February Member Meeting Recap

The first member meeting of the year was full of information, laughs, and hot tea from Little Woods & coffee provided by the Chamber. All on what was an extremely cold frosty lunch hour.

Who can come to Member Meetings? Everyone who wants to get involved with the Ames Main Street program and learn about what’s going on downtown (you can also sign up for our eNews). They are free and open to the public.

Meet the New Executive Director Drew Kamp

We all met Drew Kamp, the Ames Main Street new Executive Director. He spoke of his passion for downtown and many of the things he’s looking forward to this year.

Guest Speaker Kristin Roach, History of Ames Main Street

Kristin Roach, 2019 Ames Main Street President, spoke next and gave a presentation on the history of the program in Ames, upcoming events, and ways to get involved with the program. Like investing in the program, sponsoring an event (just email us at director@amesdowntown.org for this year’s sponsorship oppertunities), or volunteering for DIY Downtown or for other events and projects.

Guest Speaker Jason Quinn from Ames Velo

Ames Velo coordinator, Jason Quinn, spoke next answering questions about Ames Velo’s annual bike race downtown, the kid race they host, and all the ways they are getting people downtown and how businesses and community members can get involved this year to best reach this amazing mass of people who support the cyclists in their lives. To learn more, visit the Ames Velo website here.

Downtown Employee Parking Passes

Earlier this month the Ames City Council unanimously approved a monthly contract for the downtown hang-tag system, a $10 per month parking pass for the Central Business District. Get the details here.

Ames Parking Enforcement team will begin marking the front tires of cars that do not have a parking hang tag. This will make it easier for the team to see who is compliant with the ordinance and not mistakenly cite someone with a parking tag.

DIY Downtown Saturday, February 23, 2019

Visit the event page for a full list of participating businesses, sign up as a participating business to be added to the directory, or sign up to volunteer.

Facebook Group for Ames Downtown Business Owners

This was brought up as a “why don’t we do this” kind of thing. Then it was pointed out that we do and there is a small group active, but many business owners/managers do not know this is a tool available. It’s a way for business owner’s to exchange information with each other. Do you own or manage a business downtown? Request to join. Please note, this is a private group for our business members only to help facilitate respectful communication about things relevant to doing business downtown.

Reminder: Facade Grant Applications Due 5:00 pm on Friday, February 22, 2019

Missed February’s meeting but want to join us next time? Mark your calendars, meetings are held every first Wednesday of the Month from 12-1pm.