Congratulations to the community of Clarence who just been received into the Main Street Iowa program. “For years, the Clarence community knew they wanted to do something about its deteriorating downtown, but they didn’t know exactly where to begin”, explained Clarence Mayor Jeric Armstrong. But after the City Clerk Deb Minar and a few community members attended a Downtown workshop hosted by Cedar County Economic Development Commission (CCEDCO), a plan started to develop to prove to the section committee a strong case that Clarence has community wide support, deep drive and an action oriented bias to be a successful Main Street Iowa community. The section committee agreed and that community was awarded MSI designation last week at the Iowa Downtown Summit conference.
The Main Street Iowa is an Iowa Economic Development Authority program in partnership with the National Main Program that assist selected communities with strategic planning, professional training and technical assistance to achieve community economic and community development goals. The program implements a proven formula that has been successful for communities across the state and the nation offering a proven framework that enhances the social and economic vitality of a city. It is a great template for the GrowHERE philosophy and away to put it into practice.
