Download the conference brochure and agenda (pdf)

Main Streets are changing! A new mix of businesses and planning concepts, an infusion of younger entrepreneurs and employees,and new tools and techniques for downtown revitalization are stimulating change from the state’s metropolitan regions to the smallest rural communities.

Main Street – Tips, Tools & Techniques for Downtown, the 2012 North Carolina Main Street Conference will provide conference attendees with strategies that can be easily implemented in any community.  Demographic changes including baby boomers who are retiring and millennials who are entering the workforce are creating shifts in what our downtowns need, how and when we use downtown and the goods and services that are sustainable in our economy. Local-ism, green technology, tech-savvy users, and community principles are intersecting with historic preservation, entertainment and culture, recreation and urban living in ways that we have never before experienced, creating complex, interesting downtown destinations.

Economic Development Needs and Solutions, Volunteer Development and Management: How to Get a Younger Generation Involved,Design Enhancements with the Use of Color, and Purposeful Events that Foster Economic Development will be among the session offerings. Plenary speakers will drill down on today’s downtown planning strategies, real estate development tools and downtown initiatives that are attracting new generations of business and property owners and downtown users.