Milan has been selected in a competitive application process to participate in a cost-sharing Community Empowerment Grant that provides training, mentoring, and technical services to revitalization programs in Missouri’s historic commercial districts. The grant is provided by Missouri Main Street Connection, Inc.
MMSC staff will visit with Milan’s community leaders to evaluate existing and future needs of the downtown, and then schedule a series of customized training and mentoring sessions equipping them to concentrate on their local revitalization goals. MMSC State Director Gayla Roten noted, “This service grant offers an amazing opportunity to Milan to bring the community together to preserve and revitalize the downtown district. We are excited to assist with this work!”
The goal of the grant is the development of a sustainable, volunteer-based organization that will carry out an economic development program based on the preservation of historic assets in the downtown, using the Main Street Approach™ to revitalization.
With support from MMSC, the sponsoring organization, the City of Milan, anticipates:
Comprehensive and sustainable revitalization in downtown Milan and throughout the community; and
To build on the successes already accomplished by the City of Milan and other stakeholders in the community.
During the next two years, MMSC will provide Milan with training and mentoring to formally establish a revitalization organization that will engage the entire community as participants and beneficiaries. The group also will attend regional revitalization workshops and conferences conducted by MMSC.
The Community Empowerment Grant is a 60/40 matching service grant, in which the Greenhills Regional Planning Commission is supporting these efforts by paying the 40% matching portion of the grant. The total value of the grant in training and mentoring services is $30,800. Milan is also now designated as an Affiliate in the Missouri Main Street Tier Structure which ranks progress on standards established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and National Main Street Center.
