Friday Night Live. Wayfinding Signs. Valenwine. Downtown Business Recruitment Packets. Vacant Spaces Tours. Mason City Downtown Market. What do all these things have in common? They are all programs organized and executed by Main Street Mason City, utilizing volunteers.
Main Street Mason City is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and enhancing Downtown Mason City as an entertainment, business, shopping and cultural destination for the entire community. Since 2004, it has been Mason City’s conduit to a program developed over the last 30 years by The National Trust for Historic Preservation, another non-profit, non-governmental organization to implement the National Trust’s Four Point Approach to save our historic commercial districts. Official Main Street Programs work in almost every state, including Iowa for the last 25 years where they work in the Economic Development Agency’s Downtown Resource Center. The State of Iowa Estimates that on average across the state of Iowa, for every One Dollar of State Financial Input, Main Street Communities have seen Eighty Eight Dollars of return through job growth and private development.
Main Street Mason City has been an official Main Street Program since 2004, and existed as the Downtown Business Association before that. While there is a single paid staff person, Executive Director Marty Walsh, and an unpaid board of 11, Main Street Mason City relies on volunteers to succeed in their mission. Opportunities range from collecting tickets at Friday Night Live to Participating in Earth Day Cleanup Downtown, and almost everything in between. The Organization is currently looking to expand the event offerings for the Downtown area, as well as a Capital Campaign among other projects. Main Street Mason City relies primarily on donations of money, time and other resources from private individuals and businesses both inside and outside the downtown area.
Volunteer opportunities range in time commitment from one hour to a few hours a week, and fall mainly under the Four Points of the Main Street Approach:
· Promotions: Including Events and Marketing, this is the place for you if you enjoy working with the public.
· Design: Responsible for improving the appearance of the Downtown, this is the place for you if you like to swing a hammer, take pictures or just love the look of our downtown.
· Business Improvement: This area works with business Development, Retention and Recruitment, growing a solid mix of downtown businesses.
· Organization: “The Backs, the Bucks and the Ears,” this is where we need help with office work, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and communications.
If you, your civic group or business are interested in helping to grow Mason City, please consider this volunteer opportunity and contact Main Street at any time by calling Executive Director Marty Walsh at 641-494-0003 or e-mailing the office at Director@mainstreetmasoncity.org.|