PEOPLE ENERGIZING PLACES
People Energizing Places (PEP) Grant
Missouri Main Street Connection offers the People Energizing Places (PEP) matching service grant annually. Over two years, this grant provides Missouri Main Street communities and historic commercial districts access to advanced training and assistance that support local efforts. The recipient of this matching service grant is responsible for 25% of the costs, totaling $9,600. MMSC’s share of the matching service grant is provided through extensive technical assistance and training. Applications are accepted monthly.
| Cost Share Amount | |
|---|---|
|
Total Investment $38,400 |
|
|
MMSC |
Community |
|
$28,800 |
$9,600 |
Applications are currently being accepted for the PEP matching service grant.
- Download our grant overview materials and a printable application. Review these materials with your local stakeholders.
2. Submit your application to
MMSC by following the criteria
listed in the application.
Want to talk to our staff before applying? Call 417-334-3014. Keith Winge can assist you with your PEP questions.
People Energizing Places (PEP) Programming Options
Potential programming options available to recipients include Main Street strategic planning or energizing a Main Street program. These are two options, though this matching service grant can be customized by the applicant to fit their unique needs—applicants seeking customized programming should call Keith Winge at 417-334-3014 before applying.
Main Street Strategic Planning
Engage the board, community, and partners in determining Transformation Strategies following the Main Street Approach™, developing action plans for the next 1-3 years and identifying funding sources.
Energizing a Main Street Program
Jump-start a Main Street program that may have been dormant or stagnant through a review of the organization’s corporate and nonprofit documents, committee structure, and events/projects. MMSC recommends and provides hands-on direction for a course of action to get back on track. This service can be used to convert an already existing organization into a Main Street organization.
Enhance the PEP matching service grant with these additional modules.
PEP programming can be customized further through the addition of specialized modules. These modules can be one of the predefined modules included below or a customized module—applicants seeking customized modules should call Keith Winge at 417-334-3014 before applying.
Your community already has a personality. Create or refine your organization, community, and/or destination’s identity to preserve your community’s personality while conveying its vision for the future with the help from MMSC.
Sedalia Main Streets received branding services from Missouri Main Street Connection and consultant Ben Muldrow with Muldrow & Associates. Our consultants deliver the highest quality of branding to local Main Street programs that take inspiration from every element of a historic district. For more examples of our branding services please check out Main Street Vienna, Campbell Main Street, Main Street Brookfield, and Fayette Main Street.
Tell your story as well as share amazing event information, educational materials, and more to share with your district and community. Develop, identify, and craft your Main Street audiences, communication tools, and message. Develop a captivating strategy for reaching your stakeholders, creating a communication calendar, and assembling an action plan for deployment with help from MMSC.
MMSC’s staff and team of consultants are experts in their field at identifying the best way to reach Main Street’s audience. With a collection of communication tools, you can energize your staff and/or committee with new ways of utilizing communication channels that lead your target audience back to your organization.
Hospitality Training
Smiling faces and inviting places win people over. Create your own team of downtown advocates or customer service ambassadors from business owners, volunteers, and city officials to help visitors feel welcome in your Main Street district.
Helping visitors feel welcome in our Main Street district takes everyone from city employees to business owners to volunteers.
Past PEP matching service grant recipients
Sedalia Main Streets
Sedalia received the PEP grant in early 2021 to energize a Main Street program. The City of Sedalia worked with MMSC staff over the course of two years to establish a Main Street program. This program builds upon the Main Street principles that are already being utilized in the district to facilitate preservation-based economic development led by a Board of Directors, committee chairs, and volunteers. Additionally, Sedalia Main Streets received branding services as an additional module.
People Energizing Places Grant Update: Sedalias Main Street Program Evolving
St. Charles Main Street Foundation
The St. Charles Main Street Foundation received the PEP grant in early 2022 to energize their Main Street program. Local stakeholders used the PEP service grant as an opportunity to transition their current organization, St. Charles Main Street Foundation, into a formal Main Street program. They worked with MMSC staff over the course of two years to build a strong Board of Directors, committees, and volunteers that will keep St. Charles thriving and quintessential decades into the future.
