In this Mainstreet Masters episode we are talking about mainstreet and town centre management with the former CEO of the UK Association of Town & City Management and experienced place management consultant Martin Blackwell. Martin has extensive knowledge of day and night best practice place management. He has been involved in management of Market Towns in the UK and larger cities including Norwich.

Martin also specialises in business improvement districts and he tells us how BIDs benefit the local communities they serve. Businesses and property owners benefit in addition to the local municipalities (Councils) because the create a new partnership that delivers for all.

Martin also discusses the Purple Flag night time initiative and Crime reduction strategies.

In this episode we are talking to Claire Albaret of the Belgian Association of Town Center Management based in Mons Belgium.

AMCV have been specialising in the area of City Center Management for over 25 years with the goal to make our city centers better places to live, work, study and play. Claire tells us about Reinventing Cities for the Future and how cities in Europe are achieving a Quality Mark for their best practice place management methods and Claire reveals her favourite place management project that delivered excellent outcomes for the local community.

In addition, Claire showed us some trends that are affecting consumerism in city centers and how a new City Center Group had been formed in Europe to benchmark key performance areas including visitation, customer experience and successful partnerships.

In this interview we are talking with Cheryl Adamson the General Manager of Parnell Business Association in Auckland New Zealand.

Parnell is a beautiful mainstreet village located on the edge of Auckland and is known for its wonderful boutiques, galleries and restaurants. Being close to the City has advantages and disadvantages and Cheryl tells us about the unique position that Parnell has.

Parnell is a very successful business improvement district with an independent business board and a consistent source of funding that enables management to deliver a range of programs that benefit businesses, property owners and the community.

During this webinar, Cheryl explains how important the property owners are in the future of Parnell. The BID puts forward the business case in policies that affect the many small businesses along the mainstreet including crime prevention, transport and development.

Parnell has a bright future and Cheryl talks about some very positive changes happening there.

You can find out more about Parnell at www.parnell.net.nz

Diana is the CEO of the River District Association in Danville Virginia and is a Great American Main Street Award winner.

She has been responsible for an amazing turnaround through many new initiatives such as the Dream Launch Bootcamp to foster and support new independent businesses and the Ignite Business Pitch. Danville identified that it had some issues and it needed the community, the businesses and the Council to come together and work towards a bright future.

The impact of Danville’s revitalization efforts is quantifiable, including the creation and retention of 623 jobs, the establishment of 146 new or expanded businesses, attracting more than $113 million in private investment, but beyond these metrics lies the essence of Danville’s transformation—a reinvigorated and distinctive sense of place.

In this webinar, we are talking with a very experienced CBD Manager DANIELLE HOBBS from MILDURA CITY HEART. Danielle was rated highly as a speaker at the 2023 Mainstreet SA Summit at Prospect and we wanted to follow up with her about the very successful program operating in the Mildura CBD. Danielle talks about her role as CBD Manager and how she manages the diverse range of tasks and activities that make up her day.

Danielle talks about the importance of a Council that supports the small business sector as it faces many challenges post covid. In addition to the CBD businesses there is an out of town shopping centre and many bulky goods outlets nearby.

Mildura City Heart provides a range of marketing and event services to help small businesses in the CBD. The ‘Show and Shine’ Event on the Easter weekend attracts nearly 20,000 people into Langtree Mall and surrounding streets giving the businesses excellent exposure to potential customers. The highly successful Gift Card managed by City Heart captures nearly $500,000 for CBD businesses.

The Governance Model is highly rated because of the professional Strategic Plan, Business Plan and Marketing Plans that are developed in consultation with businesses and the complementary Welcome Packs for new businesses along with many other benefits.

Robert Bria is the Mayor of the City of Norwood Payneham and St Peters Council and has been re-elected five times. In 2015, Robert received a Commendation for Economic Development Leadership (Elected Members Category).

During this webinar, Robert talks about his passion for The Parade at Norwood and Council’s close links with local businesses. Robert tells us about the current work being done by the Precinct Committee and how The Parade is performing at the moment and how the businesses came through Covid. The Precinct Committee partnership has worked hard to present a top-quality consumer website and deliver other marketing and event activities.

Bjorn Bergman is the Chief Executive Officer at the Swedish Association of Towns & Cities (Svenska Stadskarnor) based in Malmo, Sweden. The Association has an extensive membership base that includes 130 municipalities (Councils), companies, businesses and property owners and recently celebrated 30 years of operation.

In this short webinar, Bjorn talks about the importance of partnerships between the private and public sectors to create sustainable city centres, places and main streets. Bjorn explains how important collaboration, consensus and cooperation based on a holistic perspective is to face challenges and create opportunities.

Bjorn explains that when city managers are trained, they gain a broad perspective on the motivations driving each stakeholder. He also talks about the Certification Mark that measures the quality of services delivered to achieve successful outcomes.

Rania Fayad is an award-winning innovator and a business, marketing, business permit, and main street specialist with over 18+ years of experience in the public and private sectors. She founded Melbourne-based business consultancy, Yellow Round Table, in April 2022 and offers virtual consulting nationally.

Rania has a penchant for analysing data and legislation whilst communicating clearly and engagingly, has seen her support thousands of businesses and Business Associations through a range of marketing, business, events, mentoring and regulatory initiatives.

During this short webinar, Rania talks about the importance of good governance for mainstreets including transparency. As an experienced professional Rania advises about the suitability of an incorporated association in some cases. Rania also answers the question "Is your Board meant to be Strategic or Action orientated?"

Matt Wagner, Mainstreet America

The Mainstreet Masters series started with Matt Wagner, Chief Program Officer of Mainstreet America on 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟮 2024.
Matt is responsible for driving the organization's field service initiatives including the development and delivery of technical services for Main Street America and Urban Main programs, directing the Center’s research agenda, as well as the recently launched New Business Development work to focus on national partnerships, brand leveraging and new business growth areas.

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