Find Out More About Beverly Main Streets
August 2, 2022 10:17 amThe North Shore Alliance is made up of 30 cities and towns along the northeast region of Massachusetts. While each municipality has its own government, they each have resources to help local businesses achieve success while enriching the community.
One of those resources is the Main Streets Programs such as Beverly Main Streets. In a recent North Shore Conversation, a weekly radio show produced by the North Shore Alliance for Economic Development and hosted by Laura Swanson, we had the chance to talk to Rachel Borgatti, the Executive Director of Beverly Main Streets.
A Little Background on Rachel Borgatti
Rachel Borgatto came to the organization in a rather circumvented manner. She graduated from Antioch College where she attained her degree in Environmental Science. She worked with the Smithsonian Institute doing scientific research and later received her Master’s in Marine Science. From there she worked with Pollution Prevention in San Diego, California as well as as the Executive Director of Friends of Four POint Harbor in Boston.
While these experiences may not sound like someone who would click into a nonprofit job promoting events and activities in a Massachusetts North Shore community, her work taught her quite a bit about how working at the local level can enact change and allow for the impact of that work to be visible.
What’s “Beverly Main Streets?”
Beverly Main Streets is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization started in 2002 by a small group of downtown business and property owners currently celebrating its 20th anniversary of operation.
With a full-time Executive Director, three part-time staff, and a board of directors, the organization’s mission is to “promote and enhance Beverly’s downtown economic vitality, cultural and historic resources, and quality of life.”
They go about achieving this mission with a vibrant staff, a board of directors, and strong community partnerships. And of course, a great group of volunteers who man booths, help develop the organization, and give so freely of their time.
Originally, Beverly Main Streets was started by a small group of downtown business and property owners who were concerned that small, locally-owned small businesses might be pushed out by chain stores, and that would ruin the small-town feel that downtown Beverly enjoyed. The group researched possible solutions and decided to adopt the national Main Street model.
Programs & Initiatives
The Main Street model is organized around four points:
- Economic Vitality (attracting new businesses and development while helping existing businesses thrive)
- Design (the look and feel of downtown)
- Promotion (bringing people to the downtown)
- Organization (building a sustainable organizational structure)
Some of the programs that Beverly Main Streets takes part in are the Downtown For All Program, Arts Fest, the Downtown Block Party, New Year’s Eve in Beverly, Shop Small, Holiday Shopping Guide, Blooming in Beverly and so much more.
For more information and to see a listing of events explore the Beverly Main Streets calendar.
Categorised in: Beverly Main Streets