Photo by Madoline Markham.
Mary Helmer
Mary Helmer of Main Street Alabama addresses the Homewood Chamber of Commerce at The Club on Aug. 19.
Sponsor: Eskridge & White Motion Therapy
Special guest: One of the Homewood Police Department’s canines was introduced, and department representatives reported on upcoming canine trials at West Homewood Park Sept. 14-17 and encouraged businesses and residents to attend the Homewood Police Foundation Lunche at The Club on Sept. 24.
Speaker: Mary Helmer, State Coordinator, Main Street Alabama
What she shared: A lifelong Kansas resident, Helmer moved to Alabama last year excited to take on a new challenge in Alabama. After relaunching the economic development arm of Main Street Alabama, she now works with cities to help downtown areas build on the authentic of who they are, grow existing businesses and bring in new ones. The organization’s revitalization approach includes organizing those involved, promoting the image and promise of the area, and enhancing signage, landscaping and other design aspects of the area. In the Kansas city where she worked, they decreased downtown vacancy from 64 percent to 7 percent, and she hopes to bring similar change to the 13 cities in the state where Main Street is involved now as well as more in the future.
