Never Be Satisfied

By Joe Borgstrom, Director
Specialized Technical Assistance
& Revitalization Strategy Division
Michigan State Housing Development Authority

This past spring, our team was fortunate enough to go to the National Main Streets Conference in Chicago. In the two and half days prior to the conference, the numerous coordinating program managers meet to talk about our specific issues. I was extremely fortunate on the first night to sit next to Thom Guzman at dinner. Thom oversees Iowa’s Main Street program and is a legend in our business. Iowa’s program has been active for more than 30 years. Needles to say, Thom and his team have seen and done it all.

In addition to being a legend, Thom is a really good guy. I took the opportunity at dinner to pick his brain for more than hour about his program, how his communities have been so successful, and how they’ve been able to sustain their well-earned reputation as one of, if not the top, Main Street coordinating program in the country.

During our discussion, Thom shared with me his secret to his program’s success: Never Be Satisfied. He told me that every two years he and his team break down the program and rebuild it. They evaluate what services work and what do not. They make adjustments and move forward.

The Michigan Main Street Center staff will be meeting this afternoon to do the same thing. We will evaluate each and every service to figure out what works and what doesn’t. We’ll take this session to make adjustments to what we offer and move forward.

If your own Main Street program doesn’t do this, it should. You should annually evaluate what you do for your businesses, the festivals and events you do and what impact they make on your district. Was the event successful? What were the goals? Did it help improve your downtown’s image? Did it help increase sales? Do your downtown’s incentives make an impact? Are they easy to use? Do people know about them?

Too often we do things because we’ve always done them. We don’t stop to think about the impact our actions have or don’t have. We lose sight that our actions should always improve our communities. We become complacent and comfortable. Take time as an organization to really look at not only what you do, but why you do it.

If you think you have a pretty good district, you might be right. But you can always be better. Never EVER be satisfied!