%20(1).png)
Main Street Reimagined Podcast
This is a podcast for dreamers, creators, developers, and entrepreneurs to learn, share, and be inspired to change your community through small business.
Main Street Reimagined Podcast
Episode 19: Community Soul: Downtowns & Small Businesses with Luke Henry
Join Luke Henry for a solo episode where he tells a story about his experience in a quaint Minnesota town, where the stark difference between the lively downtown and the surrounding commercial sprawl became a call to action. This episode of the Main Street Reimagined Podcast takes you on a heartfelt journey, exploring why supporting local businesses is more than a noble gesture—it's a vital investment in the soul of our communities. Discover the stories of resilient entrepreneurs in towns like Marion, how their dedication faces immense challenges, and why your support can be the lifeline they desperately need.
Luke discusses criticism he has recently received and his response to it, as well as tying in recent podcast conversations with this particular story and his outlook on downtowns. Dive into the nuances of community growth, from fostering new business ventures to preserving the unique identities of our towns. Let's shift the narrative from complacency to passionate investment, understanding that the most compelling marketing a town can have is the allure of a thriving downtown. Whether you're a local shopper or a civic enthusiast, this episode promises to reshape how you view the role of small businesses in creating vibrant communities.
Main Street Reimagined:
Facebook: facebook.com/MainStreetReimagined
The Main Street Reimagined Podcast, Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqfkmF5bRH0od1d3iiYKs3oEn_gvMYk7N
Henry Development Group:
Facebook: facebook.com/henrydevelopmentgroup
Website: www.henrydevelopmentgroup.com
Developing News Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/33110524eb5c/developing-news
Luke Henry:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/luhenry
Facebook: facebook.com/luke.henry.148
#CommunitySoul
#SmallTownStories
#MarionOhio
#DowntownRevival
#Placemaking
#EconomicDevelopment
#BuildingCommunity
#SmallTownLife
#CommunityConnections
#FamilyTravelStories
#MainStreetReimagined
#SupportLocalCommunities
#SmallBusinessGrowth
#SmallTownCritique
#CommunityBuilding
I tell people that every single day, as I'm having conversations, I say, hey, you know, we can fix up buildings, we can, you know, start some businesses and or support those that are doing it. But it takes our community working together and rowing in the same direction, communicating and, most of all, supporting our local businesses. Yes, downtown, yes, outside the downtown these are the places that make our community what it is. This is the Main Street Reimagined podcast, a show for people ready to turn visions into realities and ideas into businesses. Hey, I'm Luke Henry and each week, I lead conversations with Main Street Dreamers who took the leap to launch a business, renovate a building or start a movement, their ideas, their mindsets and their inspirations, as well as some of the highs and lows along the way. This is a place for dreamers, creators, developers and entrepreneurs to learn, share and be inspired to change your community through small business. Enjoy the show. Hey, friends, luke Henry here, and this is the Main Street Reimagined Podcast. Thanks so much for being with us. If you are watching on YouTube right now, you will see that I do not have a guest.
Speaker 1:This is going to be a solo episode and fairly short at that, but I wanted to do a little bit of conversation about a recent I guess we'll call it article that I wrote and shared on social media. That was titled Community Soul and in this story I shared a recent experience. Well, it's been a few years ago. My family and I we were out visiting some friends in Minnesota so states away and we did a little bit of exploring after we had checked into our hotel that was kind of near a small downtown and we walked around and just as we do, it's like our family hobby. You heard me talk about this with my wife on the episode that we did together that we explore small towns, whether it's Ohio, we've, I mean, literally went to them all over the United States. But we seek out these small towns and we're always looking for ideas. We're seeing what businesses, what people are doing with storefronts and marketing and their downtown organizations and just everything.
Speaker 1:But we were exploring this small town and it was pretty small and honestly left a lot to be desired, but it was obviously undergoing some revitalization. The city had done some work. You could see that private folks were fixing up buildings, opening businesses. There was a new steakhouse, there was a sports bar, there was a couple of small boutique shops. There was a barber and a dentist and a few offices and little by little you could see that they are incrementally developing this downtown. And we commented you know this place is up and coming but it's got soul. Every time we go to a downtown you can just feel kind of the soul of the community in being there because each business represents the personality of the owner and you just get these unique experiences and just vibes and feels as you go into the different places and experience their local culture really that you can feel through their business mix around the downtown. And this situation was no exception. So we walked around and stopped into a few shops, we had dinner down there and then walked back to our hotel and I went to bed inspired that night. It was great just to see some of the the color combinations on their storefronts and just different things that they were doing and we had a great experience. It was very local and you know the people in that small town of Minnesota are not very different from the people that we encounter around Ohio. They were hospitable and kind and welcoming to us as tourists there.
Speaker 1:But the next morning I decided to go for a run and I ran kind of from our hotel, ran back through the downtown and I saw some sites as I went through. There was a little girl timidly walking up to the dentist's office and the coffee shop was open and had a couple of patrons in there. And I saw another shopkeeper sweeping their front sidewalk and getting ready to turn their open sign and I smiled as I ran through and it was just again, just a really heartwarming experience. Ran through a really charming neighborhood then, with some nicely kept homes, and kept running out and I saw a sign for the highway and saw that there was some things up ahead so I kept running. Saw that there was some things up ahead, so I kept running.
Speaker 1:And that's when I discovered the sprawl area of this community and I had to kind of look twice because, honestly, it looked like a lot of other cities that we drove through during that same trip from here through the Midwest and upper Midwest, and not very different from our own hometown. In Marion there was all the big box stores, huge expansive parking lots with trash blowing across, there was every wireless store, oil change place, chain restaurant, fast food, and it was a familiar sight, unfortunately. But again it looked just like the city that we had just left, that had all of this, and it kind of saddened me as I looked across the one parking lot and, again, a lot of the places weren't open so it wasn't much going on. But I saw there was a Starbucks and the line was wrapped around the building twice and I just ran by the coffee shop in the downtown. That was just, you know, a really great looking place and there was only two patrons in there but everybody was out of Starbucks getting their fill there and it just, you know, kind of saddened me and ran back, ran back through the downtown and you know that's kind of where the story ended.
Speaker 1:But I went on to say in this conversation that I wrote about just that. You know what happens if we truly support small businesses, what happens if it happens in our community and what happens if it happens in other communities, small communities, whether it's in Ohio or states away. And you know I listed in there some of the reasons or excuses I guess we could maybe even say why people don't support small businesses, and I've heard them all and I'm not saying that all of them aren't valid. You know that they you showed up on a Monday and they were, they were closed. Or maybe you know one of the. They don't market themselves very well or you always forget that they're there. Or maybe you know the items are a little bit cheaper at Walmart or on Amazon, and the list goes on and on and sometimes it's well, you know, I feel so bad.
Speaker 1:I'd never was able to make it in there in the whole two or three years that that place was open. Now I'm really bummed that I'm not going to get to try it. And you know I hear these things all the time and it's just really unfortunate because it's like, do we really care that much if a place is open for two or three years and you've never walked through the front door to try it, even to support it? Or maybe you went during the first week a new restaurant was open and you had a poor experience that they were trying to learn on the fly and they were just getting bowled over with everyone coming out to try. You never went back and you kind of swore off based on that experience, even though you've had 20 terrible experiences at McDonald's in that same period of time since then.
Speaker 1:So you know it's just really hard to hear some of those things when I've went and gotten to know a lot of small business owners here in our own community and again as I've went and visited a lot of these other small towns, and these are some of the just best, hardest working, kindest, most courageous, most passionate people that I have met that are making these businesses happen, that are creating something, that are giving opportunities for people in their community to have great dining experiences or shopping experiences or entertainment experiences, and are just creating something that's really, really unique that you can only find in that community. And a lot of them fail and you know, I said in my piece there even that sometimes, hey, maybe they deserve it. You know, maybe they're not doing a good job and you know, maybe they just haven't been able to figure it out, even after months or years, and they don't have, you know, they haven't done a good job, they don't have good processes, they don't treat their people well or whatever, and some of them are going to fail and maybe they deserve to don't treat their people well or whatever, and some of them are going to fail and maybe they deserve to. But there's a lot of them that I think that are just lacking some support from the local community. First and foremost, we need local people to show up and support, and then it radiates out from there a lot more. We're seeing people tourists coming to towns like Marion and going to other places as well. But if the local people aren't supporting those places first, that's where the base of support has to come from.
Speaker 1:Also shared in there that some people have said that hey, shop local is a defeatist message. You shouldn't guilt people into shopping local. And I actually agree with that, because I don't believe in guilting people into doing anything and I don't believe in guilting people into shopping local. But really what it is is not so much out of guilt but as out of an opportunity to support and be the change that you want to see.
Speaker 1:Really, it's pretty simple and that is that when we support our local businesses, even if they're not perfect, even if they don't have all of the offerings that we'd like for them to have, even if you know it's not as good of an experience or quite as fancy as going to, you know, a larger metropolitan area where there's more options, when we support our local stuff and the demand goes up, then they're going to either respond to that demand and expand their offerings and improve their processes and their workforce and their experiences, or there's going to be other places that pop up to meet that demand and so supply is also going to grow. And so when we only have three restaurants, but we're supporting them really well and they're full, then someone else is going to say, hey, I see a need in the market because I see that people support local restaurants and I have this really great idea. That's going to be something cool and niche and I can do it really well, and they're going to bring that concept to the community and expand those options so that we do have everything that we want. But it starts with us supporting what we have. And then it went on to say that that with chains and with big box stores, you really you can drive a little bit in any direction and you're going to find places that look exactly the same, because that's that sprawl that happens and has happened in a lot of different communities that's created these places that all look the same, that are just pretty, pretty vanilla big box stores, and if someone comes to our community and that's all they see, they're like well, there's nothing really very special about this community. It looks just like the one I just drove past 25 miles ago on the highway. But when we have our local places, when we have our downtown, and they experience what my family and I experienced in that little town in Minnesota, they're going to say, man, there's really something special about that place. I felt the soul of that community as I walked around their downtown, as I saw their public art and as I saw their individual, independently owned boutiques and restaurants and even offices and services and lit alleys and just everything that goes into making a place feel special.
Speaker 1:And there's entire books written about placemaking and you know, this is something I've been studying over the last several years. But I think we're doing a lot of those things right here in Marion and starting to do more and more of that and we still have some more to go and other communities do as well. But it's still no denying that when you go to a downtown of a community, and especially if you can tell they care and they're making an effort and it's getting better, and you can see the revitalization, you can see people putting their passion, their time, their money, their energy into revitalizing their downtown, then you know that they're on track for making something really, really special there. They're on track for making something really, really special there. You're not going to see that from just the strip centers and the big box stores that are, you know, probably closer to the major highways, and so that's really the genesis of that story.
Speaker 1:I got a lot of feedback from sharing that and that's where I wanted to kind of riff a little bit, share a little more insight and, quite frankly, I've got quite a few people that have really agreed and have said hey, you encapsulated my feelings about supporting local and putting our passion into our downtowns and the things that we're doing in this community here in Marion and beyond. People I know elsewhere also shared, you know, their thoughts about it and, quite frankly, I've gotten a decent amount of criticism and some hate mail, which is to be expected. I guess Anytime you take a position on anything, there's going to be people that don't agree, and you know I've gotten these messages and comments and emails and Facebook messages people saying why do you hate change? Why are you not focusing on small businesses that are in other parts of the community, that are outside of the downtown? Why are you so elitist and only focusing on the downtown? And so I wanted to share my thoughts on some of those things and, to be clear, I am a champion of all small businesses.
Speaker 1:What I said in that article, what I said here earlier in the podcast, I believe and I feel sincerely that small business people, man, they're the backbone of our communities. They're the backbone of our country. Frankly, small businesses as a whole are the biggest employer in the United States and you know more than half of the entire workforce in the United States works for small businesses. So I mean I am 100% behind small businesses, have advocated to government for small businesses through COVID and the different situations, and I mean I believe in small businesses. It's what I've done my entire life. I've been a small business owner pretty much since I was like 12 years old, and so I very much eat, sleep and breathe this stuff and I support anybody that's going to get up and be courageous enough to go out and do their own thing as a small business owner. So I absolutely support all the small businesses wherever they are, and that goes for all of them that are in our community, here, that are outside of the downtown, maybe they're in a strip center, maybe they're in a house, maybe they're a service business that's operating out someone's garage, or maybe it's someone that's using their spare bedroom to have inventory and they're selling online. I love all those people and I think that they're really important and really valuable to our economy and just to our community as well.
Speaker 1:But I also, that being said, believe that our downtown is unique. I think that the history that is in our downtown is notable and worth being celebrated and just really really interesting. I never considered myself a history buff until I started buying old buildings and started learning about all the different things that have been in them through the years and how that thread is just be able to be pulled through, the way that it was laid out and the architecture and just the stories that you hear and the connection to memories that people have of going into those buildings and businesses through the years Really really special. The architecture, you know this is irreplaceable real estate. My friend, john Marsh, says this is irreplaceable real estate. It's built by people who don't live anymore, with methods that we don't use anymore, with materials we can't afford or can't get anymore, and it's worth preserving it and maintaining it and revitalizing it and reimagining it. You know, the other thing about downtown is that often home to city and county offices. It's a place for public art that you rarely get anywhere else through a city, especially in a smaller town. These downtowns were designed to be walkable. They're a place to meet, to gather, to have community, truly the center of our towns. And you know suburban areas, sprawl where you've got, you know retail, and these huge parking lots and big box stores. These are not built to be walkable and I love I do love seeing lifestyle type communities that are basically fake, downtowns that are being built new, that are once again walkable, and those are cool spots. Again, they lack the history and some of that. But if we can reimagine and reinvest in the assets that we have in our historic downtowns, they can be really, really special places too, and I believe that they are In episode 17,.
Speaker 1:I was thinking back. Mayor Bill Collins was on the podcast here and he shared the analogy of the downtown being the heart of the city and then the various arteries go out to other parts of the city and those other parts of the city are important, but it's really important that we take care of the heart. This is the heartbeat. When people come to our community, this is often where they land because, again, courthouse offices, various things are here and people see the heart of the city and they make judgments about our city based on how the heart looks. And again, we can then build out from there with a number of different cities around the country.
Speaker 1:And he told the story of the economic development professional that he had on his podcast that was hosting a site selector who was coming to consider bringing a business to their community, flew into their airport and the economic development director picked him up. The site selector said I know that you've got an agenda planned for the day. I don't want to do anything that's on your agenda. I want you to take me to your historic downtown and from that I'm going to be able to tell everything that I need to know about your community. And if that's not a real testament to the importance of taking care of the heart and making sure that the historic downtown has all the charm and the walkability and all of the things that go into making it a really vibrant place the businesses, the public assets, the community gathering spaces, the facades, the storefronts, the city and county offices, paint, light posts, nice benches and trash cans and flowers and all of those things that those are all pieces that come from different people and groups and organizations working together, public and private, profit and nonprofit and it's just really important that those resources are aligned to create a really vibrant downtown.
Speaker 1:A fellow that I follow, consultant Jeff Siegler, also works with a lot of downtowns around the country and communities to figure out how to make them better, how to improve them, how to make them more charming and more attractive to visitors and to residents and to businesses, and he has made popular the phrase that the condition of your downtown is the only marketing your community needs. And again, that's a strong statement. But that's not me saying it, that's somebody that works with dozens of different communities and that's what he is finding is that when people are looking at where to live, where to visit, where to put a business, they're looking at the historic downtowns. And again, that's just why I believe that it's so important. So it's no secret hopefully if you've been listening along to now almost 20 episodes here on the Main Street Reimagined podcast that I am passionate about revitalizing our downtown. I believe that it is a lead domino to improving a lot of the other parts of our community preventing brain drain, recruiting professionals.
Speaker 1:Back in episode 12, I had Courtney Danner, our property manager, on and she shared some statistics about the people that are staying in our Airbnbs and the people that are living in our lofts, that the last five lofts that we've leased have been folks that are moving from at least one county away into our community that didn't live here, and they're attracted to our downtown. The amenities are here, it's affordable more affordable than the bigger cities where they were living and the lofts are really, really cool. They're a lot cooler than what they could pay more rent for. That's a vanilla box in a kind of boring apartment community, and so I think that's really special. Recruiting new manufacturers and industry is another important piece of why we need great historic downtowns.
Speaker 1:So, wrapping up, last Friday I spent a really inspirational day with a group of friends, some of them new, some of them are folks that are passionate about revitalizing small towns. They're developers, leaders, change makers, entrepreneurs, and we've kind of created this little small town developer consortium of guys and gals from all around the state of Ohio that are doing this important work in historic downtowns, and a lot of them are fixing up buildings, they're creating businesses, they're opening restaurants, breweries, wineries, building loft apartments, airbnbs, all kinds of different event venues and businesses and it's really making a difference in their communities. And I'm just so inspired when I get to spend time with these other people because they're believing the exact same as what I do that the vitality, the condition, the vibe of our downtown and having flourishing shops, restaurants and experiences is one of the most important things that we can do and it gives our community a lot of soul. And I think that, just like the community that I visited with my family in Minnesota, that when people come here to Marion Ohio, that they feel that soul as well, and I want to make sure that we're giving them a great experience as a community. You know, this is a shout out to all of our local retailers and restaurateurs and folks that are working hard to make our community, our downtown specifically, a really special place Our city leaders, our Downtown Marion Inc organization, our Convention and Visitors Bureau. I had Bev on the podcast early on as well, talking about the work that she's doing with the Convention and Visitors Bureau. So just you know, if you've missed any of these podcasts, I encourage you to go back and listen to them or re-listen just about some of this information so you really understand.
Speaker 1:Again, it's not just me saying it, I'm kind of aggregating some of this information, but a lot of it is affirming the belief and the vision that I have that our greatest days are ahead and that is a really exciting time to be here, to be part of it, to be supporting these very courageous people that are stepping out as just pioneers in this kind of new frontier, and I want to make sure that we're doing our very best to support them and we're going to, in doing that, bring more of the things that we want. Maybe we're not there yet. I acknowledge that. I will say that publicly, that we have not gotten to where I believe we have the potential to go, but we are making it there daily, step by step, and again, it's a community thing. Often I tell people that every single day, as I'm having conversations, I say, hey, we can fix up buildings, we can start some businesses or support those that are doing it, but it takes our community working together and rowing in the same direction, communicating and, most of all, supporting our local businesses. Yes, downtown, yes, outside the downtown, these are the places that make our community what it is and it's really special.
Speaker 1:So if you're doing that, I appreciate you so very much. If you're not doing that, I don't want to shame you, I don't want to guilt you, but I do invite you to be part of what's going on. If you're not from here in Marion, I invite you to come and see us and check out what's going on. I'd be happy to give you a tour around town, and if you're way far away, you're not going to be able to visit us or visit us anytime soon. Keep doing these things in your community as well. It really makes a difference, and your community is going to be really special as a result of you either being the one that's supporting or the person that's sticking your neck out and fixing up a building or launching a business or growing or doing some scary things that way. So I salute you and appreciate you, no matter where you are in the ecosystem. It takes all of us to build a really vibrant community. You are in the ecosystem. It takes all of us to build a really vibrant community, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
Speaker 1:So, uh, that's all I had for today. I just wanted to to be able to share some of those thoughts and kind of expand on um the the initial conversation. If you want to see the if you didn't see the, the little write-up I did um, it's on my facebook page. You can search it out, luke henry, on facebook and it, and it's posted publicly. So it's called Community Soul. You scroll back a week or so and it should be there.
Speaker 1:So thanks so much again for listening those of you that are listening on a regular basis. Man, I appreciate you. Thanks for your positive feedback. Thanks for your feedback. If there's other guests that you'd like to have us have on or if there's things that you'd like me to do another solo episode with and discuss, I'd love to hear that feedback as well. I really appreciate your ratings and reviews to give a five-star review on your podcast player of choice and maybe a few comments again, willing to receive your feedback and hopefully continue to improve to make this valuable for you all. So thanks again for being here. This is the Main Street Reimagined podcast and I will catch you all again soon. Thanks for listening to the Main Street Reimagined podcast. To learn more about Main Street Reimagined Henry Development Group or our work in downtown Marion, ohio, please visit MainStreetReimaginedcom. If you want to connect or if you know someone who we need to interview, shoot us an email at info at MainStreetReimaginedcom. Until next time, keep dreaming and don't be afraid to take the leap.