Local leaders are on the front lines of economic recovery. These free webcasts can help.

The road to recovery and prosperity doesn’t run through Washington, D.C., or even some distant state capitol. It starts right where you are and it starts right now. Here at Strong Towns, we believe local leaders like you are the ones who will guide your town or city to financial health and resilience. And you don’t have to wait to get started.

We’re offering two free webcasts designed to give you the knowledge, tools, and resources you need to build a stronger and more prosperous community. One is about how community leaders can come together across multiple sectors to revitalize their city. The other is about how to unleash the power of incremental development in your town—and perhaps even become a small-scale developer yourself.

Details are below, as are the registration links. Make sure to reserve your spot right away.

One more note: Are you a local government official, city staff, a member of your city’s planning or transportation committees, or a member of a local advocacy organization? We encourage you to invite members of your team to these webinars, then work together to take collective action toward building a safer, stronger, more financially resilient community.

Revitalizing Your Town from the Bottom Up
June 23rd, 12 p.m. CDT

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This panel discussion will bring together three community leaders from different sectors who are doing inspiring work to revitalize their small cities. You'll hear from a resident who saw a need for action in his community and united neighbors to improve public spaces, strengthen local businesses and build an economically strong city. You'll learn from a nonprofit leader who is creating vibrant downtown spaces through business development, arts and culture, and special events. And you'll meet a city councilor who helped bring together volunteers, schools and businesses to create pop-up downtown stores.

In this webcast, you'll:

  • Learn how local leaders are approaching revitalization from the grassroots, nonprofit and government levels

  • See inspiring examples of downtown revitalization efforts

  • Learn new approaches to engaging neighbors, businesses, nonprofits and other groups to work together for economic prosperity

  • Hear how communities are creatively responding to the economic challenges created by the pandemic.

About the Presenters

Talicia Richardson is the Executive Director of 64.6 Downtown, a nonprofit committed to creating vibrant spaces in downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas, through business development, arts and culture, and special events and projects. Talicia’s primary responsibility is implementation of the downtown masterplan, Propelling Downtown Forward. Prior to joining 64.6 Downtown, Talicia held the position of Development Officer for the Fort Smith Housing Authority. After graduating with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Sociology (pre-law), she returned to Arkansas to pursue her Masters of Counseling Psychology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She resides in Fort Smith her husband of 25 years, State Representative Jay Richardson and has two children — Yuri, 23 (attending Harding University) and Jag, 8. You can read an article we wrote about 64.6 Downtown here.

Salvador Galdamez is the Founder of York XL in York, Pennsylvania. You can hear Sal interviewed on Episode 43 of our It’s the Little Things podcast. Full bio coming soon.

Martin Callahan is a City Council Member in Batavia, Illinois. He is also an SIU Senior Consultant at CNA Insurance. Full bio coming soon.

Incremental Development:
Your Community’s Tool for Local Prosperity
July 7th, 12 p.m. CDT

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Across the continent, small-scale developers are investing in local housing and businesses in order to build up the economic prosperity of their towns. They are rehabbing broken-down homes, revitalizing neglected downtown and reshaping the future of their communities.

In this webcast, the Incremental Development Alliance will share how you can become a developer too, or support developers in your town. They'll talk about why incremental development is such an important tool—particularly in response to the current pandemic and economic shutdown—and they'll introduce you to some developers doing great work all over the country.

About the Presenter

Gracen Johnson is the Director of Content & Contribution at the Incremental Development Alliance. Since completing her MPhil in Planning, Growth, and Regeneration at the University of Cambridge in 2013, Gracen has spent years engaging with bottom-up city building herself. She met the IncDev team via her online storytelling as a proactive neighbor in a small city on Canada’s east coast. Her writing, speaking, videos, and urban interventions inspire regular citizens to invest in their neighborhoods in the creative, makeshift ways that make a place feel loved and lived in. Full bio.

Gracen will be joined by other Incremental Development Alliance faculty and alumni.

Cover image via Unsplash.

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