Previous Townie Award winners share their biggest lesson(s) learned and advice for their peers, and share helpful tips for replicating similar projects in your community.
See the complete list of 2020 Townie Award Winners here.
Holly DeKarske, Director
Special Events - Fire & Ice 2019
As with any project or program, you have a mission that guides your committee; events are no different. Lititz Fire & Ice’s mission is to bolster the local economy during the bleak tourism days of winter. It is critical to always remind your board, sponsors, and committee of that mission, as it can be easy to get off track.
All events have a fundraising component for the nonprofit, but as a Main Street Program, they also need to have beneficial impact to town, both businesses and residents, and it is import to plan events with this in mind.
Know the mission, what do you want to accomplish beyond raising money and what is the actual impact to your town, businesses, community.
Anchor Building - Wilbur Chocolate Factory
Our Downtown Lititz 2008 Master Plan revealed opportunities to expand not just the square footage in our downtown, but also expand the opportunities. Although the strategies held true, the actual final locations of uses is quite different. Always remember that the best plans need to be flexible and fluid.
Good things take time and if you see the potential and set the strategies, someone else may then also. By setting the strategies, the foundation was set for good things to happen.
Kim Kmetz, Manager
Organizational Development -
Easton’s Community Communications
Business owners can become overwhelmed with so much information coming their way so it's important to hit them at least three times in three different ways in order to "get through". Some respond to text, others to FB messenger, others only to a visit or phone call. Emails tend to go unanswered, unfortunately. They might read it but taking action is another story! So finding the way that works best for each business owner can be somewhat tricky and frustrating.
Members of the community seem to be drawn in with numbers! A list of 7 Things to Eat in the Public Market, 10 Things You Can't Miss This Holiday Season, 13 Ways to Enjoy Summer in The City. These suggestions become a challenge . Hit 'em all!
Our Community E-update that gets blasted out every Friday morning has really gotten traction over the years. We receive so many notes of thanks. Subscribers look forward to planning their weekend according to what we've shared in our e-update and business owners are totally "trained" to get us the news of their latest sales, live music, trunk shows and promotions by end of day Monday for the Friday blast. It's taken years but we've built our distribution list to over 10,000 emails!
Retail Promotions - Creative Holiday
We had been asking businesses to step up their holiday décor game for several years to no avail. So we decided to make it easy for them by placing the collective order for them from our Main Street florist. We offered the first wreath free of charge to get their attention and buy in. Who could say no to a free fresh wreath with a hand created bow? We started this in 2019 with 60 businesses. This year it grew to over 80 businesses participating and expanded into our former Elm Street district! And our florist gets a $6000 order out of it. :) The ultimate "buy local" program. The message to the community is that our businesses are working together for a coordinated holiday look.
Re. the Cookie Crawl: Not much to say other than shoppers are motivated by cookies! Many merchants ordered their cookies from our local bakeries. Win -win!
The Staff Picks is a favorite of our co-workers at GEDP. Free lunches are a motivator! But seriously, this promotion got the rest of our staff out the door, exploring the many shops and drove home the "shop local" message beyond the Main Street staff. Many staff members are "behind the scenes" people so our followers got to know the personalities of our staff through their shopping adventures.
Terry Necciai, Manager
Youth Involvement - Ethan Gamble
The biggest lessen in the story of how Ethan Gamble helped to create our youth Main Street Program, known as “M.y. Main St” (the Monongahela Youth Main Street Program) is how important it is to be prepared for when the right opportunities arise and when people with certain special characteristics present themselves.
What we learned after Ethan joined our adult Main Street group was two-pronged. We often hear people lament that the younger generation (Millenials) gets distracted too easily and doesn’t put in the effort or stay with things persistently enough. We definitely experienced some of that with some of our young people. We tried to get a number of young people interested in our group, but they weren’t ready yet to take it on. That’s the first “prong” of what we learned; the second “prong” is that it can change quickly when the right leader comes along. When a natural leader arrives, especially an “old soul” who has already taken an interest in the downtown – in this case, a 16-year-old camera buff and cross-country team captain who already knew half of the downtown merchants, you have to be open to let him run with the things he’s inclined to try. The lessen is: Empower the natural leader and the young people with other interests and strengths will follow.
Elaine Bonneau, Director
Community Partnerships - Together for Better
A key element is ensuring stable funding. Meeting with stakeholders to get their commitment to continue funding both individual organizations, though becoming one, is vital to success. We also spoke with small businesses, entrepreneurs, and community members that both organizations work with, to answer their questions, hear their thoughts, and weigh their opinions. Community support is key, in every sense.
If your peers would want to replicate a similar project do you have helpful hints? Communication is key. From community leaders and stakeholders, to every member of the team, listening to their questions, and working together towards success is what creates a cohesive and successful affiliation. Every member of the team played a role – from the senior leadership team, to our front-line business support team, to creative and marketing, to of course finance – everyone had a role in making this possible.
Really, anything to inspire! In under two years, through the affiliation, we’ve strengthened our team and impact. For example, we fundraised over $115,000 that was turned into small business grants awarded to 30 Downtown York businesses. We’ve also pivoted our team during the pandemic to administer CARES Act funding, as well as launched several successful virtual events. All these are due to the continued strength of the team, made possible by the affiliation.
Bill Kohler, Director
Public Safety - One Brick at a Time
One thing I learned is to dream big and look at the big picture. One Brick at a Time started as a painting grant for a building, but now it’s become a mantra for us. I looked at the Zoe’s Chocolate building and saw the chance not just to paint, but to transform the area into a safe AND beautiful project. The community agreed and supported us with in-kind and monetary donations to make the project complete.
Always look at expanding your stakeholders. There are many non-traditional groups and businesses out there who can help. You never know until you ask!
We received low bids and donated service from groups who want to see a better town. They live here, they are raising their families here. Many companies have never been asked. Then, once the project is complete, we recognized them and throw a chocolate party.
Youth Involvement - Marcus Cooley
Interns – high school and college – are invaluable to nonprofits. Reach out to your local high schools and colleges to see what programs exist. You might be surprised what’s available.
Get to know your interns. Find out their strengths, goals and aspirations. Make them a part of the team, or the company, and feed them. Kids love food, gift cards, T-shirts and coffee almost as much as they do money.
Once you find their strengths, give them room to grow and some ownership of projects. I knew Marcus was smart and capable as I had known him since he was in elementary school. He also was very driven toward success, which was what made the Downtown Now! Podcast work.
Try to set up a regular time(s) with your intern every week so they and you can have assigned tasks, and it’s easy to work around your schedule.