To start with, Lake Wales Main Street follows the National Main Street 4-Point Approach. This approach is a time-tested framework for community-driven, comprehensive revitalization. As I am sure you are aware, redeveloping a community is a long term proposition. There are no overnight successes – period. It takes a combination of vision, leadership, community support, attention to detail, and consistency. The Main Street approach envelopes all of these traits and gives us a framework for accomplishing small goals that lead to a big impact.
The Main Street 4 Point Approach focuses on the following fundamentals:
Economic Vitality
Design
Promotion
Organization
Throughout this letter, I will explain how Lake Wales Main Street has implemented and continues to implement the Main Street 4 Point approach in our community. In addition, I will list some of our other accomplishments from over the past three years.
ORGANIZATION
Organization involves creating a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources for the district.
Prior to the arrival of Karen Thompson, Lake Wales Main Street was a working board of directors and did not have an executive director. It was hard to accomplish anything because everything was being done on a volunteer basis. It was evident we needed a director if we wanted to take our efforts to the next level. City Manager Ken Fields saw the wisdom in having a Main Street program but needed Lake Wales Main Street to step up and start running things like a true Main Street organization – not a merchants association. So we worked with Mr. Fields and he and the City Commission met us halfway by designating a portion of CRA funds towards funding a new director. We immediately interviewed applicants and ended up hiring Main Street veteran Karen Thompson. Ms. Thompson had years of experience with Winter Haven and Plant City’s Main Street programs. She owned her own small business and started the Winter Haven lifestyle magazine Chain Life®.
Upon being hired, Ms. Thompson went straight to work on a strategic plan for rebuilding our organization from the ground up. The first two goals were to rebuild the board of directors and to become an Accredited Main Street Organization. We accomplished both of these objectives. The first by adding members to the board that represented both large organizations and small businesses in Lake Wales. The second, by adhering to the guidelines designated by the National Main Street Center. This exclusive designation signifies a demonstrated commitment to comprehensive community revitalization and a proven track record of successfully applying the Main Street Approach™. Accredited programs must meet ten rigorous standards to qualify for Accreditation status. Evaluation criteria determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings. These standards are the bedrock of our organization and they have helped in creating a strong foundation for redevelopment in downtown Lake Wales.
Over the past three years, we have gone on to implement or have begun implementation of the following:
We are in the process of developing a 20-year strategic plan that will help guide our organization for years to come (Funded. In progress)
Developed Benefactor Program - Benefactors have included but are not limited to: Pat Cain | Raymond James, Bunting, Tripp and Ingley, LLP, CenterState Bank, Citizens Bank & Trust, George & Erica O’Neill, Gibson Law Firm, E. R. Jahna Industries, Duke Energy, Chastain Skillman, S&ME, Florida’s Natural, and the City of Lake Wales. (Always in progress)
Developing Membership Program (In development)
Managed and re-organized the LWMS program
Built and maintained strong public/private partnership with city government, Lake Wales Arts Center, Polk State College, Duke Energy & Colliers International.
Secured multiple grants
Organizing a Semi-Annual Benefactor Luncheon
New Organization Business Plan 2020/2021
Ms. Thompson and other Lake Wales Main Street board members worked with northwest community leaders to organize, build consensus, and develop a vision/strategy for the redevelopment of the Northwest area of Lake Wales.
PROMOTION
Promotion positions the downtown or commercial district as the center of the community and hub of economic activity while creating a positive image that showcases a community’s unique characteristics.
From the start, Ms. Thompson and the Main Street Board set out with their meager amount of funds to create an image for downtown Lake Wales. We produced a benefactor package, promotional marketing materials, a quarterly newsletter, a website, and much more. We met with business leaders and other prospective benefactors to raise awareness and support.
With the help of Lynn Greenfield, we resurrected the downtown Farmer’s Market. We produced and promoted new events including our annual meeting, a series of food truck rallies, Hop Shop & Stroll, Octoberfest, and more. These events helped make Lake Wales a place to go after dark and on the weekends. They also increased people’s awareness and proximity to downtown, introduced new patrons to downtown merchants, and showcased our quaint, historic, small town. Moreover, these events and marketing efforts created a positive image that gave retailers and investors confidence that downtown was turning a corner.
Over the past three years, we have gone on to implement or have begun implementation of the following:
Improved branding, website, Social Media & traditional marketing by establishing a unified image and coordinating various activities and events for the community and downtown businesses (Always in progress)
Developed and produced multiple positive image campaigns, including video productions
Published quarterly magazine; responsibilities include concept, design, advertising, editorial content, and distribution
Lake Wales Look Book – Booklet for marketing unoccupied buildings (Funded. In development)
Increased retail sales downtown through regular and seasonal events. Here is a list of events currently in progress: Oktoberfest, Hops Shop and Stroll, Make it Magical, Car Show, Farmers Market, Food Truck Rally, Shop Small Saturday, Annual Meeting, etc., Shop & Win
New Events include Sounds of the Season, Dancing in the Streets (In development), LIVE ART FRIDAYS
Organized Merchant Meetings and Implemented a Merchant Memo System & Coffee with Karen
Organized ALL public meetings with regards to "Lake Wales Connected"
DESIGN
The design committee supports a community’s transformation by enhancing the physical and visual assets that set the commercial district apart.
Main Street Lake Wales took the lead in funding, interviewing, identifying & contracting with Dover Kohl & Partners for the downtown redesign plan. Prior to Main Street’s involvement, there had been a couple of plans that were developed for the Lake Wales community, but these plans were never implemented. When telling locals about our plans for redeveloping the downtown business district, we were met with a lot of pushback and comments from downtown area businesses and residents. Comments like, “I’ll believe it when I see it”, or “they’ve tried to do this before and it never happened, what makes you think it will happen this time?”. Our belief is that these plans were done by selective groups of individuals and did not allow for community input during the design process. This closed-door approach is one of the biggest reasons why Lake Wales is where it is today. We knew things could not continue this way. If things were going to change, we would need to engage the community and involve them in every step of the process.
Part of Main Street’s ethos is inclusivity. We believe we demonstrated inclusivity at its finest when we opened the design process up to the whole community. Dover Kohl calls it “designing in the sunshine”. By doing this we were able to tap into the collective wisdom of the residents of Lake Wales, so we could develop a plan that was representative of the entire community. The Dover Kohl plan is a shining example of what can happen when a community organization, professional consultants, residents, and city staff/government rally around a project. It takes a little more time, but the final product is something that everyone can be proud of in the end.
Over the past three years we have gone on to implement or have begun implementation of the following:
Bus tour and meetings with community liaisons in Winter Garden, Winter Park, Deland, and the City of St. Pete (St. Pete Pier) to understand what makes their towns successful.
Coordinated with private business securing public outdoor sculpture (Funded. In progress)
Contracted artist for large scale mural project (Site selected. Funded. Starts Fall 2020)
Worked with multiple downtown building owners and the Community Redevelopment Agency/Planning Dept. on historic renovations through a façade grant program (In progress)
Developed a “Downtown Done Right” award program for building owners who successfully renovated or beautified their property (Annually awarded)
In the process of becoming an America in Bloom® community, Main Street is absorbing the cost. (Working with America In Bloom® and David Price of Bok Tower. In progress)
Designing the Secret Garden Project (Design firm selected - Fundraising in the process)
Downtown Capital Improvement Project $25,000 (project TBD)
Streetscape/Trail design - Working with designers and the City of LW on design (In Progress).
ECONOMIC VITALITY
Economic Vitality focuses on capital, incentives, and other economic and financial tools to assist new and existing businesses, catalyze property development, and create a supportive environment for entrepreneurs and innovators that drive local economies.
During the planning and development of the Dover Kohl plan, the Lake Wales community became keenly aware that the downtown business district was turning a corner. The plan created a sense of stability that gave developers and entrepreneurs the confidence they needed to make an investment in a community. In addition, with the help of the CRA, we began awarding matching grants to restaurateurs and breweries. With the belief that Lake Wales was turning a corner, investors began putting their time and treasure into downtown. Real estate transactions in the Lake Wales downtown business district between 2019- 2020 totaled roughly $3,400,000. This is an increase to the tax base of more than $2,000,000 from the previous tax base. This puts money into our CRA – this is a very good thing!
Over the past three years we have gone on to implement or have begun implementation of the following:
20 year Strategic Plan for LW Main Street (Funded. In progress)
Downtown Rebranding & Marketing Plan - Designing a graphic and promotional materials for business recruitment packet (Funded. In progress)
Worked with CRA to develop Restaurant/Brewery Incentive Program (In progress. Three awards were given as of this letter totaling $350,000)
Inventoried and photographed all downtown businesses and buildings
Submitted reinvestment figures quarterly as required by National Main Street. (Quarterly)
Partnering with City of LW during downtown streetscape and coordinate all construction communication between contractor, city staff and downtown business owners (In progress)
Establishing a business recruitment and retention program that will include educational seminars and workshops with one-on-one business assistance provided by local professionals (In development)
Quarterly walking/familiarization tour of available downtown buildings with the area Realtors and building owners (Quarterly)
Working with Collier’s International to develop a retail mix master plan (In progress)
Working with potential developers/investors to promote downtown (In progress)
CONCLUSION
After reading this, I hope you can see the value in supporting Lake Wales Main Street. In summary, through our leadership we identified the need and took the lead in procuring a masterplan for downtown Lake Wales. In doing so, we have given the people of Lake Wales a vision of the future for downtown and gained the respect and support of our community. We demanded a high level of detail every step of the way and in return we have become the thought leaders and first point of contact for “all things downtown”. If that is not enough, then just look at the monetary impact of our work. Property sales during fiscal year 2020 were $3,400,000 which increased our tax base by over $2,000,000 (let me remind you that these values do not reflect the capital improvements to the buildings that have or will take place after purchase).
This increase in property value puts money back into the CRA and in return, these funds can be put into capital improvement projects and other community projects/programs (like Main Street) which will help the tax base grow even more. Simply put, the more we put into downtown, the more property values rise, the more money goes into the CRA (and so on). It’s a self-perpetuating formula, that when utilized properly will enable Lake Wales to become the best place in Central Florida to live, work, and play!
We value our relationship with the city and look forward to working on many more projects moving forward. We hope that the commission will be unified in their support of us and not only continue to fund Main Street through the CRA, but continue to include us in projects that are directly related to or adjacent to the downtown business district. We aspire to work in harmony with city management and in accord with an overall vision for Lake Wales.
Yours truly,
R. A. “Rusty” Ingley, Jr.
Lake Wales Main Street - Economic Vitality Chairperson
Immediate Past President