Grants MainStreet Project Inc.

GRANTS, N.M. – Grants MainStreet Project Inc. has a long history as champions of the community. After struggling through the COVID-19 era, MainStreet is ready to rock and roll once again. The agency has several projects in the works and are looking for assistance from the community to beautify the streets of Grants, New Mexico.

MainStreet is in a serious need of volunteers. The work they do can benefit the whole City of Grants, but they do not have the help they need to beautify Grants. MainStreet is calling on residents of Grants to think of what they want their community to be, and to come over to make it happen. MainStreet only has one employee, and it is meant to be made up of volunteers who manage a large chunk of the work. Unlike most boards in Cibola, MainStreet is a working board, which means the members do not just sit in a meeting and vote, they also show up and work the events.

“Grants MainStreet is the catalyst for revitalizing, beautifying, and energizing downtown Grants,” MainStreet Executive Director William Yarborough said, “We were established in 1997 and are a charitable 501(c)(3). We’re dedicated to improving the Grants Downtown Area, through that – the entirety of Grants.” Yarborough explained that MainStreet is a resource for businesses, MainStreet can help build up businesses in the main street district and focuses its attention on older, run down, or decrepit buildings to try and get them revitalized so they look more attractive.

Grants MainStreet has cleaned areas of the district, removing trees, roots, weeds and trash from vacant lots in the area. The point of this cleaning is to make the plots more attractive to potential buyers.

MainStreet is heavily involved in beautification. In a joint partnership with the business owner, MainStreet can perform “Façade Squad” events, where the façade of a building is renovated to make it more attractive to potential customers.

To MainStreet, Aesthetics are nice, but must also be functional. Something can look nice, but if it doesn’t bring customers to businesses than it is not considered “functional.” The point of MainStreet’s work, Yarborough said, is for all of the beautification to have a function that – in at least one way – benefits MainStreet businesses and the downtown area of Grants.

MainStreet works to improve the economy of Grants through its overall work, which is clearly laid out in their Four Point Approach.

The Four Point Approach

MainStreet’s Four Point Approach focuses on key aspects which keeps MainStreet focused in their mission of beautifying and reenergizing the downtown area: Organization, Design, Promotion, and Economic Vitality.

The Four Points Approach works for MainStreet because each point is its own committee with a team that focuses on their work. When everything is brought together, the Four Points Approach sees a successful project with benefits to the community. This is a great opportunity for members of the community who do not have time for a board position but want to participate in the success of downtown Grants.

The Organization Committee deals with the administrative and coordinating parts of MainStreet. This deals greatly with finding volunteers and making sure that finances are stable so the other three points can have success.

“I like to look at it like a tree. Organization is like the root system, where the rest of the tree can get nutrients and the creativity can flow out of it, that would be Promotion, Design, and Economic Vitality,” Yarborough said.

Design focuses on beautification and theming of parks, city streets, and other parts of the MainStreet District. “I just got off the phone with the [Cibola Arts Council] to do a callout for muralists,” Yarborough said, explaining that this is a function of the Design Committee.

Promotion is meant to promote the MainStreet District. This can be done through social media, events in the park, managing billboards, and advertisements. Most of the money that flows through this committee comes from the city’s Lodger’s Tax. The Promotions Committee would focus on promoting the Grants MainStreet District and its businesses.

Economic Vitality is a committee similar to promotions, but works more closely with local partners to find the appropriate connections for different business. If a business needed help filling out a plan for expansion, MainStreet could find a community partner that would help. “Businesses can tell us what they need and we can connect them with the resource they need,” Yarborough said.

Having a Limb to Stand on

MainStreet succeeds when it has a live director to help organize the department.

The MainStreet Board of Directors can have a maximum number of nine members, it can only have a minimum of five members. Currently, the board is at their minimum.

JoAnne Martinez serves as President of Grants MainStreet, she is the CEO of organization and takes responsibility for the board of directors.

Patrick Clingman is the Vice President; he is an area businessowner.

Josephine Hurtado, area businesswoman, is the Treasurer.

Roger Siegmann, local volunteer, serves as the Secretary.

Board members are required to take up a committee position. They do not have to be a committee chair, but they need to be involved in the work of the community, “It’s speaking and doing” as Yarborough said.

“To say that I sit here and do all these things, that I’m the one putting fliers up – I do put fliers up – but it’s up to our board to pick the direction. It’s up to businesses and business owners to pick what they want to do. I’m putting together what we have available to cater it for their wants and needs. Sometimes we have to ask someone for more than they’re used to or what they’re comfortable with. It’s believing that they can do more. Whenever you install confidence in someone and support them, they succeed most of the time. It’s hard to go our on a limb when its not supported, or its dead.”

Promoting Economic Growth on MainStreet

Helping businesses to find ways to grow is in MainStreet’s arsenal. If MainStreet doesn’t have the answers, they have a number of local partners – including the Cibola Communities Economic Development Corporation – to call upon for assistance.

Recently, MainStreet put together a map of businesses within the MainStreet district that has been distributed from the start of Route 66 in Chicago, Illinois, to the end of the road in Santa Monica, California. This was in a mission to bring more tourists and potential customers to Grants’ MainStreet.

MainStreet is also working on an “incubator” project which will help new business owners kickstart their dreams and give them the ability to start the business. The work to start this project is ongoing. MainStreet is actively working on this project, but not all of the details have been outlined just yet.

“This is a portion of what we do in our Four Point Approach: Economic Vitality. Our work ranges from helping to provide better business practices, find more efficient ways of working, but also our help can look like an incubator that will provide a place for businessowners to have a place with everything that they need without having to purchase all the things for the startup. Especially when it comes to registering your business, you’ll have an address that can list for your address.”

MainStreet is in need of volunteers to help support the community and revitalize Downtown Grants. To pick a board application, or to enquire about a committee position, visit 523 W Santa Fe Avenue or call Yarborough at 817-929-4122. You can email GrantsMainStreet66@gmail.co m “Those are the best ways to reach us, currently our website is in development so that won’t work,” Yarborough said. Call 505-658-2450 to reach the MainStreet Office.