Byesville Rotary learns “Downtown is living room of the community”

Pictured: Joe Waske, Byesville Rotary President; Heather Dickson, Executive Director of Cambridge Main Street; Rich Dair, Speaker Host.


Heather Dickson, the new Executive Director of Cambridge Main Street, explained that she developed a passion for helping small business early. She has practical experience running a small business. She opened her first coffee house in Little Rock. This shop was followed by two more. When she decided to return home to the Cambridge, she fell back on what she knew and opened a café –Uppities—in New Concord.

She began investigating opening a shop in Cambridge. Her first stop for information was to speak to Fran Taylor who told Dickson that she was leaving her position as Director of Cambridge Main Street. Dickson decided to apply for the job.

Dickson brings energy and excitement to the position. She explained to Byesville Rotary that the Main Street organization is non profit and is supported by volunteers and some private funding.

Main Street is organized around 4 committees. The Organization Committee is responsible for hiring and organizes membership drives. The Economic Restructuring Committee helps businesses stay open and seeks to bring new business to the area. This committee hosts Merchants Matter meetings. Anyone interested in business is invited. Meeting topics vary but are all focused on topics of interest to local business owners such as petty theft.

The Design committee focuses on the physical aspect of the downtown areas such as the looks and user friendliness of the streetscape. This committee is involved in the current renovation of the Wheeling Ave. This project involves range of goals from unseen, underground upgrades of the water lines to the design of the new sidewalks and the choice and placement of new trees. If all goes well the project will be completed November 1.

The Design committee is also working on developing banners that will be hung downtown on the light poles. Committee members are developing a set of standards that banners must meet. Any individual, business, or organization can sponsor a sign about their group or business.

The Promotions committee gets the word out about downtown activities such as the Bike Show and Road Fest. Recently the committee hosted a Garden Tour and Wine Tasting at Dr. Mitchell’s home. Response to this event resulted in the largest number of people attending to date.

For more information about the Main Street organization, contact 740-439-2238.

The club’s next meeting will be 7:30 am, June 28, 2011, at the Stop Nine Senior Center at 60313 (GPS use 60299) Southgate Road, Byesville. Anyone interested in learning more about the Byesville Rotary can call Membership Chairs Marty Patchen, 740-685-3828, or Larry Miller, 740-439-2767.