July 4 fireworks possible

Holly Springs Main Street Chamber Executive Director Christy Owens and board member Tiffiney Gray provided a PowerPoint presentation March 1 to the Holly Springs mayor and board of aldermen.

The last couple of years Main Street has been less active in terms of putting on the Bikers and Blues Night and the Fourth of July fireworks due to COVID-19, but this may be the year to restart the activities.

Owens presented an overview of what Mississippi Main Street Association has accomplished recently and showed a film made in Holly Springs that presents the city in its best light. She said Holly Springs has a designated Main Street program, the highest offered in the state and nationally accredited.

Alderman Colter Teel expressed enthusiasm for the fireworks, saying it is his favorite annual event of the year. He supported the city in helping fund the fireworks that historically has been paid for by the City of Holly Springs and Contract Fabricators.

Alderman Patricia Merriweather expressed excitement about the Main Street Chamber programs.

“It’s real good. This is great to get the nuts and bolts,” she said. “New businesses coming into the community and economic development are dear to us. How do we try to promote people, to encourage them to open a business? Do we have space?”

Owens said Main Street takes the new business prospect from the beginning and helps them find a business space and from there all the way to the ribbon cutting or grand opening.

“Finding a new business space can be challenging at times but there is always a way,” Owens said.

Merriweather said she is constantly hearing about a grocery store “on this side of town.” Owens said new businesses like a grocery store come in and look at the numbers to see if it will pay out.

“If they feel like they can’t, they won’t,” she said.

Gray, associate vice president of Institutional Advancement at Rust College, said when she came to Holly Springs it was the planters with beautiful flowers around the square that made her feel the city would be a good place to bring her family. She has two girls.

Some interesting facts about Main Street include the following: • the National Main Street Center was born in 1980 out of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

• Mississippi’s program was established in 1984 through the Mississippi Development Authority, Department of Archives and History, and the Small-Town Center at Mississippi State.

• the Mississippi Downtown Development Association was created as a non-profit and in 1989, MDDA joined with the Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development to form the state-wide Main Street Program.

MDDA rebranded in 1997 as MMSA. MMSA is headquartered in downtown Jackson and serves over 50 Main Street community organizations.

• MMSA’s mission is to be a catalyst for preservation and economic revitalization of downtowns and districts.

Owens said Main Street is more than promoting great events and making downtowns look better. It is an economic development tool that improves the tax base, fosters entrepreneurship, builds capacity and creates partnerships within the community.

The four prongs of MMSA address economic vitality, design (the way the town looks), promotion and organization all to achieve long-term economic growth.

Holly Springs Main Street was established in 2008 through a partnership with Rust College and the City of Holly Springs – two bodies that put up the monies to get the city membership in Mississippi Main Street.

The Holly Springs Main Street Association merged with the Holly Springs Chamber of Commerce in 2012.

In August 2008 Main Street participated in a week-long downtown assessment and in November a Main Street Charrette was conducted with funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission. That Charrette laid out a new design for the city which included improved lighting, signage, landscaping and a design and layout plan.

The mayor and board of aldermen met again on Tuesday of this week.