By: Kyle Kramm, Seguin Main Street Program Director, kkramm@seguintexas.gov, (830) 401-2448
A successful downtown requires a healthy mix of small businesses that help to create that unique sense of place making a downtown district a destination. After receiving an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem grant and workshop from the National Main Street Program, the Seguin Main Street Program has taken steps to improve the environment for our local downtown entrepreneurs.
In November of 2017, the National Main Street staff led a day long workshop with downtown Seguin business owners and small business service providers. The day included discussions on the strengths and weaknesses of Seguin’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Strengths of Seguin’s ecosystem included a growing number of revitalized properties, a strong small business development center offering a variety of services, increases in lending in downtown for new businesses and an active shop local program. There were also several areas where improvements could encourage further entrepreneurship and strength the health of existing entrepreneurs. A lack of mentorship and networking for downtown businesses, better marketing of services to small businesses, access to capital, overcoming vacancies in downtown and others where reported as areas for improvement.
In addition to the assessment, Seguin Main Street received a $2000 grant to assist with implementing some of the ideas mentioned in the assessment. Thank you to the generous donation from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee for making the grant possible.
The Seguin Main Street Board decided to tackle three recommendations from the assessment using the grant. These include hosting a business plan competition, launching a formal business retention program and a quarterly downtown business social. The business plan competition is anticipated to be launched this summer as a way to grow the pipeline of new businesses into downtown. The formal business retention program will involve Seguin Main Street staff and board meeting individually with downtown businesses to continue the dialogue that was begun with the assessment.
Seguin Main Street has launched the downtown quarterly social which is being called “Bacon, Eggs and Business.” The first social was held Thursday, March 29 and included a presentation from the UTSA Small Business Development Center, an update on downtown happenings and time for networking between the downtown businesses. The next social will be held June 28 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
These three items will be the first areas for Seguin Main Street to work on and the organization plans to address bigger ideas and issues addressed in the assessment.