dunn of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. That nomination was then approved by the Governor’s Office. The role of the Governor's Advisory Board is to provide direct input to Governor Tom Wolf on matters related to community revitalization within the Commonwealth.

“I am very honored to have received both the election and the appointment to these two prestigious organizations” said Mr. Fontana. As a representative to the Executive Council, Pennsylvania will now have a slightly greater impact on the positions that are prepared and adopted by the state coordinating programs and presented to the National Main Street Center board. “I am also very mindful of the fact that I have a special role in representing the interests of the other northeastern states,

which in addition to Pennsylvania include Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, and Massachusetts.”

With regard to the Governor’s Advisory Board for Community Development, which has already met twice, Mr. Fontana stated how impressed he has been with the inter-departmental cooperation apparent in the Wolf administration. “I have been at PDC for more than 15 years and this is the first time that I am seeing a real strong effort to integrate programmatic and funding operations to the extent that this administration has initiated. I am also very impressed by the depth of understanding of the issues surrounding community development held by Governor Wolf. It is very clear to me that he does his homework." Fontana also indicated that the Governor has clearly stated his interest in seeing program performance measures be a cornerstone of the Commonwealth’s revitalization efforts. “In both meetings thus far, when people begin talking about their success stories at the local level, the first question the Governor will ask is how the organization is measuring success. It is clear that program metrics will be increasingly important with this administration. Given the reporting system that we use, I feel that we, the Main Street and Elm Street Communities of the Commonwealth, are in a strong position to take up that challenge. I am also very happy to see that the concept of Safe-Clean-Green is gaining a great deal of traction with the Advisory Board along with substantial interest in Nature-Based Placemaking.

Katie started with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center in November 2015. She graduated from Commonwealth Connections Academy in 2013, and is currently a full-time student at Harrisburg Area Community College, pursuing a degree in Administrative Office Management. Growing up in her hometown of Red Lion, PA gave her an appreciation for small towns, and taught her the importance of community. She takes part in many of the local activities like the Red Lion Street Fair and the annual Halloween Parade.

One of her favorite pastimes is singing, and she has been a member of the York Symphony Chorus since 2014. Some of her other favorite activities are spending time with her family and getting lost in a good book. Katie is looking forward to putting the knowledge and skills she has learned during her college experience to good use at PDC and gaining some new experiences along the way.

PDC Weclomes Katie to Staff

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Hamilton District Main Street ProgramBetsy Kohl, MAIN STREET ManagerBetsy Kohl has recently joined the Hamilton District Main Street Program as the Main Street Manager in Downtown Allentown. She is a lifelong resident of the Lehigh Valley and a graduate of Moravian College where she earned her degree in Business Management.

Before becoming Main Street Manger, Betsy gained experience in the small business environment from Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites where she managed the Visitor Center and Custom Tours on Main Street. She booked private tours and promoted tourism to the greater Lehigh Valley area. She also has a great deal of experience organizing and executing large community events.

Betsy is very excited to become part of the Allentown team and can’t wait to start making her contributions to the incredible changes that have already taken place downtown.

Wilkinsburg Community Development Corporation jennifer salmans, Main Street ManagerSince joining WCDC in 2011, and now serving as the Main Street Manager since March 2015, she has developed progress tracking methods for impact reporting, created a business support program, and fostered relationships for the benefit of the community. She is also on the board of the Wilkinsburg Chamber of Commerce and participates in Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group’s working groups and committees.

Ms. Salmans earned her Masters of Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Cedarville University. She is married to Jonathan Salmans and lives in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh where they are actively involved in their church.

City of BradfordCHELSEA SCHWAB, Main Street ManagerChelsea Schwab, a Bradford native, returned to her hometown in the Spring of 2015 after completing her undergraduate studies in Community and Economic Development at the Pennsylvania State University. Chelsea began as the City of Bradford’s Main Street Manager on the first of June 2015 and is enjoying the position immensely. Her favorite things about being Main Street Manager are getting input from business owners about events and other happenings, and overseeing the façade projects for Downtown Bradford’s historic buildings. She believes that Downtown Bradford’s friendly businesses and historic charm make the area a destination to be seen and encourages all to visit and enjoy.

THE NEWEST FACESon Main Street

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 7

2016 EVENTS Calendar

For more information or to register for an event or training, please visit our online events calendar.

EVENT DATE TIME LOCATIONNeighborhood Assistance Program Application Workshop

Tuesday, February 9 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Susquehanna Art MuseumHarrisburg, PA

Statewide Managers Meeting Wednesday, February 10 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. DCEDHarrisburg, PA

Leadership Forum Wednesday, February 10 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. DCEDHarrisburg, PA

Diversity Toolbox Workshop Wednesday, February 10 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. PDC OfficesHarrisburg, PA

New Manager Training Monday, February 22 - Tuesday, February 23

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. PDC OfficesHarrisburg, PA

Community RevitalizationAcademy: Asset Enhancement

Wednesday, February 24 - Thursday, February 25

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. PDC OfficesHarrisburg, PA

Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, March 16 t/b/d South Central PA

Leadership Forum Wednesday, March 16 t/b/d South Central PA

Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, March 30 t/b/d Southern Alleghenies PA

Leadership Forum Wednesday, March 30 t/b/d Southern Alleghenies PA

New Manager Training Monday, April 11 - Tuesday, April 12

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. PDC OfficesHarrisburg, PA

Community Revitalization Academy: Safe-Clean-Green Academy

Wednesday, April 13 - Thursday, April 14

8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. PDC OfficesHarrisburg, PA

Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, April 27 t/b/d North East PA

Leadership Forum Wednesday, April 27 t/b/d North East PA

Regional Network Meeting Wednesday, May 4 t/b/d North Central PA

Leadership Forum Wednesday, May 4 t/b/d North Central PA

National Main Street Conference Monday, May 23 - Wednesday, May 25

Milwaukee, WI

PDC Annual Statewide Conference

Sunday, June 12 - Wednesday, June 15

Allentown, PA

Thank you to Derck & Edson for co-sponsoring our Community Revitalization Networking Meetings.

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EXPLORE ALTOONA Establishes First PDC

Group Membership in the State

by Maria Wherley

Since our 2014 state conference in Altoona members of our staff have been working with Mark Ickes, Executive Director of Explore Altoona, in forging the first PDC group membership that includes six community organizations representing the Blair County area.

We welcome these organizations as PDC members:

Blair County Planning CommissionBorough of Martinsburg

Explore AltoonaGreater Altoona Economic Development Corp

(Altoona City)Hollidaysburg Community Partnership

Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 9

Explore Altoona is the official Tourism Promotion Agency, or Destination Marketing Organization, for Blair County, as designated by the Blair County Board of Commissioners. Its core mission is to market Greater Blair County as a premier visitor destination offering a positive experience and fostering economic development. Blair County is known for

classic, nostalgic family fun experiences full of value and variety; the five most recognizable signature reasons for leisure travel include the following:

• DelGrosso’s Amusement Park, currently undergoing a $12 million expansion of its waterpark – Laguna Splash.• Lakemont Park, home of the world’s oldest roller coaster, Leap the Dips.• Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum, America’s only interactive railroaders museum.• Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark, one of the world’s most incredible engineering feats.• Altoona Curve, the Double A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates conducting games within Peoples Natural Gas Field, one of the Mid Atlantic’s most stellar baseball facilities.

According to Mark, the Board of Directors for Explore Altoona has wholeheartedly endorsed a group membership for the City of Altoona and any borough within Blair County with the PA

Downtown Center as a result of its collective recognition that the core commercial district, or downtown, of any destination is an extremely important part of the visitor experience. Each downtown has its own unique ambiance and potential in attracting visitors to its assortment of businesses and experiences. Explore Altoona believes it is an excellent opportunity for each downtown to have the necessary support, resources, and tools provided as a result of affiliation with PDC in order for these downtowns to be more effectively visitor-worthy and visitor-ready.

Explore Altoona offers an annual Main Street Roundtable to which each borough within Blair County and the City of Altoona are invited to contribute in a participant-driven agenda covering various commercial district/downtown issues. These issues include such items as marketing to visitors, marketing to locals, partnership opportunities, special event success stories, methods of attracting entrepreneurs, potential funding mechanisms, among others. The Main Street Roundtable is one among several Roundtable-type format meetings that Explore Altoona conducts for its partners and key stakeholders to share ideas and issues.

This group membership is indicative of the collective outcome when there is a shared understanding and commitment to community revitalization. For these new members, we’re certain that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

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NATIONAL MAIN STREET CENTER LAUNCHES FOUR POINT REFRESH

On October 25, 2015, the National Main Street Center, Inc.,

in partnership with its network of forty-five (45) State, City, and

County-level Main Street Coordinating Programs, launched a new

brand and a refreshed methodology that will bring new resources,

branding and energy to Main Street programs both nationally and

in Pennsylvania, in their ongoing efforts to revitalize their older and

historic downtowns and commercial districts. These changes, including

a new name for the Main Street network, Main Street America, build

on the critical role that Main Streets have played, and will continue

to play in the return to the city movement sweeping urban areas and

small towns alike all across the United States.

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 11

“For more than three decades, the Main Street Approach has helped communities identify their distinctive assets and capitalize on them to breathe new life in our country’s historic downtowns and commercial districts,” said Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Streets Center, Inc. “This revised framework and fresh look will ensure that Main Streets are equipped to deal with new challenges facing downtowns and commercial districts today, and will help our network take advantage of the social, economic, and cultural changes that will continue to favor vibrant downtowns in the future.”

Pennsylvania, through the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, has partnered with the National Main Street Center since 1987 to stimulate the revitalization of over 170 communities in the Commonwealth.

“I personally am quite pleased with the new direction being taken by the National Main Street Center with the ‘refreshed’ Four Point Approach,” said PDC Executive Director Bill Fontana. I think it does a couple of things that will be very good for both Main Street, and in Pennsylvania’s case, Elm Street programs. It will begin to institutionalize at the national level, things that we have been doing and advocating for in Pennsylvania for years. I like the new brand identity and we will work hard to see this implemented in the Commonwealth. For many of our communities the ‘transformative community strategy “ concept will be more of a nomenclature change than a substantive change in how we operate. The idea of transformative community strategies is wholly consistent with what we have been teaching

and preaching for years – the need for asset based-market driven visions that are attained through outcome based strategic plans.”

As it relates to the brand identity Fontana indicated his preliminary approval as well. “We all talk a lot about raising the visibility of the Main Street and Elm Street programs in Pennsylvania,” said Mr. Fontana. “I think that this new brand will provide us with the tools we need to raise that visibility. All of this will obviously be a major topic of discussion at the statewide Managers Meeting in Harrisburg on February 10th.”

Originally launched as a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980, the National Main Street Center pioneered an incremental, volunteer-driven strategy to help flagging downtowns counteract booming suburban growth—a novel approach that was in stark contrast to the urban renewal projects that were destroying commercial districts and neighborhoods all over the country. By tapping two important community resources, citizen participation and its older and historic buildings, the Main Street Four-Point Approach has helped historic downtowns and urban commercial districts regain their stature as centers of America’s culture, commerce and economy while preserving their unique character.

For those interested in digging deeper into the Four Point refresh, you may visit the Frequently Asked Questions page on the National main Street website here.

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Q. What are the key benefits of the refreshed Main Street Approach?

• Drives more focus on economic impact in communities, creating potential for more significant positive change on Main Street • Stresses broader community engagement to secure support for Main Street’s vision --- which is essential to the long-term buy-in and success of Main Street’s efforts • Focuses on tangible, quantifiable outcomes that help Main Streets better understand their impact and tell their story to funders and other key stakeholders • Offers greater organizational flexibility, allowing Main Streets to choose how to organize themselves based on local needs and realities • Focus on outcomes and flexibility makes the Main Street Approach relevant for more communities and organizations

Q. What are the key components of the “refreshed” Main Street Approach? The refreshed Main Street Approach consists of three important elements:

• Inputs: community engagement and market understanding • Community Transformation Strategies, implemented through the Four-Point Framework • Outputs: Qualitative and quantitative outcomes

Q. What are Transformation Strategies? Transformation Strategies:

• Statements of economic direction that guide the revitalization initiative • Bring about substantive transformation • Reflective of community vision • Based on an understanding of the district’s economic performance and opportunities • Implemented through all Four Points • Measurable • Re-evaluated every 2-5 years

Q. How does a Main Street select and use Transformation Strategies? The process of selecting and using Transformation Strategies consists of three steps:

1. Inputs: a. Community vision: What do people want for their downtown or neighborhood commercial district? b. Initial market research: What can the market support?

2. Implementation: Putting the Transformation Strategies to work 3. Outputs:

a. Quantitative outcomes b. Qualitative outcomes

Q. What’s the difference between a Catalyst Transformation Strategy and a Customized Transformation Strategy? Catalyst Strategies will be developed and made available to Coordinating Programs and Main Streets, and allow organizations to quickly get started. At least 10-15 ‘‘off-the-shelf ’’ Catalyst strategies will be made available during 2016.

• Catalyst Strategies generally fall into one of two groups: 1. Strategies that build on the presence of a customer group 2. Strategies that build on the presence of a concentration of a type of product, service, or business

• Can be used by mature Main Street programs as well as communities new to the Main Street program • We anticipate most communities will begin by selecting market-appropriate Catalyst Strategies and then customize them over time to fit local conditions, preferences, and economic driversCustomized Strategies are tailored to the specific market conditions and vision of a community• Will typically require more detailed and nuanced understanding of market conditions • Can help an organization tackle more complex, challenging or unique transformation

Q. How many Transformation Strategies can an organization manage at a given time? Typically two. In exceptional circumstances, three.

Q. Under the refreshed Main Street Approach, what might the first year of Technical Services look like?

1. Before initial site visit: a. Gather existing documents and plans relating to the district b. Complete an initial market assessment or carefully review existing market data c. Conference calls with key people to learn more about conditions on the ground

2. Initial site visit: a. Assessment of organizational landscape b. Assessment of market dynamics c. Conduct workshop(s) to gather input on community vision

3. Establish Next Steps: SCENARIO 1: Reach concurrence on two Catalyst Strategies and leave behind the descriptions of these two Strategies so that the organization can begin assembling information needed SCENARIO 2: Reach agreement on the key ideas to inform Customized Transformation Strategies(s); Customized Transformation Strategies will be crafted by field services team in close partnership with local leaders and provided to community at later date.

4. Initial training (May be provided during the initial visit, or may require follow-up visit in the event of development of customized strategy):

a. Transformation Strategy In-Depth Review: What do you want the transformation strategy(ies) specifically to accomplish? b. Integration into Four-Point Framework: How will Main Street district implement strategy/strategies? What are the specific actions that are necessary?

5. Ongoing coaching as needed 6. Evaluation as outlined in catalyst or customized strategy, as well as by tracking key reinvestment statistics (under modification in 2015-2016

MAIN STREET APPROACH REFRESH AT A GLANCE

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 13

WHAT DOES THE NEW BRAND REPRESENT?Main Street America is a network of well over 1,100 community based

organizations and 46 city, state, and regional Coordinating Programs working together to create vibrant, people-centered places to live, work, and play.

United by a commitment to revitalizing historic downtowns and commercial districts, Main Street America communities represent the great diversity this

country has to offer, from small rural towns to busy urban corridors, and everything in between.

The new name and look of Main Street America builds on 35+ years of Main Street success. Since 1980, over 2,000 communities have been part of Main Street, bringing renewed energy and activity to America’s downtowns and

commercial districts.

The status that comes with being a part of this network also sends a strong message to local stakeholders, as well as city, state, and national funders.

It signifies that you are part of a greater movement that has a proven track record for generating impressive economic returns, preserving community

character, and celebrating local history.

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MAIN STREET & ELM STREET:

Lewisburg's Dynamic Approach

by Stefan KlosowskiAlmost anyone who has been a Main Street Manager in PA has probably met Linda Sterling. Linda has been the Main Street Manager for Lewisburg for fifteen years. She is also the Executive Director of the Lewisburg Downtown Partnership

and originally started on this career path as Main Street Manager for the Mifflinburg Heritage and Revitalization Program from 1988 to 1996. Ms. Sterling can also claim that she was Past President and Board Member of the PA Downtown Center. Linda graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Arts with Honors and specialization in English as a Writing Option.

Linda became acquainted with the Main Street program while she was selling newspaper advertising in Mifflinburg. She volunteered on the Promotion Committee and her continuous involvement led her to apply for the manager position. Later in 1999 downtown Lewisburg had 13 vacancies on their Main Street. The Borough Council in Lewisburg was deciding what to do about this problem. The Borough was a member of PDC and received the CenterPiece Newsletter. The Borough Council President noticed that the Board President of PDC lived one town over and made contact..….and so the story goes, Linda started to meet with them, became a consultant and eventually became the Executive

Director. She feels that this experience was a distinct advantage, having worked in a program, and then to be a part of a start up organization.

Here are some achievements of Lewisburg’s Main Street program:

• Assisted coordination with Bucknell University on their Core Community Initiative to rehabilitate four downtown properties and bring in eighty employees. This included the Small Business Development Center; the University Bookstore; the Post Office; an Entrepreneur's Incubator and a satellite of the university art museum.• Reduced the downtown vacancy rate from 13% down to 2%.• Started the Welcome to the Neighborhood to connect incoming Bucknell University first-year students to the downtown.• Initiated the Downtown Lewisburg Gift Certificate Program, open to all business, and sells an average of $85,000 per year.• Program longevity in terms of sustainability and strategic planning. • The Lewisburg Downtown Partnership won a PA Downtown Center 25th Anniversary Award for Organizational Excellence.• A special award was given to Ms. Sterling – In recognition of visionary, entrepreneurial, and transformational leadership and

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 15

for sustained efforts to create vibrancy in the small business community - Charles H. Coder Entrepreneurial Leadership Award 2015.

One of the special projects that Linda is most proud of is the continuous improvement of the Lewisburg web site. The website averages 7,000 unique site visits each month. She takes this assignment very personally and writes all of the content. She is proud of her proficiency in this organizational challenge and continues to develop professionally. Even back in 2005 Linda won the Townie Award for Excellence in Promotion for the first web site.

The partnership between Bucknell University and Lewisburg Downtown has been incredibly strong and is a lucrative relationship. The Core Community Initiative was a major development project whereby Bucknell used a combination of historic preservation credits and many funding sources to make the project work. They purchased and restored three different three-story buildings and restored the Campus Theatre. Bucknell University won a PDC Townie Award for Asset Enhancement in 2012 for their Core Community Initiative.

The Board relationships are central to the program. By bringing stakeholders together monthly to focus on downtown, the LD Partners are able to be catalysts for economic and cultural vibrancy. The LDP and committee members have conducted six successful pledge campaigns to sustain the program. The Heart of Lewisburg Ice festival was started 13 years ago to create a buzz in a difficult time of year (February) and has fulfilled that purpose. In the past two years they have started a Lewisburg BrewBQue, a summer festival that is also a fundraiser.

This Main Street Manager feels that a regional approach is important to the Main Street program. A regional chamber has a downtown affiliates group that brings together downtown associations from the area. She has joined the chamber board as a representative for the affiliates. It is a difficult task to convince local businesses that they should work together regionally. Business owners especially tend to want her to stay locally-focused and see other strong downtowns as competition, which they all can be in the short-term, but in the broader view, a rising tide lifts all boats. There is a new visitor’s bureau that is just starting a regional Shop Local initiative. She is excited to see where that will lead.

Linda believes that family is important and spends time with her two adult children. To unwind from her daily routine, she enjoys reading. In the year 2000 Linda received the Teri Foster Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was created by the Pennsylvania Downtown Center in honor of her (Teri) years of commitment and service in community development and to recognize her accomplishments in the preservation of Pennsylvania’s downtowns.

Linda SterlingMain Street Manager Executive Director & Main Street Manager Lewisburg Downtown Partnership111 Market StreetP. O. Box 298Lewisburg, PA 17837lsterling@lewisburgpa.comwww.lewisburgpa.com(570) 523-1743

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Sam Pearson comes to the Lewisburg Elm Street program from a somewhat circuitous route. Her background is in architecture and planning, and includes nine years in offices stretching from Luzern, Switzerland, to Miami, Boston and Baltimore. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton with a Major in Architecture. Following that

some years later, she earned her Master in Architecture from the University of Virginia with a Certificate in American Urbanism.

One of Samantha’s first encounters with the neighborhood movement was her participation in a community charette facilitated by the SEDA-COG for what would be known as the Bull Run Neighborhood. Bucknell University and the Borough of Lewisburg were collaborating on the Lewisburg Neighborhood Task Force Study. She volunteered to serve on the Board of an organization that was created to oversee the execution of the plan. She served on the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corporation Board and the Master Planning and Design Committee, this included positions as a Board Officer and as Chair of the MPD Committee. Ms. Pearson has been the Elm Street Manager for two and a half years.

The following represent a variety of achievements of Lewisburg’s Elm Street program:

• The completion of the major FEMA/PEMA acquisition and demolition of nine (9) properties in the floodway of the creek along South 6th St., which paved the way for the transformation of the neighborhood and Hufnagle Park into the Bull Run Greenway. While this major work was a result of the former manager, Dan Greene, it laid the groundwork for many related activities by Samantha. • The launch of the South 6th Street - Bull Run Greenway Planning Project.• Civic engagement and educational experiences with Bucknell students; both engaging them as volunteers for events, but also in the context of academic projects in a variety of disciplines as part of classwork over the course of a semester. This includes students from Civil Engineering, Geography, Management and

Environmental Studies. • The creation of the Lewisburg River Town Team, and providing support for the Borough’s Flood Impact Task Force.

One of the greatest assets in Lewisburg is Bucknell University. The Elm Street Manager assists in leveraging the asset of the university to get high quality, in-depth analysis of issues such as stream health, historical development patterns, transportation engineering options, flood insurance rate change impacts, and parking studies. The students augment what the LNC has to offer to the Borough, providing the LNC with mapping, posters, and other visualization tools to help explain the Bull Run Greenway or the Flood Impact Task Force or future connectivity initiatives.

Samantha is especially proud of the River Town Team. Lewisburg has been designated as a Susquehanna Greenway River Town. The River Town Team seems to be bearing fruit in that it has truly broad appeal. The events, clean ups, planning meetings, and initiatives have garnered support and interest in the area that was hard to achieve purely within the neighborhood. A second Fall In-River Clean Up was held where 50 persons stomped around in the Susquehanna River off of Lewisburg on a Saturday morning in late August. They pulled 92 discarded tires out of the riverbed, along with a bicycle, a pool liner, and several toy trucks. This particular activity really captured people’s imagination. Even for those who can’t handle the serious physical challenge, it’s an opportunity to teach and learn about conservation.

“Before I became the Elm Street Manager, I chaired the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail Committee and served on that committee with the former Elm Street Manager. It has been interesting to see how my ongoing interests in land use planning and community design have fed into what is now developing as a multi-municipal connectivity project under the River Town Team, promoting walkability and bikeability in our area. “

There are also great opportunities to collaborate with students and universities in the neighborhood. One of the green projects Sam had worked on previously as a volunteer would likely feed into a collaborative project to bring the concept of the Road Holiday or the Ciclovia to several communities in the region in the future. They ran several Road Holidays in Lewisburg prior to

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 17

the completion of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail and took advantage of existing infrastructure, and transformed a road into a public access park for several hours. It’s an idea that has been enacted all over the country and all over the world. It’s great for public health and for helping people re-envision possibilities within the environment. They get to see the place where they live from a different vantage point.

A Ciclovía, is a Spanish term that means “cycleway” either a permanent bike path or the closing of certain streets to automobiles for cyclists and pedestrians; a practice also known as open streets.

River Towns are not without challenges. In terms of flooding and the built environment they are looking at extreme building challenges that include radical revisions to the National Flood Insurance Program that started going into effect in 2013. Lewisburg is an historic river town and approximately 50% of the structures in the historic district are in the 100-year floodplain. Details are now being reviewed on a variety of levels, in regard to the financial, municipal, and architectural consequences of seeking to mitigate hundreds of historic structures. There are over 100 buildings that would be likely candidates for being raised between 5’ and 16’ above their current elevation.

Prior to being an Elm Street Manager, Samantha spent her free time while she was home when her children were young, launching and running two community organizations focused on

sustainability and local food, and serving on the newly created Borough Traffic Advisory Committee and the Board of the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority which was developing the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail at the time.In her free time, Sam still volunteers on issues concerning the environment and locally grown food. She likes to bike, hike, camp, and kayak with her family. Ms. Pearson would like to learn other languages. Being an architect she wants specifically to learn Italian and feels that Italian is foundational for an architect. Sam has also lived there for a short time and later married into an Italian - American family and finds it has an even more form of personal cultural relevance.

Samantha PearsonExecutive Director & Elm Street Manager Lewisburg Neighborhoods Corporation55 South Fifth StreetP. O. Box 298Lewisburg, PA 17837elmstreet@dejazzd.comwww.lewisburgneighborhoods.org(570) 523-0114(570) 523-1743

The River Town Team's second Fall In-River Clean Up pulled 92 discarded tires out of the riverbed, along with a bicycle, a pool liner, and several toy trucks.

WINTER 201518

How is the relationship developing between the Elm Street and Main Street programs? How is that working, and what are the benefits of such simultaneous programs?LINDA STERLING | I think it’s working really well. Our programs are focused and don’t overlap, but we work together where it makes sense. Individual program successes in one support the other. Right now, we are starting work on two really important initiatives: housing and connecting to the river. Lewisburg like so many downtowns has a stagnant tax base and we are seeing some threats to property values as a result of market changes. It’s important to stay ahead of it. Also, I think Sam is really strong in areas that the borough needs, like environmental sustainability, bike and pedestrian access, flood plain management. I think we work very well together and hope she feels the same.

SAMANTHA PEARSON | We have a real partnership and try to keep abreast of what we are each working on, though it’s also clear that we often serve very different constituencies within the community. We are excited to be collaborating on the River Town Team and both organizations benefit from that partnership. There’s so much to do, ranging from events, clean ups, conservation, and planning that both groups have plenty of scope to contribute. We are also bringing both organizations together to consider broader questions about Housing and Economic Development in the Borough. This is something that really needs the Asset Enhancement perspectives from both the Main Street and Elm Street tracks.

Why is it that the two programs of Main and Elm Streets did not merge? What kind of dynamic relationship is there between the two programs and why is it good to keep some components separate? LS | Initially, the Borough wrote the Elm Street grant for the programs to be one, but in the beginning, individual programs were encouraged. I think it could have worked as one organization, but since the LDP was already established, the dynamic may have been difficult. Once started as two distinct organizations with separate 501(c)3 designations and missions, it’s hard to merge. I think it’s working well this way. Working separately, makes sure the neighborhood gets equal focus, or at least works for equal focus. I think it’s harder for the borough and residents to understand the value of the Elm Street program but I see distinct benefits.

SP | We were in the process of examining the question of merging in detail when I became the manager and we looked into details of tax implications and legal structure as well as more macro questions about boundaries and focus. It really seemed to come down to the issue of branding and mission. While the two programs are designed to and do complement each other, it is hard to see how to combine the disparate missions and still remain true to the vision of the established Lewisburg Downtown Partnership brand. It seems more true to each of our missions to work in parallel and call on each other when the situation demands.

The Elm Street Neighborhood known as Bull Run has had its challenges in terms of flooding and with the high incidence of rental properties. Approximately eight-two percent (82%) of the properties in the Elm Street neighborhood are rentals. Given these two distinct issues, this Elm Street neighborhood was quite a challenge. The work on the Bull Run Neighborhood and its connectivity to the Main Street program and other nearby neighborhoods has made it a transitioning endeavor.

As a result of the collective approach to problem solving in the form of charettes and focus groups, the methodology of neighborhood involvement was attractive to the North Ward Neighborhood, on the other side of the Main Street District. The Bull Run waterway and its environmental awareness campaign had a rallying effect. All the spinoffs were positive in forms of developing a new park and connectivity, drawing bicyclists and pedestrians through the downtown.

A greater Elm Street concept may wind up melding the two neighborhoods and applying to rejoin the program with expanded boundaries encompassing both. Most of our current initiatives (Greenway, River Town, and Flood Impact) are relevant no matter what part of the Borough you are in.

The Elm Street Managers have worked diligently on improvements to the public space of the neighborhood and provided encouragement to improvements to private property in the form of the Façade Program, but given the magnitude of the challenges facing the housing in that area, it will take true buy-in and cooperation from the landlords which we have long sought but not yet achieved.

By comparison, the North Ward Neighborhood will be a more typical Elm Street area which would likely be more responsive to Façade Program incentives and community service enhancement. The possibility of two neighborhoods embracing the Main Street District, and intersecting the downtown from either side connected with an active linking waterway as Bull Run strengthens both programs.

Join Pennsylvania Downtown Center for a series of Community Revitalization Network Meetings throughout the Commonwealth, where professionals passionate about and

invested in community revitalization can convene to discuss how they can collectively and efficiently better serve their communities. Find a meeting near you and register today!

Thank you to Derck & Edson for co-sponsoring our Community Revitalization Networking Meetings.

Meetings hosted from 10 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Registration required. No fee to attend. Leadership Forums for Designated and Recognized Program Volunteers hosted from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00

p.m. Registration required. No fee to attend.

As I sit down to write this, tomorrow is Thanksgiving; when I started with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center it was not quite Labor Day. These past three and a half months have flown by meeting new people and learning new things. Starting a new job is an experience that runs the full range of emotions, from excited to anxious all while being full of confidence and plagued by self-doubt; the career choices and commitments we make are as much a quintessential part of the human experience as our connection to the downtowns and neighborhoods we work and live in are. After a very busy first few months with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, I think the emotion or feeling that best sums up my experience so far is this: inspired.

I find tremendous inspiration both in the community accomplishments I have seen in, as well as in the challenges communities are taking on. I see inspiration, ingenuity, and most of all passion in the staffs, Boards, volunteers, and community leaders I have begun working with around the Commonwealth. There is a lot to be inspired by and many, many people, organizations, and opportunities for communities to be thankful for.

I asked my colleagues how best I could utilize my space in our publication moving forward and they very wisely suggested that I take the opportunity with each edition of CenterPiece to share some anecdotes from my travels around the state in the vein of a travel blog (hopefully with a little bit of inspiration and humor mixed in as well). Here we go:

• My first official assessment visit was with Bill Fontana to Hanover in early September. Hanover is a community I know well having spent a lot of time there in college and since. Main Street Hanover (mainstreethanover.org) is a great example of how different stakeholders have come together to contribute to community revitalization in a core community with a distinct character. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Hanover sits between York and Gettysburg while also being very close to the Maryland border. The history of Hanover includes a minor skirmish during the Gettysburg Campaign as well as sharing in the rich industrial heritage of York County. One of the

interesting discussions that came out of the day’s meetings was about Hanover’s unique position between several “destination” locations and how it can capitalize on its location as part of the downtown revitalization efforts. With a mix of new restaurants, factory tours, historical monuments, and unique attractions (as well as being the Snack Food Capital of the World), Hanover is a place that could move from a day excursion to a destination unto itself. That kind of transformative revitalization and economic empowerment is something many communities are interested in, so keep an eye on Hanover and all the great goings on there.

• Stefan Klosowski and I completed two Elm Street program assessments in October. First, we visited the Union Gardens

Elm Street (lansdowneyeadon.org) program, the only dual municipality program in the state shared between Lansdowne and Yeadon (in the greater Philadelphia area). Union Gardens represents a strong example

of what multi-municipality cooperation can do to improve an area where crossing the street can mean entering a whole other borough. One of the best things we saw during our visit was a great public art project. When new benches were installed in a neighborhood park, local artists of all ages painted them. The mix of different artists and their works represents the diversity of the neighborhood. A few weeks later, Stefan and I visited Lewisburg’s Bull Run neighborhood. The Bull Run Elm Street (lewisburgneighborhoods.org) includes a strong partnership with Bucknell University. If there is one thing we have a plethora of in Pennsylvania, it is institutions of higher learning and seeing the resilient partnership between Bull Run and Bucknell (along with Lewisburg’s Main Street program) is a wonderful example of collaborative impact. Lewisburg is also facing significant development challenges because of changes in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) flood maps. With fifty percent of the municipality in the flood plain, the Bull Run Elm Street program, its manager, and its volunteers are leaders in the community when it comes to addressing this critical issue and are seen as experts by neighboring communities as well. While our programs may start with one purpose or goal in mind, the

Driving, Downtowns, and Destinations with Dave

collaborative work being done in Lewisburg reminds us all that the Main Street and Elm Street revitalization model builds partnerships that allow leaders to be developed and trusted so that they can be a part of addressing larger community concerns.

• The auditory crosswalk signals in Indiana sound like native son Jimmy Stewart (well, more like a fairly decent impression thereof). I was a bit thrown by this at first and spent several seconds looking around wondering where the voice was coming from. My temporary confusion and street corner embarrassment did get me thinking: How can our communities embrace their pride for their famous sons and daughters and make them a part of the essence of the downtown or neighborhood? How are other communities around the state doing this kind of thing? If you know of another place that is embracing not just their cultural heritage, but also their pride in a community native, I would love to hear about it.

• In early November, Bill, Julie, and I attended a national coordinators meeting in Washington, D.C. Our nation’s capital is undergoing a renaissance with construction cranes dotting the sky in every direction. D.C. has several active Main Street programs and our meeting included a walking tour of the Shaw neighborhood, just north of Chinatown and the Convention Center. The Shaw neighborhood developed after the Civil War as the home to recently freed slaves from the southern states. In time, it became an important African-American cultural and performing arts district with legendary institutions such as the Howard Theatre. Like many inner-city neighborhoods, Shaw experienced upheaval and riots during the 1960's. The revitalization efforts that began at the grassroots level in the neighborhood have created an eclectic mix of businesses, people, and styles; diversity is not just a concept in Shaw, it is something that is celebrated and embraced as part of the revitalization ethic. On one corner you can see historic row homes and across the way brand new, LEED certified construction. One of the

greatest challenges in the Shaw revitalization effort is combating the dreading g-word (gentrification, that is). Community leaders working closely with developers and property owners have implemented smart zoning policies and building ordinances along with programs to ensure affordable housing remains in place along with market-rate residential opportunities, allowing the neighborhood to retain its traditional character while welcoming in a new generation of residents. For more information on the Shaw neighborhood, visit www.shawmainstreets.org. And next time you visit D.C., check out the historic Shaw neighborhood.

• Lastly, I love food and a good meal out; if you have spoken to me in the past few months I probably referenced food in some way or mentioned a restaurant in or near your community that I visited. So, I will take some space in each CenterPiece to recognize one of the good meals out I enjoyed while on the road. This time, the best meal recognition goes to a Pittsburgh Salad (the unofficial salad of Western Pennsylvania and Steelers fans everywhere) while visiting Uniontown’s Gallatin Avenue Elm Street program. The Gallatin Avenue Elm Street is a tremendous example of residents being very passionate about wanting to make a change in their community as well as residents of other neighborhoods in a municipality seeing the potential for change that the Elm Street program brings about and wanting to bring that to their neighborhood as well.

• Honorable mention on the good meals out is a chicken and waffle sandwich that Julie Fitzpatrick had in Hershey during one of our visits with the Downtown Hershey Partnership (downtownhershey.com). While I did not actually eat the sandwich, it was really a sight to behold.

One last note, be sure to following Pennsylvania Downtown Center on Twitter (@Pa_Downtown) and on Facebook. As staff is out and about we will do our best to share photos from the road. That is all for now, see you out there on the road.

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Congratulations (and a free conference registration!) went to the Easton Main Street Initiative for their entry in PDC's 2015 "Show the Love" Valentine's Day campaign. Says Kim Kmetz, Main Street Manager: "Thank you for giving us this opportunity. It was a great community building promotion."

• Proof must be submitted that a local winner was selected and that media buzz was generated (this can be through a newspaper clipping, press release, social media snippet, etc.) by February 28th • One free conference registration for a Business District and one for a Neighborhood• Current PDC membership required• Winner(s) must be chosen initially by the local PDC member organization

• Submission must include number of local entries submitted and copies of "media mentions".• Those winners selected by local organization should be submitted to mariawherley@padowntown.org by February 28th• Local organization may use its free registration at its discretion• Winners will be recognized at the annual statewide conference

ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY THIS VALENTINE'S DAYBecause last year's Valentine's Day promotion for our member communities was such a hit, we've decided to kick off the campaign again for 2016--with the chance, again, to win one registration to PDC's 2016 Annual Statewide Conference for organizations that participate! Spread the word, spread the cards (which you'll be receiving in your inbox shortly after the new year), and pick a "favorite reason" from your local hearts for your chance to win one full conference registration to our 2016 Annual Statewide Conference.

CONTEST MATERIALS COMING SOON

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER’S QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER 23

we often refer to viewing visits with Santa and participating in holiday events like tree-lighting ceremonies and carriage rides with “child-like wonder”, but how many of us are still able to recall what that means to us personally? Most recently many of us have experienced this through the eyes of our children, our nieces and nephews, maybe our own grandchildren, but can we take it back to what it meant to us; our

memories of the sights, the scents, the sounds, the magic of the holidays?

For many of us, it involved grandma’s sand tarts, or something special that was only made this time of year and the mouth-watering scents that lingered throughout the season. There was the ceremonial tree selection and chopping down of the perfect Christmas tree, and the annual homemade gifts for the relatives, usually involving macaroni or calico. And then, there was the decorating of every room in the house with paper chains and greenery, and for me a child of the 70’s and 80’s: A Charlie Brown Christmas on TV, and favorite Christmas tunes playing on the record player – Bing Crosby, the Carpenters, and the Muppets.

There is certainly the religious and spiritual side of the holidays and occasionally we lose sight of that, with all of the shopping, sales, and stuff. We sometimes need to take a step back to remember why we’re celebrating: Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, Diwali, or the Winter Solstice. No matter what meaning you personally bring to the holidays, there is something special about the magic of the season.

It may vary depending on your age or your own personal experiences, but there is something in each one of us that takes us back, to that moment when we still believed… and sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that magic or of those magical moments, and the same goes for our communities. It is so easy to lose sight of why we do what we do, whether you’re a board or a committee member, a business owner, or revitalization professional – we may all need to be reminded of the importance of this work in our own lives.

I was recently reminded by one of the least likely of characters, a certain curmudgeonly townsperson, who I thought would never trust me or believe that together, we could help make an impact in his town. After months of sarcastic comments and questions that really couldn’t be answered, he stopped me while I was leaving our last meeting and gave me the most sincere and heartfelt sentiment of gratitude. I froze and was overcome with emotion, I thought, if he believes, we all need to believe.

It might seem as though this work is about knowing statistics and processes, but above all, it’s about believing. Believing that what we as individuals and we as a group of concerned citizens can do, is really the only thing that we can do (it is the only thing that can make a difference), because what’s the alternative - not doing it, not believing? I don’t think so.

I am reminded of a poignant quote from Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

by Julie Fitzpatrick

WE HAVE TO BELIEVE. Why we love our downtowns, neighbordhoods

& communities