Aurora and Mexico: Two New Communities Building for Success
September 30, 2025 | Ben White
Downtown revitalization is alive, well, and growing in Missouri! Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) works in over 150 communities with 58 designated Main Street programs that have an agreement with MMSC. These communities are at various levels of implementing downtown revitalization and economic development efforts in their downtown area using the comprehensive Main Street Approach™. This includes the Community Empowerment Grant (CEG) program that is designed to assist in the establishment of a strong nonprofit organization focused on downtown economic development as well as guide the organization through effective planning using community feedback. Each community in the CEG program has one thing in common: they have a strong group of community members that have the desire to make downtown a better place and an economic engine for the community.
Aurora and Mexico are two such communities who are participating in CEG program. In addition, MMSC, through our partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), delivered technical assistance and services to both communities. This partnership allows MMSC to deliver resources on the Promotion, Design, and Economic Vitality Points to these communities, which allowed each community to come together through input sessions to determine what is important for the future of their downtown with a unified vision. Each community has taken tangible steps to further economic development efforts in their downtown area.
Aurora and Mexico received these additional services after economic strategies were identified for the downtown area. This allowed the communities to focus on identifying projects using a specific economic emphasis. MMSC is excited to see what each of these Main Street programs accomplish going forward as they already have a strong desire to revitalize their downtown through partnerships and a desire to implement the time-tested Main Street Approach™ using these resources.
Aurora
Aurora is located in southwest Missouri, with a population around 7,500 people (according to census.gov estimations). Aurora Downtown Project received branding, renderings, education, and tools from MMSC’s Resource Team to support their journey in building the capacity of the organization through MMSC’s CEG program. Each of the provided services and resources provided was tailored to the community’s needs based on input gathered from the community, including resources on pigeon management in their downtown buildings and targeted beautification recommendations to provide a welcoming environment for their diverse community population. This synergized with their Multi-Generational economic strategy. These recommendations will help set the stage for a vibrant economic environment in the downtown.
Mexico
Main Street Mexico recently received their economic strategies as part of the Community Empowerment Grant program and additional tools and resources from consultants through our partnership with USDA. Mexico, a community of around 11,500 people, has two economic focuses for downtown: Economic Enhancement and Entertainment. These strategies specifically focus on becoming the leader of downtown business and entrepreneur development, which includes a focus on housing, and businesses, activities, and places for people of all ages to enjoy. The branding, renderings, education, and tools delivered by MMSC’s Resource Team assisted the organization and community enhance their knowledge of the Main Street Approach™ and inspire future economic growth. An economic development guide was provided to help Main Street Mexico strategically recruit new businesses in the downtown as a resource to answer questions that entrepreneurs may have as they are looking to start a business. These focuses catalyzed the City’s support of the downtown revitalization program to enter into a financial agreement with Main Street Mexico to provide economic development services in downtown. The organization has shown that it can utilize the resources provided to be the leader in downtown economic development and this investment from the City will go towards making their goals a reality.
Each service focused on providing what the community needed including: branding that provided an identity to the organization, activation of greenspace and streetscape, an economic development guide, and additional tools and resources for the organization to set itself up as the lead on economic development in downtown.
Missouri Main Street Connection is excited to see how Aurora and Mexico work to implement the Main Street Approach™ with the recommendations from these visits and economic direction. Communities like these are a testament that by implementing a shared vision from the community, true economic change can happen downtown. By following the Main Street Approach™, each community can take the provided direction and resources to make tangible, lasting change in the downtown.
