The hard work the Westside Commercial Association and Westside Lansing businesses have put into redeveloping the neighborhood has paid off.
The Westside recently received the Michigan Main Street Program associate level designation, which gives community organizers access to training for two years with the potential for future financial assistance.
“The trainings will be really helpful to us in figuring out some of the technical things we need to do develop the district,” says Jessica Yorko, program manager with the Westside Commercial Association. “It will also give us technical assistance for founding our Main Street communities.”
This includes the creation of several committees specifically designed to improve Lansing’s Westside. The committees will focus on design, promotion, organization and revitalizing a historic district.
It will also help the association put a structure in place to create a more stable leadership model. Right now, the Westside Commercial Association doesn’t have a director.
“Broad community support is what’s given Old Town and other Main Street communities that broad, grassroots support,” Yorko says. “We will need a full time director within the next year. We’re really at capacity and it’s really hard to get four committees up and running and to do business improvement with our current staff level.”
Source: Jessica Yorko, Westside Commercial Association
Ivy Hughes is the managing editor of Capital Gains and can be reached here.
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