A $1 Billion Economic Success Story

The 2024 Main Street Now Conference will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, May 6-8, bringing in leaders from across the country. Before the conference begins, Doing More Today is looking at Main Street’s impact in urban and rural America.

There’s a common bond across the state of Alabama, one shared by 32 communities from the Shoals, through the Black Belt to the Coastal Plain.

Alabama’s Main Streets are booming.

According to Place Economics, “Main Street Alabama is a $1 billion economic success story.” The Beltway-based analysts made that assessment recently, after poring through 10 years of data.

And the numbers go deep.

In the last decade, Main Street Alabama has produced:

The numbers were even a pleasant surprise to the man whose team corralled the figures, Donovan Rypkema, the Columbia-educated principal of Place Economics, a Washington, D.C. real estate and economic development-consulting firm.

“Two things really stood out to me,” Rypkema said. “First, the speed which those towns reached a billion dollars. But also surprising was the great diversity of the Alabama Main Street programs, from big cities to small towns and minority-owned business districts. All of them figured out how to use Main Street as their economic development framework.”

Regions Bank’s Paul Carruthers has been a member of the Alabama Main Street board since 2012. He said the study was commissioned to give everyone a 30,000-foot view of progress. The finding validated what he’s witnessed in person.

“Every time I visit an Alabama Main Street community I’m blown away by the metamorphosis,” said Carruthers, Regions’ Community Development Manager. “We are seeing downtowns come back to life by using Main Street America’s proven four-point approach.”

We are seeing downtowns come back to life by using Main Street America’s proven four-point approach.
Paul Carruthers, Regions’ Community Development Manager

‘An Incredible Ratio’

In its current form, Main Street Alabama has been a statewide fixture for 15 years, focusing on providing organization, promotion, design and economic vitality to return jobs and people downtown.

Main Street Alabama President Mary Helmer Wirth works closely with local businesses and state and community officials to provide.

“Coming here from another state, we spent the first year trying to convince people about what we do and can do to help,” Wirth said. “We’ve seen the growth as it happened. We commissioned Donovan’s team to measure our progress because they know their stuff. Having an outside team come in and verify what we’ve seen and experienced is so rewarding, because these numbers are robust and detailed.”

The first step to getting accurate numbers is having buy-in from all Main Street communities. They have to input statistics on a regular basis. It’s an arduous task Wirth knows all too well.

“As a main street director in Kansas, I had to do it quarterly,” she said. “I can tell you, it was sometimes challenging. But I began collecting the data monthly, and that was a game-changer because it was easier to track.”

And those numbers tell an impressive story.

This really is economic development. It’s creating an environment to make investments using resources they already have.
Donovan Rypkema, principal of Place Economics

“One of the best things we do – but my favorite – is have our Main Street directors report the number of businesses opening and closing each month,” Wirth said. “That’s the easiest thing to track and give us numbers we can compare nationally.

“Those numbers have shown us that, over the long haul, we have 11 or 12 businesses opening for everyone one that closes. That’s an incredible ratio.”

Rypkema agreed.

“This really is economic development,” Rypkema said. “It’s creating an environment to make investments using resources they already have. And by utilizing historic buildings and resources, the Main Street communities are able to differentiate themselves from the next town over.”

In Alabama, Wirth credits Carruthers and Regions for playing a role in this downtown renaissance across the state.

“Paul has been, and continues to be, a champion of Main Street,” she said. “Regions hosts the Heroes Toast to Excellence annually, recognizing outstanding volunteers from across the state. And, of course, Regions annually supports Main Street Alabama financially.”

For Regions, it’s common-sense involvement.

“By restoring the vitality of our economic centers, we are bringing people back and giving them a reason to stay for generations to come,” Carruthers said. “In turn, that provides stability and economic opportunity for everyone and enriches every community’s pride of place.”

‘Tomorrow Will be Better’

Since its reincarnation in 2010, Main Street Alabama has survived the end of the Great Recession and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, two unnatural whirlwinds that did damage to economies across the country.

“When the pandemic hit, we sat idle for a month or so,” Wirth said. “Around April 10 (of 2020), we got out in the communities and said, ‘Now is the time to make sure our customers are safe and we were moving forward. Monroeville, for example, saw its sales tax revenue immediately climb. That was happening across the state.

“By getting people to shop downtown and even to live downtown, we’re teaching them that each of you can be part of downtown redevelopment.”

Rypkema saw the same thing happening.

By getting people to shop downtown and even to live downtown, we’re teaching them that each of you can be part of downtown redevelopment.
Mary Helmer Wirth, Main Street Alabama President

“Main Street, both the state program and local communities, made a decision early on that they were not only going to survive but prosper,” Rypkema said. “So they looked for solutions to the specific problems of their businesses.”

In one community, that meant installing foot pedals at the front door so customers could gain access without touching anything. Elsewhere, it meant turning restaurants into outdoor bistros, a trend that remains popular four years later.

“That one little step says to customers ‘We’re doing everything we can to make it safe for you to shop here;’ that was both a great idea and completely within the Main Street tradition of self-help solutions.”

It’s the chance to find solutions that drive Main Street Alabama and keep Wirth enthusiastic about her job.

“What stands out to me about our program is the love and drive for a better place, the willingness to work for things they want and the optimism that tomorrow will be better,” Wirth said.

It’s about producing measurable results for everyone.

“This is what makes Main Street communities so resilient and effective: they can react to circumstances quickly and provide high-level assistance to mitigate issues and enhance opportunities,” Regions’ Carruthers said. “It’s a great program, and we are proud to be partnered with Main Street.”