Congratulations to our 2026 RI Main Street Learning Cohort!

We are absolutely thrilled to commence our first ever Learning Cohort this January. Participants represent 11 municipalities and over 20 main streets across the state. They join us from local government, neighborhood associations, community development nonprofits, small businesses, and more — all connected by the desire to promote and strengthen their local main streets.

If you weren’t able to apply this year, please read below for more information about the program and tips for assembling a team. We hope you will join us in the future!

Are You Ready to Take Action on Behalf of Your Commercial District?

In partnership with professionals from Main Street America, we’re excited to offer a series of 6 workshops for our Learning Cohort participants that will discuss actual processes for implementing the proven Four Point approach to main street revitalization and explore different transformation strategies.

This “learning cohort” is designed for groups of people from different communities around RI, with each session providing suggested action items to translate talk into concrete steps forward. We’re encouraging communities to apply as a team composed of multiple organizations and/or dedicated individuals.

The program is primarily about learning – there’s no commitment beyond the period of the cohort, and the only cost to participate is one general organizational membership to Main Street America per team (offered at the discount rate of $150 for one year, which includes up to six logins. NOTE: a membership is not required to apply and will be arranged after cohort participants are selected.)

These monthly workshops, held between the months of January and June 2026 (exact dates TBD) will be 6-8 hours in length, each from approximately 9-5pm, including a break for lunch. We aim to hold three of the sessions on Fridays and three on Saturdays, pending scheduling with the Main Street America Field Services team. The sessions will take place in person in locations across Rhode Island.

Did you miss our RI Main Street Learning Cohort Info Session? Don’t worry. We recorded it for you. 

Featuring: Jillian Finkle, Director, Main Street RI  and Miriam Parson, Director of Network Capacity: Launch, Main Street America

CURRICULUM

Session 1: Design

Design supports community transformation by strengthening the physical and visual assets that set a commercial district apart. This session surveys key Main Street design topics—from Historic Preservation 101 and the history of downtown development to design tools, resources, and incentives. Participants will gain practical knowledge in design, preservation, and planning, along with first-step projects they can implement locally. We’ll explore placemaking, accessibility, equity, and safety, and share strategies for intentional public engagement in the design process, highlighting partners and resources that champion people-centered design.

OUTCOMES: Participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to apply design principles for historic preservation to celebrate anchor buildings, and how design serves economic development, such as increasing foot traffic into businesses.

Session 2: 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. This workshop is a primer in asset based economic development and how the Main Street Approach creates a wrap-around strategy for a locally sustained small business economy. This participatory workshop will include an asset assessment of participants’ own community and guidance for developing a catalyst strategy that celebrates local businesses, local culture, and local historic preservation.

OUTCOMES: Participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to apply small business development tactics to their own communities.

Session 3: 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. Downtown organizations are great at hosting special events and festivals, but they are often lacking in making retail/business promotions, marketing, and image-building activities a complimentary part of the Promotion Committee work plan. This session is focused on getting the Promotion Committee to develop a comprehensive promotional calendar targeted at market opportunities. This session will also cover business promotions that “make the cash registers ring” versus the events that encourage people to be outside businesses. Promotions will include retail, service, and professional sectors. Over 50 successful retail/business promotions are presented.

OUTCOMES: In survey data, participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to effectively build a promotion strategy around historic anchors, local culture, small businesses, and community celebrations.

Session 4: Organization

Organization involves creating a strong foundation for a sustainable revitalization effort, including cultivating partnerships, community involvement, and resources for the district. This workshop will explain the four committees required of a Main Street Program board and their responsibilities. Committees are the backbone of a Main Street program, providing the workers who actually “roll up their sleeves” and do the work, from planning to project implementation. This training looks at ways to identify the best committee member candidates as well as committee-specific work planning.

OUTCOMES: Participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to structure and sustain a leadership team to fully take advantage of the Four Point Approach that has been successfully used by over 2,000 towns and cities over the last 45 years.

Session 5: Transformation Strategies Methodology

Through an understanding of available inputs, including community engagement and market data, along with case studies from Main Street America communities, participants will learn to develop and implement strategies for their commercial district revitalization. Participants will learn:

  • What are Transformation Strategies and how they can provide clear strategy.
  • Understand how strategy builds leadership for commercial district revitalization.
  • Learn how to assess local market conditions with a variety of inputs.
  • Learn how to engage the community in strategies.
  • Use Transformation Strategy identification to align the work of the organization and confirm the types of projects that can impact the economic vitality of a commercial district.

OUTCOMES: Participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to synthesize community wide efforts into an economic development strategy rather than piecemeal projects, tying the Four Points together.

Homework: Conduct a self-assessment and prepare a slide deck that summarizes what the local team learned and what questions they have for applying the Transformation Strategy methods to their own community.

Session 6: Transformation Strategy Self-Assessment Presentations

Cohort members present their Transformation Strategy Self-Assessments for peer discussion and feedback from MSA expertise.

Each community will present their Transformation Strategy for their own community, having conducted their self-assessment after the previous MSA workshop. These presentations will be emailed to MSA beforehand so that robust feedback can be prepared. Feedback will be delivered in person so that the entire cohort benefits from live discussion.

OUTCOMES: Participants demonstrate increased knowledge of how to improve their application of the Main Street Approach.