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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%">Small Business Saturday: Apply to Become a Neighborhood Champion!</span></u></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This holiday season, rally your communities around the small businesses that help make your downtown thrive. Applications to become an American Express Neighborhood Champion this Small Business Saturday® are now open! If you were a Neighborhood
Champion last year, you are pre-approved this year and will automatically be approved when you complete a few fields and submit your application. Eligibility Restrictions/Terms apply.
<a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/shop-small/neighborhoodchampions/?extlink=va-us-GABM-NC_Rally_SSDC#!">
Learn more and apply by November 9.</a><b><u><o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%">Educational Opportunities and Resources<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>New Resource to Support Entrepreneurs<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This spring, NMSC released <a href="https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/NMSC/390e0055-2395-4d3b-af60-81b53974430d/UploadedImages/Resource_Center/EE/EE_Community_Guide_f.pdf" target="_blank">
<i>Building a Community Entrepreneurship Ecosystem - A Self-Guided Training for Communities</i></a>, a step-by-step guide that provides local leaders with the tools they need to build a thriving entrepreneurial culture. NMSC recently updated the publication
with guidance on how to <a href="https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/NMSC/390e0055-2395-4d3b-af60-81b53974430d/UploadedImages/Resource_Center/EE/NMSC65_5_LifeCycleEval_2-FORM.pdf">
conduct a lifecycle evaluation</a> of your Ecosystem. Taking this extra step will help you more fully determine how your Ecosystem is supporting businesses throughout their lifetime, and identify gaps within your programming and who you are serving.
<a href="https://higherlogicdownload.s3.amazonaws.com/NMSC/390e0055-2395-4d3b-af60-81b53974430d/UploadedImages/Resource_Center/EE/EE_Community_Guide_f.pdf">
Check out the updated guide.</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Empower by GoDaddy<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Main Street America and GoDaddy are teaming up to provide digital empowerment to business owners around the U.S. Through Empower by GoDaddy, which equips entrepreneurs in communities with training, tools, and peer networks to help small
businesses establish and improve an effective digital presence. NMSC invites you to join in sharing this opportunity with your small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs by forwarding this email or downloading and sharing this flyer with them.
<a href="https://www.mainstreet.org/blogs/national-main-street-center/2021/10/12/providing-digital-empowerment-to-main-street-entre">
Learn more</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><o:p><span style="text-decoration:none"> </span></o:p></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%">Funding Opportunities<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>National Trust: Telling the Full History Preservation Fund</b>
<br>
The <a href="http://us.e-activist.com/page/email/click/10028/1035791?email=uyWQo1za%2Bo7xwd9snnp8zLHgVM6K8Nv%2F&campid=v6WN8sCOot2ZkArzVWMSmA==">
<i>Telling the Full History</i> grant program</a> provides $25,000 and $50,000 grants for humanities-based work to interpret and preserve historic places of importance to underrepresented communities including, but not limited to, women, immigrants, Asian Americans,
Black Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and LGBTQ communities.
<b>Applications are due December 15</b>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>T-Mobile Hometown Grant Program<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">T-Mobile's Hometown Grant program is investing big in small towns by awarding up to 100 towns a year with project funding—up to $50,000 each. Recipients are selected and awarded on a quarterly basis, so towns with populations less than
50,000 are eligible and encouraged to apply. Interested in applying for a future Hometown Grant?
<a href="https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/hometown-grants">Learn more</a>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Community Heart & Soul Seed Grant Program<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Orton Foundation is inviting resident-driven groups in small cities and towns to apply for $10,000 in startup funding to implement the Community Heart & Soul model. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis.
<a href="https://www.communityheartandsoul.org/seed-grants/">Learn more</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-color:#C55A11;mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha:100.0%">Other Cool News/Ideas<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Main Street Arkansas Coffee Trail Celebrates the Importance of Coffee Shops Downtown<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Main Street Arkansas has brewed a new engaging way for tourists and residents alike to explore local Arkansas commercial districts: the Main Street Arkansas Coffee Trail. This new trail showcases over 40 locally owned and operated coffee
shops around the state through a series of business owner profiles and a statewide coffee trail map.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“Locally owned and operated coffee shops have become a symbol of vitality, culture, and sense of place in American downtown communities,” said Hannah Ratzlaff, Exterior Design Consultant at Main Street Arkansas. "Main Street Arkansas is
thrilled to showcase a special view of our local programs through this lens.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Explore the Main Street Arkansas Coffee Trail and how it celebrates the importance of coffee shops to our downtowns.
<a href="https://bit.ly/2Y1h945">Read more.</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Local Instagram Takeovers Share Best Practices and Increase Connectivity Nationwide<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An Instagram Stories Takeover is an easy and exciting way to showcase an organization’s impact to a new and engaged audience. Earlier this summer, Main Street America hosted our first-ever Instagram Stories Takeover, giving direct access
to our Instagram account to six Main Street organizations from around the Network.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our hope was that these communities would use this opportunity to showcase their Main Street’s story, celebrate their proudest accomplishments, and share replicable initiatives that they had implemented in their commercial district to inspire
others. Explore these six programs' unique approaches to showcasing their communities and their tips and tricks for hosting—and being the host of—an Instagram Takeover.
<a href="https://bit.ly/3FAk1Gx">Read it here.</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Lisbon’s new Moxie Hub offers local entrepreneurs space to grow their business<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“When we speak about economic development in small towns, people often ask how can we bring talent from outside and what can we incentivize to come here, but what is overlooked is what we already have in our community,” said Matthew Wagner,
Ph.D., Chief Program Officer at Main Street America.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hear more from Dr. Wagner in this in-depth story of how the Town of Lisbon, Maine, is utilizing a $60,000 grant through Maine Community Foundation and Maine Downtown Center to create The Moxie Hub, a new business hub that caters to entrepreneurs
and creatives looking to network and grow their businesses. <a href="https://bit.ly/3mFMkdV">
Read more</a>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://bit.ly/3AqGEt3">Explore more Entrepreneurial Ecosystem stories and resources from Main Street America.</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><u><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#32B1AF">Sheri Stuart (she, her, hers)</span></u></b><u><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#32B1AF"> | Oregon Main Street<o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Oregon Heritage, Oregon Parks and Recreation Depart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Cell: (503) 551-3705<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.oregonmainstreet.org"><span style="color:windowtext">www.oregonmainstreet.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">725 Summer St NE, Ste C<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Salem, Oregon 97301</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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