History of Main Street Medina
Main Street Medina didn't happen overnight. It was a process that began back in 2000 when the Uptown Business Partnership, a committee of the Medina Chamber of Commerce was created. This committee, chaired by Edmund Wright, was to help organize the merchants and put on events in the historic district. When some grumbling was heard from some chamber members that too high a portion of Chamber dues were being spent on the support of Medina's Historic District, the historic district merchants started their own independent merchant association in 2002, Medina's Historic District Partnership. Elected chairman Ed Wright called for strategic planning meetings to establish the objectives and direction of the new organization. Over the course of three meetings, merchants, property owners, Chamber members and a few city officials enthusiastically worked to devise a Strategic Plan with initiatives aimed primarily at benefiting the retail merchants of the historic district, believing that a thriving downtown benefits all Medina businesses and professions as well as the City of Medina.
By 2006, even though the merchants were doing relatively well, it became obvious that they did not have the financial resources to create and grow successful events and effectively market the City of Medina to draw local residents and out-of-town visitors to the district. Looking for answers, brainstorming sessions were held with the city's Economic Development Director Mike Baach and historic district supporters. The purpose was on how to get other stakeholders of the community to understand the importance of Medina's Historic District as the heart of the community and secure the financial support to brand the district as a special shopping and dining destination, as well as a historic landmark. Even after Mr. Baach left his position, the search for the best solution continued with the help of the Chamber and the Community Design Committee.
The group invited Heritage Ohio, who manages Ohio's Main Street Program, to conduct a DART (Downtown Assessment Resource Team) analysis of Medina. On July 19, 2007 a presentation and brainstorming meeting was held at Medina Moose Lodge. At that meeting, the decision was made that Main Street offered the footprint they were looking for and formed the Uptown Medina Initiative. A board of directors was selected and the new group was christened the Uptown Medina Initiative Ad Hoc Board whose function was to analyze all the requirements of becoming a Main Street city and file an application. Board members were: Jeff Kehnle (retired First Mer it VP & elected board Chair), Jim Bigam {Medina Hospital), Jim Gerspacher (Gerspacher Real Estate), Gregory Hannan (Planning and Community Development Director- City of Medina), Tom Krueger (Economic Development Director- City of Medina), Jeff PaIker (First Merit Bank), Roger Smalley (Community Design Committee), Debra Lynn Schmitz {Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce) , Edmund Wright (Historic District Merchants Association), and Sandy Davis (Community Development - City of Medina).
Work began immediately, tackling the massive task of getting everything done to qualify as a Main Street city. The initial Code of Regulations needed to be written, as well as every other document required for the organization to function, and an initial budget. Then the group needed to sell the concept to the community and raise enough membership and dues to meet the qualifications. Each of the four committees {Organization, Economic Restructuring, Design, and Promotions) was in overload.
The critical vote of the board came on September 20, 2007. The MS application had to be filed with Heritage Ohio in November and many board members wanted to be practical and wait until the end of 2008 to apply, as most cities took up to two years to file and many applications were rejected, only to have to repeat the whole process the next year. "Fortunately, the YES vote carried to file in 2007 by only one vote," recalled Ed Wright, "and we were off to the races."
The Uptown Medina Initiative Ad Hoc Board filed all documents on time with Heritage Ohio and proceeded to dissolve the board on November 29, 2007. It was a proud day for Mayor Jane Lever, Debra Lynn Schmitz and Ed Wright when Medina was accepted to full Main Street status on December 13, 2007 in Columbus in the Statehouse Atrium at 2:00 p.m. Medina had accomplished in less than five months what most cities take years to achieve!
Main Street Board members were elected by the membership on January 3, 2008 and officers were elected by the MSM Board on January 16, 2008. Ed Wright was elected Chair, Pam Miller as Vice Chair, Roger Smalley as Secretary and Jeff PaIker as Treasurer.
A Search Committee was formed immediately to find and hire MSM's first executive director. The job posting drew a tremendous response of 75 candidates. Sixteen candidates were interviewed in the first round and 5 candidates were invited back for a social interview. An offer was made to Matt Wiederhold on February 10, 2008 with a start date of February 21, 2008.
The success of Main Street Medina accelerated rapidly, and by 2013 Medina took the lead in the State of Ohio with more state awards than any other community. Medina was nominated to compete in the 2011 National Main Street competition for the Best Community coming in 5th in the nation. Medina could have finished even higher, but during 2011 it had not met the requirement of a major historic rehabilitation project.
The first paid Farmers Market Manager, Nancy Romans, was hired in April, 2016. Longtime Executive Director Matt Wiederhold also departed in April of 2016. Barbara Dzur stepped in as interim ED through September. Jeremy Levine was hired to start as the Executive Director on September 15, 2016.
In 2016, Main Street Medina had been an accredited Main Street Program for the 8th year in a row. MSM events and promotions brought an estimated 138,100+ visitors to the Historic District and City of Medina (projected through EOY based on 2015 reference and inclusion of Farmers Market visitors). A conservative estimate of $1,381,000 of economic impact on the community (purchases at events and at local merchants calculated at $10 per person cap) equals a 46.03:1 return on the city's investment. An estimated 2,300 volunteer hours were given in support of MSM. The district maintained 100% occupancy (first floor) for the 2nd year in a row. MSM was awarded Best Residential Rehabilitation Project (530 Court Street) at the 2016 Heritage Ohio Conference. Main Street Medina moved to new office space (rent free) at 39 Public Square, Suite 305, courtesy of Huntington Bank in 2016.
In 2017 Jeremy Levine resigned as executive director, and Matt Wiederhold was rehired for the position. George Sam was hired as a part-time program assistant in the fall of 2018, and Joe Zahn was hired as a part time intern in 2018 as well.
The Board of Main Street Medina expanded the district footprint in 2018 to include the area known as South Town, in part due to the redevelopment of the Medina Farmers Exchange, and the relocation of Habitat for Humanity Medina County into the former Hawkins Grocery store.
In 2020, Main Street Medina completely restructured MSM Events/ Medina Square Farmers Market, and hired Angela Mansier as the part-time market manager.
Thanks to the major financial support of the City of Medina, sponsors, members, and volunteers, Main Street Medina continues to carry out its mission to lead the effort for preservation, economic sustainability and continued evolution of Medina's Historic District as the heart of the community.
Main Street Medina didn't happen overnight. It was a process that began back in 2000 when the Uptown Business Partnership, a committee of the Medina Chamber of Commerce was created. This committee, chaired by Edmund Wright, was to help organize the merchants and put on events in the historic district. When some grumbling was heard from some chamber members that too high a portion of Chamber dues were being spent on the support of Medina's Historic District, the historic district merchants started their own independent merchant association in 2002, Medina's Historic District Partnership. Elected chairman Ed Wright called for strategic planning meetings to establish the objectives and direction of the new organization. Over the course of three meetings, merchants, property owners, Chamber members and a few city officials enthusiastically worked to devise a Strategic Plan with initiatives aimed primarily at benefiting the retail merchants of the historic district, believing that a thriving downtown benefits all Medina businesses and professions as well as the City of Medina.
By 2006, even though the merchants were doing relatively well, it became obvious that they did not have the financial resources to create and grow successful events and effectively market the City of Medina to draw local residents and out-of-town visitors to the district. Looking for answers, brainstorming sessions were held with the city's Economic Development Director Mike Baach and historic district supporters. The purpose was on how to get other stakeholders of the community to understand the importance of Medina's Historic District as the heart of the community and secure the financial support to brand the district as a special shopping and dining destination, as well as a historic landmark. Even after Mr. Baach left his position, the search for the best solution continued with the help of the Chamber and the Community Design Committee.
The group invited Heritage Ohio, who manages Ohio's Main Street Program, to conduct a DART (Downtown Assessment Resource Team) analysis of Medina. On July 19, 2007 a presentation and brainstorming meeting was held at Medina Moose Lodge. At that meeting, the decision was made that Main Street offered the footprint they were looking for and formed the Uptown Medina Initiative. A board of directors was selected and the new group was christened the Uptown Medina Initiative Ad Hoc Board whose function was to analyze all the requirements of becoming a Main Street city and file an application. Board members were: Jeff Kehnle (retired First Mer it VP & elected board Chair), Jim Bigam {Medina Hospital), Jim Gerspacher (Gerspacher Real Estate), Gregory Hannan (Planning and Community Development Director- City of Medina), Tom Krueger (Economic Development Director- City of Medina), Jeff PaIker (First Merit Bank), Roger Smalley (Community Design Committee), Debra Lynn Schmitz {Greater Medina Chamber of Commerce) , Edmund Wright (Historic District Merchants Association), and Sandy Davis (Community Development - City of Medina).
Work began immediately, tackling the massive task of getting everything done to qualify as a Main Street city. The initial Code of Regulations needed to be written, as well as every other document required for the organization to function, and an initial budget. Then the group needed to sell the concept to the community and raise enough membership and dues to meet the qualifications. Each of the four committees {Organization, Economic Restructuring, Design, and Promotions) was in overload.
The critical vote of the board came on September 20, 2007. The MS application had to be filed with Heritage Ohio in November and many board members wanted to be practical and wait until the end of 2008 to apply, as most cities took up to two years to file and many applications were rejected, only to have to repeat the whole process the next year. "Fortunately, the YES vote carried to file in 2007 by only one vote," recalled Ed Wright, "and we were off to the races."
The Uptown Medina Initiative Ad Hoc Board filed all documents on time with Heritage Ohio and proceeded to dissolve the board on November 29, 2007. It was a proud day for Mayor Jane Lever, Debra Lynn Schmitz and Ed Wright when Medina was accepted to full Main Street status on December 13, 2007 in Columbus in the Statehouse Atrium at 2:00 p.m. Medina had accomplished in less than five months what most cities take years to achieve!
Main Street Board members were elected by the membership on January 3, 2008 and officers were elected by the MSM Board on January 16, 2008. Ed Wright was elected Chair, Pam Miller as Vice Chair, Roger Smalley as Secretary and Jeff PaIker as Treasurer.
A Search Committee was formed immediately to find and hire MSM's first executive director. The job posting drew a tremendous response of 75 candidates. Sixteen candidates were interviewed in the first round and 5 candidates were invited back for a social interview. An offer was made to Matt Wiederhold on February 10, 2008 with a start date of February 21, 2008.
The success of Main Street Medina accelerated rapidly, and by 2013 Medina took the lead in the State of Ohio with more state awards than any other community. Medina was nominated to compete in the 2011 National Main Street competition for the Best Community coming in 5th in the nation. Medina could have finished even higher, but during 2011 it had not met the requirement of a major historic rehabilitation project.
The first paid Farmers Market Manager, Nancy Romans, was hired in April, 2016. Longtime Executive Director Matt Wiederhold also departed in April of 2016. Barbara Dzur stepped in as interim ED through September. Jeremy Levine was hired to start as the Executive Director on September 15, 2016.
In 2016, Main Street Medina had been an accredited Main Street Program for the 8th year in a row. MSM events and promotions brought an estimated 138,100+ visitors to the Historic District and City of Medina (projected through EOY based on 2015 reference and inclusion of Farmers Market visitors). A conservative estimate of $1,381,000 of economic impact on the community (purchases at events and at local merchants calculated at $10 per person cap) equals a 46.03:1 return on the city's investment. An estimated 2,300 volunteer hours were given in support of MSM. The district maintained 100% occupancy (first floor) for the 2nd year in a row. MSM was awarded Best Residential Rehabilitation Project (530 Court Street) at the 2016 Heritage Ohio Conference. Main Street Medina moved to new office space (rent free) at 39 Public Square, Suite 305, courtesy of Huntington Bank in 2016.
In 2017 Jeremy Levine resigned as executive director, and Matt Wiederhold was rehired for the position. George Sam was hired as a part-time program assistant in the fall of 2018, and Joe Zahn was hired as a part time intern in 2018 as well.
The Board of Main Street Medina expanded the district footprint in 2018 to include the area known as South Town, in part due to the redevelopment of the Medina Farmers Exchange, and the relocation of Habitat for Humanity Medina County into the former Hawkins Grocery store.
In 2020, Main Street Medina completely restructured MSM Events/ Medina Square Farmers Market, and hired Angela Mansier as the part-time market manager.
Thanks to the major financial support of the City of Medina, sponsors, members, and volunteers, Main Street Medina continues to carry out its mission to lead the effort for preservation, economic sustainability and continued evolution of Medina's Historic District as the heart of the community.
