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LOCALLY POWERED, MEANINGFULLY TRANSFORMED

Every community has a story, and many happen in the heart of the downtown district. Look around and you’ll find treasures you never expected along the thriving main streets of villages and cities all across our state. From charming small-town offerings like New Rockford’s Opera House or Watford City’s Outlaws Bar & Grill to our larger communities’ vibrant shopping, entertainment and diverse dining, a lot is happening on main street North Dakota. 

Vibrant community centers are a fundamental element of workforce development. North Dakota’s Main Street initiative provides community leaders with direct access to tools and resources to capitalize on their community’s strengths and make sound planning decisions. These efforts help create vibrant communities that attract and retain the 21st-century skilled workforce North Dakota needs to compete and succeed in a global economy.

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MSI Community Chats

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The Main Street Initiative Team invites you to join our monthly Community Chats webinars! These sessions were designed to provide community, regional and statewide volunteers and leaders an opportunity to learn more about a topic.  These sessions also offer an open space for questions and conversations and leave attendees with funding resources and actionable items that can be implemented within their own communities. Please join us for these 45 minute sessions and take away key insights into the Four Pillars of the Main Street Initiative: Healthy, Vibrant Communities, 21st Century Workforce, Smart, Efficient Infrastructure and Economic Diversification.

MSI Community Chat: Stories with Purpose: Attracting People & Strengthening Place Through Story

We all know stories inspire and entertain, but stories with purpose can do far more than that. Storytelling can be a powerful tool for attracting residents and visitors, growing businesses and local economies, building bridges and connecting communities. This fast-paced talk explains how stories shift thinking and impact both listeners and tellers, while sharing a range of inspiring examples of purposeful storytelling projects used for economic development, community building and placemaking. Attendees come away with practical ideas and best practices for using storytelling in their community work. 

Click here to register

Guest speaker, Rebecca Sanborn Stone would like attendees to complete this poll prior to the webinar.

Poll


In case you have missed any of the previous chats and topics, you can watch the video recordings by clicking the link below.

Community Chats Archive

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Four Pillars of Main Street ND Initiative

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Economic Diversification

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Main Street Initiative Grant Programs

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Rural Slum and Blight Grant

Vibrancy Grant

Rural Workforce Housing Grant

Rural Food Grant

Rural Facility Planning Grant

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Statewide Public Space Initiative - Placemaking Planning Grant

Partners in Planning Grant

Main Street Community Action Plan

Artist on Main Street

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LINKS & RESOURCES

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North Dakota Council on the Arts

  • Community Arts Access Provides financial assistance to nonprofits in communities to create arts programming or arts events. 
  • Special Projects provides financial assistance to communities for new art projects or to capitalize on touring arts events.   

ND Parks and Recreation

U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development

AARP

Rural America Placemaking Toolkit