(Riverton, WY) Those who attended the last Riverton Downtowners on Wednesday benefited from a visit from the Wyoming Business Council’s Main Street program representatives at their monthly meeting hosted by Shelle Anderson Photography.
Wyoming Main Street Program Manager Kayla Kler and West Central Director Patrick Edwards gave a presentation that provided insight, information and resources to attendees and business owners about how the Wyoming Main Street program works.
According to their website, Wyoming Main Street is a coordinating program of Main Street America for the state of Wyoming and is housed within the Wyoming Business Council. They help Wyoming communities of any size revitalize their downtown by implementing the Main Street Approach.
Other participating cities in Wyoming Main Street are Rock Springs, Green River, Rawlins, Gillette, Sheridan, Douglas, Evanston, Thermopolis, Sundance, Laramie and Cheyenne.
Kler said that the program originally began in the 1980s through the National Trust for Historic Preservation, starting out with a focus on the preservation of buildings and adapted from there.
“There are few things that Main Street is really focused on,” she said. “One is the businesses. Two is the downtown…whatever and however main street is in your community…and then that historic preservation piece is a big part of it.”
Kler continued by saying that Main Street is an economic and community development strategy, doing work within downtown, specifically. “It’s volunteer-led, community first, and very grassroots,” she said. “It’s not somebody coming in from the city and saying ‘hey, we should start a Main Street program,’ and then the city takes it over. It’s really supposed to be by and from the business owners, the building owners…anybody who is downtown or adjacent, or even just has an interest in downtown.”
“The Downtowners are about all businesses, not just on Main Street,” said Traci Cooper, President of the Riverton Downtowners Association. “We welcome all individuals, businesses, and business owners to join, whether you’re on Federal, up the hill, or wherever you are in Riverton.”
The Riverton Downtowners organize and present their annual Riverton Fall Harvest Festival which is coming up on Saturday, September 25. The event is their biggest fundraiser and includes vendors and food trucks, farmers’ markets, a car and bike show, and other fall festival activities such as a chili cookoff and a cakewalk. Main street businesses hold sidewalk sales or have open house in-store specials and discounts.
For more information, visit: rivertonfallfest.com, contact Traci Cooper at 307-840-0406 or Shelle Anderson at 480-510-5351.