Alberta Main Street

Civic Engagement Activities and Events. Alberta Main Street creates community-building opportunities for local residents.?These activities are managed by our Promotions Team. AMS hosted six community building events in 2018-19, including the Alberta Street Fair (8/11/18), Trick or Treat Alberta Street (10/31/18), the Alberta Street Holiday Tree Lighting (12/1/18), the Gnome for the Holidays scavenger contest (12/1- 12/21/18), and the Earth Day Clean-Up (4/20/19). In addition, Alberta Main Street posts news and updates about businesses throughout the district on social media (Facebook and Instagram).Approximately 57 people volunteered for Street Fair, and 94 people participated in Earth Day activities?Delivered 6,000 Alberta Street Guides to partners serving the tourist industry, including locations at the Portland International Airport and the Downtown Visitors CenterHosted six community wide events bringing some 27,000 people to Alberta Street

Supporting Small Businesses. The Alberta Main Street (AMS) Business Development Team is responsible for our small business development activities. In the year 2018-2019, we hosted two small business seminars and provided one-on-one support to individual businesses throughout the district and local home-based businesses. We work with partner organizations such as the Workforce Development Center at Portland Community College and the SBAs Small Business Development Center to connect local entrepreneurs with financial and technical resources.-Delivered Alberta Street Welcome Packages to each new business when they opened on Alberta-Promoted technical assistance resources provided by the Small Business Administration and Prosper Portland-Three active team volunteers met regularly on the 3rd Wednesday of each month

Creating a Sense of Place. The AMS Design Team manages the Alberta Main Street Mini-Matching grant program, which offers matching grants to local business owners to improve their storefronts. In 2018-19, AMS awarded three storefront improvement grants, investing $2900. We also made significant progress to make the Alberta Main Street Black Heritage markers a reality. More specifically, we worked with the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation and the artist team to confirm that the design met structural and safety requirements. Promoted the Matching Mini-Grant storefront improvement programAwarded three Matching Mini-Grants to Antler Gallery, the Alberta Street Petite Hotel and Kargi GogoFour active team volunteers met regularly on the 4th Wednesday of each month