Latest news with #LoriHaun
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Downtown Joplin Alliance designated an accredited Main Street America program
The Downtown Joplin Alliance has been designated as an Accredited Main Street America program. Lori Haun, executive director of the DJA, said in a statement: 'Being an Accredited Main Street program enables DJA to benefit from a nationwide coalition of Main Streets, consultants and mentors with an ever-growing wealth of best practices and knowledge at their disposal. This guidance allows for us to maintain steady progression and growth, even in chaotic times.' Main Street America recognizes two tiers of national designation — affiliate and accredited. To quality for accredited status — Main Street America's top designation tier—communities must show a track record of achieving outcomes in alignment with the Main Street Approach in six areas: broad-based community commitment to revitalization, inclusive leadership and organizational capacity, diversified funding and sustainable program operations, strategy-driven programming, preservation-based economic development, and demonstrated impact and results. Erin Barnes, President and CEO of Main Street America, said in a statement: 'Their tireless efforts show what's possible when engaged leaders work together to shape places that reflect the people they serve. The continued impact of our network shows that the Main Street movement remains a powerful force for positive transformation.' Downtown Joplin Alliance's performance was evaluated through assessments conducted by the organization's personnel and board of directors, and Missouri Main Street Connection, which works in partnership with Main Street America to identify local programs that meet national community evaluation standards. In 2024, Downtown Joplin had nearly 350 housing units, with a 96% occupancy rate, with 200 additional units in development. Joplin's downtown is home to more than 500 businesses employing more than 5,000 people, many based in one of the 249 historic buildings in the district. Last year, Downtown Joplin Alliance accrued nearly 5,400 volunteer hours and was awarded $124,000 in grant funds. Last year, Main Street America programs generated $7.65 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 6,324 new businesses, facilitated the creation of 33,835 new jobs, rehabilitated 10,126 historic buildings, and logged 1.9 million volunteer hours.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Downtown Joplin sees new growth in 2025
JOPLIN, Mo. — The Downtown Joplin Alliance says Main Street is starting off 2025 strong, building on growth trends from last year. 'Just kind of cleaning it up, securing it, kind of figuring out what the what the steps are to kind of get it underway,' said Lori Haun, DJA exec. dir. The historic Carnegie Library in downtown Joplin. The property had fallen into disuse and disrepair in recent years, but work is already underway to fix that. 'Lori Anderson is the purchaser of that. She is from the Bentonville area and does a lot of event planning with her job. And so she's actually looking at possibly doing the rehabbing the Carnegie to be kind of an event space,' said Haun. Downtown Joplin sees new growth in 2025 MSSU students explore opportunities at spring career fair NWACC students can now transfer easily to Missouri Southern State University Carthage man pleads guilty in 2024 murder case Joplin High School introduces cell phone lockers aimed to boost student focus But it isn't just history on tap in downtown Joplin this year. The Downtown Joplin Alliance is also excited about a brand new building set to open on Main, the Moss-De Graff building near 9th and Main. 'It's the first time we've had new construction in downtown Main Street in decades, probably the eighties. And so that's really neat to see that – you know it's a location that had a beautiful building before. It had been neglected. It caught on fire, you know same old story kind of thing. But it took an empty lot on Main Street and now there's a building there,' said Haun. The Empire Market is opening for its 8th season, after hitting half a million dollars in sales in 2024. They're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant funding to improve the building. 'We will have five brand new bathrooms, kind of more within the market hall. We're getting new roofing on part of this facility and doing paving out front. So it's going to be create a really, much more accessible facility and a much more comfortable facility to use,' said Haun. The 'Third Thursday' series is set to kick off its 2025 season in just a few days – the 18th year for the Main Street festival. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
