2024 Main Street ND Summit Announced!
Mark your calendars for the best Summit yet – Regional Prosperity.
Following the cancellation of the 2023 Summit due to inclement weather, the 2024 Main Street ND Summit will return to Watford City August 27, 28, and 29.
Gov. Doug Burgum included the dates for the 2024 Summit at the State of the State Address
LOCALLY POWERED, MEANINGFULLY TRANSFORMED
Every community has a story, and many happen in the heart of the downtown district. Look around and you’ll find treasures you never expected along the thriving main streets of villages and cities all across our state. From charming small-town offerings like New Rockford’s Opera House or Watford City’s Outlaws Bar & Grill to our larger communities’ vibrant shopping, entertainment and diverse dining, a lot is happening on main street North Dakota.
Vibrant community centers are a fundamental element of workforce development. North Dakota’s Main Street initiative provides community leaders with direct access to tools and resources to capitalize on their community’s strengths and make sound planning decisions. These efforts help create vibrant communities that attract and retain the 21st-century skilled workforce North Dakota needs to compete and succeed in a global economy.
MSI Community Chats
The Main Street Initiative Team invites you to join our monthly Community Chats webinars! These sessions were designed to provide community, regional and statewide volunteers and leaders an opportunity to learn more about a topic. These sessions also offer an open space for questions and conversations and leave attendees with funding resources and actionable items that can be implemented within their own communities. Please join us for these 45 minute sessions and take away key insights into the Four Pillars of the Main Street Initiative: Healthy, Vibrant Communities, 21st Century Workforce, Smart, Efficient Infrastructure and Economic Diversification.
MSI Data Symposium - April 19th, 2024 - 9-12 p.m. CST
In lieu of the Main Street Initiative and the ND Department of Commerce’s monthly community Chats Webinar, we are hosting a FREE Virtual Rural Data Symposium. Please join us for this 3-hour event showcasing the data that is available to all communities across the state of North Dakota, to enhance community development efforts and facilitate understanding of how research and data support the futures of rural communities.
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 294 504 324 867
Passcode: BiorS2
Or call in (audio only)
+1 701-328-0950,,656595381# United States, Fargo
MSI Community Chat: Stories with Purpose: Attracting People & Strengthening Place Through Story
We all know stories inspire and entertain, but stories with purpose can do far more than that. Storytelling can be a powerful tool for attracting residents and visitors, growing businesses and local economies, building bridges and connecting communities. This fast-paced talk explains how stories shift thinking and impact both listeners and tellers, while sharing a range of inspiring examples of purposeful storytelling projects used for economic development, community building and placemaking. Attendees come away with practical ideas and best practices for using storytelling in their community work.
Thank you to guest speaker, Rebecca Sanborn Stone for providing her insights.
In case you have missed any of the previous chats and topics, you can watch the video recordings by clicking the link below.
Four Pillars of Main Street ND Initiative
Main Street Initiative Grant Programs
LINKS & RESOURCES
North Dakota Council on the Arts
- Community Arts Access Provides financial assistance to nonprofits in communities to create arts programming or arts events.
- Special Projects provides financial assistance to communities for new art projects or to capitalize on touring arts events.
ND Parks and Recreation
- State Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan - Assists local governments with planning for outdoor recreation facilities and programs.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development
- Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant - Grant funding for public bodies and nonprofits to pay for assistance on a community facility projects.
- Community Facilities Grant and Loan Program - Funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas.
AARP
- AARP Community Challenge Grant - Challenge to fund projects to build momentum to improve livability for residents.
Rural America Placemaking Toolkit
- A resource to identify placemaking projects that align with your community capacity. www.ruralplacemaking.com