Being a Main Street Manager in Coos Bay by Nathan Jurey
Being a Main Street Manager in Coos Bay has some awesome perks. One of the biggest perks was attending the 2013 National Main Street Conference in New Orleans. Besides diabetes and a mild sunburn, I brought back some great ideas and inspiration from that conference. I could not wait to get back to Coos Bay and talk about what I learned!
My board president and I attended everything from “Saving Downtown Edges” to “Creating Entrepreneurial Ready Cities.” Every speaker had great little tidbits or a personal story about some project or event that I took back with me. One community was able to raise over $60,000 selling old items that their Department of Transportation was going to throw in the dump! So many inspirational stories.
However, there are 3 specific ideas that I want to see implemented in the Coos Bay Downtown Association. First, I want to triple our budget. This will take a bit of work, but we have a road map to get there, thanks to this conference. Second, I want to implement the Community Driven Business Recruitment techniques that I learned in one of the sessions. Thirdly, I want to start a March Madness tournament that will pit the best dishes at the best restaurants against each other across the city. I can’t wait to get started; big things are going to happen!
Nathan Jurey, MRCP
Main Street Manager
Coos Bay Downtown Association
541.266.9706
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