Earlier this week, Main Street Iowa staff met with Guthrie Center Main Street for a site visit.

Program Director Julie Bailey says Main Street Iowa representatives met with all four of their committees to review their accomplishments in the last six months and work on goals for 2015.

The economic restructuring committee has helped to establish a database of all the buildings and businesses in the City along with doing research of the population demographics and economics trends and they have worked closely with the Guthrie Center Economic Development Corporation for business retention, recruitment and expansion.

The promotions committee worked with the Guthrie Center Chamber during the sidewalk sale this summer along with selling cinnamon rolls during the fair parade and creating new exterior signage for the main office at the Guthrie Center Communications building.  Bailey talks about a project next May that the promotions committee is working on.

“Community festival on May 1st of 2015 because it happens to be Guthrie Center’s Zip Code Day.  The zip code for Guthrie (Center) is 50115 and that translates to May 1st, 2015.”

The organizational committee has currently collected 94% of this year’s pledges for its three-year fund drive and they’ve helped to get over 150 volunteers for different events this year.

The design committee helped with the downtown area planters and Bailey adds they are currently working on new design standards for businesses.

“Some of those designs standards will be new for businesses to have to adhere to but it’s all very important when you’re looking at the downtown district as a unit.”

She comments that they’ve had Main Street visit the City five times since becoming a Main Street community nine months ago and she is hopefully that they will accomplish even more in 2015.