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Hamilton County, Iowa

Main Street Iowa Challenge Grant
The Iowa Department of Economic Development announced Saturday, January 25th, 2010 that $822,000 in HUD Challenge Grants will be awarded to 14 Iowa communities through a fund administered by the Iowa Downtown Resource Center and Main Street Iowa. The funding will be distributed in the form of grants, training, and technical assistance to the selected Main Street programs. Application requests totaling more than $1.4 million were received. Hamilton County S.E.E.D. applied for funding for a building renovation project in Jewell, and will be awarded $40,000. On hand to accept the award were S.E.E.D. Director Catherine Bergman, property owners Fred and Ann Marcalus, and community supporters Bruce Johnson, Matthew Marcalus, Carolyn Marcalus, Lynell Ainslie, Greg Wiles and Tyler Carlson.

“This grant will enable property owners, AM & FM Investments, to continue renovating one of Jewell’s largest commercial buildings,” said Hamilton County S.E.E.D. Executive Director Catherine Bergman. “It will be a catalyst for future change in the community.”

Governor Chet Culver was joined by Iowa Department of Economic Development Director Bret Mills and Kevin Condon aide to U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, to make the announcement during a special check presentation ceremony held at the Des Moines Botanical Center. The grants will benefit local improvement projects, ranging from building slipcover removal, to a district-wide geothermal system, to converting an old Post Office into a winery, with a combined total investment of nearly $10.4 million.

“These challenge grants have now been awarded to 69 projects in 33 different Main Street Iowa communities. Every project improves the economic health of these cities through new business growth and additional residents for the wonderful historic buildings in our Main Street districts”, stated Governor Chet Culver.

The Challenge Grant program is funded through an appropriation from the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Since the first appropriation in 2002, this program has awarded a total of $3.9 million and has leveraged approximately $22.3 million in local investments.

For more information about Hamilton County’s Challenge Grant project, contact Catherine Bergman, Hamilton County S.E.E.D., at 515.832.9575 or hamcseed@wmtel.net

The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization was developed in 1977 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) in Washington, D.C. with the goal of economic development within the context of historic preservation. In 1985, the Iowa Legislature adopted the model and in 1991 Hamilton County became a pilot project for utilizing the model on a countywide basis.

The Four Point Approach is a trademarked and copyrighted program of the NTHP's Main Street Center. The program is based upon the following four points:

Business Improvement -- This element involves diversifying the downtown economy by identifying potential market niches, finding new uses for vacant or underused spaces and improving business practices.

Design -- Utilizing appropriate design concepts, the visual quality of the downtown (buildings, signs, window displays, landscaping, and environment) is enhanced.

Organization -- Each community has many groups of people who are interested in and are willing to work toward the goal of a revitalized downtown. The organizational element brings together the public sector, private groups and individual citizens, with coordination by a paid program manager, to work more effectively in the downtown.

Promotion -- By promoting the downtown in a positive manner, a community can begin to focus on downtown as a source of community pride, social activity and economic development potential.

Three Hamilton County communities are currently utilizing the Main Street Approach in their downtown revitalization efforts: Ellsworth, Jewell and Stratford. Over the course of the last ten years, however, each of Hamilton County's nine communities have embraced the Approach.

Services Offered:
Design Assistance; Historic preservation incentives; referral services; coordinated promotional activities; busines planning; targeted retail recruitment; trade area analysis and marketing strategies; national resource network; quarterly workshops with nationally recognized speakers; grant writing experience; marketing assistance; event/attraction advertising; low interest loan pool; upper story renovation.

For more information call (515)832-9575

Additional Resources
      Main Street Iowa Web Site
      Economic Impact Statistics