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MSWB hours, crowds grew in 2023
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · April 17, 2024
The annual Main Street West Branch report shows the civic organization logged nearly 1,700 volunteer hours putting on events that attracted more than 7,600 people.
Those numbers are up from 2022 when volunteers put in just under 1,500 hours and about 6,800 people attended community events. That means volunteer hours increased by more than 13 percent and the number of attendees increased by nearly 12 percent in one year.
MSWB also brought in more than $96,500 in grants in 2023, bringing their total since 2020 to $294,560.
The group also calculated the value of those volunteer hours at nearly $53,300, or $31.80 per hour. The $31.80 is a national figure from Independent Sector, a group that measures the value of volunteerism.
Executive Director Jessi Simon called the volunteer growth the “most impressive” statistic of the report.
The group, which started in 2006, has recruited volunteers who contributed about $1.4 million in labor toward getting more people to “eat, shop and explore” — the group’s common motto — over those 18 years.
“If we bring people in, we need to make them happy to stay,” she told the West Branch City Council on Feb. 5. “We also know that West Branch has potential to attract a lot more visitors than we do.”
She said that requires “combining the efforts to promote the three major attractions” in the city: The Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, and the Historic Main Street District.
“Nobody has ever taken ownership of promoting them together, so we’re going to try that,” Simon said.
Released in February, the group’s annual report noted that it changed its name back to Main Street West Branch after years of calling it West Branch Community Development Group.
Simon likened the name change to going “back to our roots.”
The group also changed their brand, “which we think made a splash in the community,” she said.
MSWB focuses on the city’s downtown. Simon described that area as running from the Rummells Center (127 West Main Street) at the west end to West Branch Repairs (412 East Main) and Fourth Street at the east end. The area also stretches northward to encompass about a block of North Downey Street as far as 111 North Downey.
However, MSWB will reach past those borders, which Simon called the “heart of the community.”
“We are encouraged by local growth and have worked hard to create exciting moments in our district knowing that a rising tide lifts all ships,” she said.
Some of the top events from 2023 included Ladies Night Out, Sweets for Success (its largest fundraiser), Summer Kickoff, Hoover’s Hometown Days, Fall Fest, Trick-or-Treating, and Christmas Past.
“But, behind the scenes, we are so much more than party planners,” Simon said. “Please learn that. These are all important, but it’s absolutely not the only important things we do in West Branch.”
She said MSWB serves 47 local businesses inside the district that employ 165 people.
The group also helped White Pumpkin double its retail space and The Serving Cafe is “thriving in their new space.”
MSWB also joined with three new businesses for their ribbon-cuttings: The Honey Den, Feldman Performance, and The Lively. Located by Cedars Edge Golf Course, The Lively is outside of the downtown district, “but still a great addition to West Branch,” she said.
The city donated, from its Hotel-Motel tax, about $13,000 to the organization in the past year, which makes up about 6 percent of MSWB’s roughly $214,000 in revenues.
“We are proud to report that every dollar of that has helped support the vision and mission of Main Street West Branch,” Simon said.
The report highlighted The Serving Cafe, for which MSWB helped attain a $100,000 Challenge Grant and a $10,000 Open 4 Business Grant to renovate a former gas station, purchase new equipment, and turn it into the new home of the coffee shop and restaurant.
“The investment has had a significant economic impact within our district and we were thrilled to partner with the property owners, Jennifer and Todd Walker, to bring the project to life,” read the report.
Simon said the group also secured another $100,000 grant in November for I Eighty LLC, a partnership of longtime residents Jesse Shultz and Glendon Klein, to fix up 109 and 111 East Main Street businesses.
This is another Main Street Challenge Grant and, as it is a matching grant, the project ensures at least a $200,000 investment in the community over the two-year timeline, she said.
MSWB earned the state’s Facade Improvement Award from the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the Opera Block project completed in 2022. And the group hosts quarterly Coffee & Collaboration meetings for downtown businesses and local leaders to meet, share resources, and collaborate.
The organization delivered 75 welcome kits to new residents, hosted free training events for business owners, spruced up downtown with new banners and seasonal decorations, and raised a record amount of money “which shows that our strategies are on point and our momentum is still building,” Simon said.
The organization also markets to the community through social media and saw another 575 followers through Facebook (Main Street West Branch) and Instagram (MainStreetWestBranch).
“In total, more than 87,000 people came across content from Main Street West Branch … in 2023,” she said.
Main Street West Branch was founded in 2006 through the Main Street Iowa program.
The group has a board of directors and an advisory board.
The Board of Directors includes President Nicki Brick, Vice President and Organization Chair Steven Grace, Treasurer Carolyn Anderson, Secretary Paula Rogers, Promotions Chair Stacy Waters, Economic Vitality Co-Chair Jennifer Walker, Economic Vitality Co-Chair Anthony “TJ” Cappel, and board members John Fuller, Manda Frauenholz, Justin Stinson, Sam Drella, and Scott Thoma.
“They are quietly serving our community in ways that make a big impact but are not often seen,” she said.
Simon said MSWB tries to recruit board members from “a variety of different ages and backgrounds and expertise and economic status.” Most are residents of West Branch but some outside, some who have “lived here their whole lives and some are brand new to the community.”
“They really give us a well-rounded leadership group,” the director said. “It’s not just me, its this whole group of people that make everything that we do possible.”
The Advisory Board includes Simon — who the board appointed to a full-time position last summer — Mayor Roger Laughlin, National Park Service Superintendent Pete Swisher, Hoover Presidential Foundation President Mundi McCarty, and Hoover Presidential Library and Museum Public Affairs Specialist Aaron Scheinblum.
For more information, visit mainstreetwestbranch.org.
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