Main Street Alabama is thrilled to announce the 2022 LAB in Opelika on August 17-19. We look forward to getting "Back on Track" with downtown and commercial district revitalization experts from across the state.

Session topics will cover all Four Points of the Main Street Approach and will benefit communities that are ready to advance or starting their redevelopment efforts.

The Keynote/Opening Plenary will be given by Nathan Norris, a founding prinicipal of the CityBuilding Partnership, LLC. Nathan's vision was to create an organization that would partner with communities as well as developers so that they can avoid the common mistakes that undermine or under leverage most planning or development initiatives.

REGISTRATION CLOSES AUGUST 10TH AT NOON CST

Agenda (Subject to Change)

 

Tuesday, August 16 (Courthouse Square)

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Extended Public Art Walking Tour (Meet at Courthouse Square and learn all about Opelika's Art and their shared space initiative)

Wednesday, August 17 (Bottling Plant Event Center 614 N Railroad Ave)

https://www.bottlingplanteventcenter.com/

8:30 AM REGISTRATION OPENS

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM RAPID FIRE BREAKFAST: ADEM (Brownfield Revitalization) [Chey-Anne Kilpatrick]

DESCRIPTION: Learn how you can revitalize your community with the assistance of ADEM’s Redevelopment Section. We will discuss program details, funding opportunities, and ways Brownfield Redevelopment can be beneficial to your community. 

9:30 AM - 10:00 AM WELCOME 

10:00 AM - 10:15 AM BREAK 

10:15 AM - 11:15 AM So The Garden Club Got A Grant...but who's going to water, weed and maintain?; Brantley Snipes Main Street Greenwood (MS) Executive Director

DESCRIPTION: Let’s develop some comprehensive community guidelines so that landscaping can be used to enhance place, not drive the Main Street Director out of town!

A great landscape plan can accentuate your sense of place more than almost any downtown design technique. However, if every civic group in town adopts a spot in your town, how do you maintain cohesion and your sense of place? Much less, how do you maintain these spots when it comes to simply weeding and pruning? How do you say no when the garden club is offering to help?

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM Small Scale Producers- Roundtable discussion (ALFA Panel) [Russ Durrance ALFA, Vickie Watkins Whipporwill Vineyards, Michaela Sanders Blue Ribbon Dairy]

12:15 PM - 2:00 PM LUNCH AND RETAIL THERAPY

2:00 PM - 3:45 PM Developer/Planner How To: Incentives, Codes, Zoning (Panel Discussion) [Jerry Lathan Founder/President, The Lathan Company, Inc., Matt Mosley, John Marsh, Lisa Thrift and Deke Hilyer] 

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM BREAK

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM OPENING PLENARY/KEYNOTE: Designing Streets for Walking, Biking & Driving, Nathan Norris CityBuilding Partnership, LLC

DESCRIPTION: Designing streets is complicated because: (1) they serve a wide range of users who oftentimes have competing interests; (2) they have a wide range of design details that can help or hurt a community depending upon how they are calibrated.  In this session we will explore how to design streets to match the needs of your community by focusing on the purpose of streets, the design elements that impact the functionality of streets for multiple users, and the most important street design mistakes to avoid.  

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM SOCIAL: Opelika Main Street, Railroad Area

Thursday, August 18 (Bottling Plant Event Center 614 N Railroad Ave)

8:00 AM REGISTRATION OPENS

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM RAPID FIRE BREAKFAST: From Raindrops to Art: How Creating Rain-Activated Art Can Benefit Your Community VIRTUAL (Peregrine Church, Founder and CEO of Rainworks)

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Placemaking and the Main Street Approach, Lisa Thompson, NMSC

DESCRIPTION: As a philosophy and practice, placemaking promotes a comprehensive approach to the planning, design, and management of places. Learn how to integrate placemak­ing with the Main Street Approach™ as a strategy to bolster place-based economic development, local entrepreneur­ship support, and quality design.

10:00 AM - 10:15 AM BREAK 

10:15 AM - 11:15 AM Enhancing Place through Community Visioning (A Case Study with DesignAlabama and the Town of Camden), Gina Clifford, Executive Director, DesignAlabama; Sulynn Cresswell, Executive Director, Black Belt Treasures Cultural Arts Center

11:15AM - 12:15 PM Public Art Walking Tour and Business Incubator Tour (Dual Session)

12:15 PM - 2:00 PM LUNCH AND RETAIL THERAPY

2:00 PM - 3:30 PM So Main Street is Buying a Building (Protection & Development), Alex Flachsbart, Founder and CEO, Opportunity Alabama

3:45 PM - 4:45 PM Fundraising (How Do We Afford All Of This?) - Mary Helmer Wirth Main Street Alabama President and State Coordinator

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM PRE-BANQUET: Cocktail Hour presented by Regions Bank, Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National (3700 Robert Trent Jones Trail, Opelika) 

*This event is included with the Awards for Excellence Ticket*

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM BANQUET: Awards for Excellence, Auburn Marriott Opelika Resort & Spa at Grand National (3700 Robert Trent Jones Trail, Opelika) 

DESCRIPTION: Join Alabama Municipal Electric Authority, Main Street Alabama and our special guests as we celebrate the successes of our Main Street programs with a dinner and awards program.

 *Separate Ticket Required - Limited Seating*  

Friday, August 19, 2021 (Bottling Plant Event Center 614 N Railroad Ave)

8:00 AM REGISTRATION OPENS

8:30 AM - 9:00 AM RAPID FIRE BREAKFAST: Livable Communities; 8 Domains of Liveability, AARP

9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Marketing Your Main Street; Kirsten Borgstrom, Principal, Place + Main Advisors, LLC

10:30 AM - 10:45 AM BREAK 

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM Redevelopment Planning is Easy-People are Hard; Joe Borgstrom, Principal, Place + Main Advisors, LLC

12:00 PM - 12:15 PM Closing Session, Mary Helmer Wirth

Visit Main Street Alabama's website to learn more about this year's speakers.

Register Now!