Main Street Program Manager

City of Washington•City of Washington, NC

15h•Onsite

About The Position

The Main Street program manager coordinates activity within a downtown revitalization program that utilizes historic preservation as an integral foundation for downtown economic development. Responsible for the development, conduct, execution, and documentation of the Main Street program. The program manager is the principal on-site staff person responsible for coordinating all program activities locally as well as for representing the community regionally, statewide, and nationally as appropriate. In addition, the program manager should help guide the organization as it grows and as its objectives evolve.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university with a BS or BA degree preferred.
Five -years’ experience in community development, business, or downtown development.
Any equivalent combination of education and experience, with additional education substituting on a year for year basis for the required experience.
Valid North Carolina driver’s license and acceptable driving record

Responsibilities

Coordinate activity of Main Street program committees, ensuring that communication between committees is well established; assist committees with implementation of work plan items.
Manage all administrative aspects of the Main Street program, including purchasing, record keeping, budget development and accounting, preparing all reports required by the state Main Street program and by the National Main Street Center, assisting with the preparation of reports to funding agencies and supervising part-time employees or consultants.
Develop, in conjunction with the Main Street program’s board of directors, downtown economic development strategies that are based on historic preservation and utilize the community’s human and economic resources.
Become familiar with all persons and groups directly or indirectly involved in the downtown commercial district. Mindful of the roles of various downtown interest groups, assist the Main Street program’s board of directors and committees in developing an annual action plan for implementing a downtown revitalization program.
Develop and conduct ongoing public awareness and education programs designed to enhance appreciation of the downtown’s architecture and other assets and to foster an understanding of the Main Street program’s goals and objectives.
Use website, social media, speaking engagements, media interviews and personal appearances to keep the program in the public eye.
Assist individual tenants or property owners with physical improvement projects through personal consultation or by obtaining and supervising professional design consultants; assist in locating appropriate contractors and materials; when possible, participate in construction supervision; provide advice and guidance on necessary financial mechanisms for physical improvements.
Assess the management capacity of major downtown organizations and encourage improvements in the downtown community’s ability to carry out joint activities such as promotional events, business recruitment, parking management and so on.
Provide advice and information on successful downtown management.
Encourage a cooperative climate between downtown interests and local public officials.
Advise downtown merchant’s organizations and/or chamber of commerce retail committees on Main Street program activities and goals; help coordinate joint promotional events, such as seasonal festivals or cooperative retail promotional events, in order to improve the quality and success of events and attract people downtown; work closely with local media to ensure maximum coverage of promotional activities; encourage design excellence in all aspects of the promotion in order to advance an image of quality for the downtown.
Help build strong and productive working relationships with appropriate public agencies at the local and state levels.
Utilizing the Main Street program format, develop and maintain data systems to track the process and progress of the local Main Street program.
Represent the community to important constituencies at the local, regional, state, and national levels.
Speak effectively on the program’s directions and findings, always mindful of the need to improve state and national economic development policies as they relate to smaller communities.
The program manager supervises all necessary temporary or permanent employees, as well as professional consultants.
Participates in personnel and program evaluations.
Maintains local Main Street program records and reports, establishes technical resource files and libraries, and prepares regular reports for the state Main Street program and the National Main Street Center.
Monitors the annual program budget and maintains financial records.
Performs other duties as assigned.