This blog is intended to be informational and a source of new ideas. The opinions of the posters are not necessarily the views of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
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Release Date: January 19, 2010 13:59 
I have a confession to make. I am a customer service fanatic. No, you don’t understand. I’m so much of a customer service fanatic I don’t even use the term “customer service.” I use the term customer experience. Whenever my wife gets home from the weekly trip to the grocery store, I always ask...
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Release Date: January 12, 2010 10:38
Maybe the years of nagging have starting to take hold. I’ve noticed over the past few months that friends and family have been making a conscious effort around me to mention that they shopped at local businesses over the holidays. Even when we discuss going out t
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Release Date: January 05, 2010 12:47
So, the New Year is upon us. Gone are the restful and luxurious days off of the holiday break, sleeping in, eating cookies for breakfast, playing with friends and relaxing on the couch. It’s time to get back to business. So, in addition to my personal list of resolutions, which could be another complete blog, in honor of making this year better than the last, I give you my list of Main Street resolutions...
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Release Date: December 22, 2009 12:48
You read that right, the final post in my Defined series. (Click here for Parts I, II, and III) The collective sigh from across the Internet warms me on this blustery winter morning. These final two concepts are often reserved for mature Main Street programs due to the foundational prerequisites to implementation.
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Release Date: December 15, 2009 00:45 
We are in the home stretch of finishing Year End Evaluations for our Michigan Main Street Communities. A related theme that has come up across the board with all our Main Street communities is that they are not telling their story often and to enough people.
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Release Date: December 08, 2009 14:36
It’s winter and we all know what that means…daily complaints about the lack of people shoveling snow off the sidewalks. For a downtown, this complaint runs rampant from customers and residents, to business and property owners, and to local governments and downtown organizations. Everybody is quick to point fingers and say “They” are responsible for snow removal while ju...
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Release Date: December 01, 2009 14:36
Ah, I can hear the groans from the readership, ‘another dry monologue from that ER fool’. Yes, and No. While this post is intended to be dry like only the best wine, it’s still from that ER guy from Michigan. The philosophy below is part of the holistic reason Michigan's Main Street comm...
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Release Date: November 24, 2009 14:36
We’re coming up on one of the most sacred holidays in the retail world…Black Friday. Shopping centers everywhere will be swarming with deal hunters. I’d like to take just a minute to say something to both shoppers and downtown retailers before the blitz of holiday shopping begins: Shoppers, be responsible. Downtown retailers, be worthy. What do I mean by this? This is what I mean…
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Release Date: November 17, 2009 14:36
It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving and the holiday season is only a week away. It seems that as I get older, time seems to pass quicker every year. Which means, the hours in a day are even more precious than what they were before and, I seem to find myself being spread relatively thin. I’m a firm believer that this is the case with most people today. So, when you find a...
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Release Date: November 10, 2009 14:36
I digress in this blog, away from my series on defining Economic Restructuring to a subject both overdue and yet timely. Equating, for a moment, that a continuity plan is to small-business like a will is to my life, then this is a subject I know all too well. With each life event the conversation arose; from marriage and the birth of kids, to cancer and numerous ‘young’ deaths this year. Yet…the will has not been written.
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