The Path to Community Success through the Community Empowerment Grant Program
Ben White | December 29, 2025
Success is one action away. Missouri Main Street communities have proven to be resilient during uncertain economic times by using the Main Street Approach™, a solid framework and proven economic development tool that’s been employed in communities across the United States since 1980. The Community Empowerment Grant is a two-year service grant that provides communities with a solid understanding of this approach and how to set the foundation for an effective Main Street organization. Through this methodology, volunteers learn the framework to facilitate downtown revitalization with proven economic development tools. Jefferson City, Auxvasse, and Union are three communities that have started their efforts in the CEG program and have received structured support with “over‑the‑shoulder” guidance to develop a vibrant downtown.
Jefferson City - Starting with the Town Hall
Jefferson City’s stakeholders chose action during a transformational time in Downtown Jefferson City with the construction of a conference center downtown. The downtown revitalization program was focused on beautification efforts and events and not a certified Main Street program. The organization recognized that they needed to tap into Missouri Main Street Connection (MMSC) to transition into a more comprehensive economic development organization using the Main Street Approach™ while gathering community input on future initiatives and projects. At the Town Hall in November of 2025, where the Downtown Jefferson City organization announced Jefferson City received the Community Empowerment Grant (CEG) from MMSC, they began the process of gathering community input to establish their first goals, Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). The room brimmed with excitement for this new opportunity to be part of the change happening in their community. This renewed focus and community feedback will help the organization focus its efforts to strengthen the economic vibrancy of downtown.
Auxvasse - Identifying a Direction Forward
Auxvasse, a small community in central Missouri, is in the second year of the CEG program. They received the grant in May of 2024 to reverse the trend of disinvestment and declining car and foot traffic in their community that resulted from a highway bypass in the 1990’s. MMSC’s team worked with community stakeholders to form One Auxvasse, the Main Street organization, to champion revitalization efforts in Auxvasse’s historic commercial district. At this stage of the grant program, our team developed and recommended an economic strategy focused on attracting customers and holding activities in the evening and weekend. This came from input gathering during their Town Hall and community survey as well as light demographic information from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.), an American geographic information system software, which contains data compiled from the Census Bureau. The data from the community and ESRI showed that people were leaving for work during the day and looking for open businesses and activities at the end of the workday and on the weekend. This specific economic focus has given the Main Street organization direction on when to plan events and activities and what kinds of businesses to recruit to their commercial district.
Union - Capstone with Strategy Implementation
Union’s Main Street organization, ReDiscover Union, will complete the CEG program in early 2026 following their last service: Strategy Implementation. Since receiving their Transformation Strategies: Downtown Activation and Family-Friendly, the organization focused on creating programing and projects for these two strategies within each of Main Street’s Four Points. The organization is currently working on activating downtown by making it a destination for all community members to shop and spend their time while also focusing efforts to cater to their young, family-centric population by creating and enhancing current events as well as working to create a partnership with the school district.
In order to ensure their work was comprehensive and effective in implementing Main Street’s principles, ReDiscover Union audited their current and potential future activities. This audit revealed that they could incorporate more Economic Vitality projects. They connected with MMSC for ideas from other Main Street programs as it pertained specifically to their economic focus in downtown. This discussion is leading the organization to implement a more complete slate of activities that could include intentional business retention and recruitment initiatives.
The Community Empowerment Grant offers Main Street organizations a succinct process of steps to successfully revitalize their downtowns. These communities are learning, working hard, and implementing Main Street’s proven methodology to build a strong, successful, and sustainable Main Street program. If your community is interested in learning more about this program, there is a free workshop in Jefferson City on Wednesday, January 28; sign up using this link: https://momainstreet.org/events/community-empowerment-grant-workshop-2026-round-one/
