There is a lot of activity happening in Southwest Detroit lately.
In June the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA) and Mexicantown Community Development Corporation (MCDC) received a grant to reactivate the Main Street Program. This reactivation will help the businesses in the Mexicantown-Hubbard community.
The SDBA and MCDC received a grant from the Detroit Local Initiatives Support Corporation and this is how the organizations reinstated their membership with the Main Street Program.
Southwest Detroit is an area that’s seeing a lot of new activity as of late, so we met with Myrna Segura, the Director of Business Development at the SDBA to find out more about the plans for the future now that the Main Street Program has been brought back. Segura explained that the Main Street Program has a four-point approach, which starts with building an advisory group.
The advisory group provides strategic planning for the program and is made up of community and business members. The current advisory group is MCDC Board Member Ray Lozano, SDBA President Kathy Wendler, and Mexicantown Bakery and Armando’s Restaurant Owner Omar Hernandez.
The first thing that the SDBA and MCDC will tackle is putting together a promotional brochure that will map out all of the businesses and events that are in the Mexicantown-Hubbard Community. The brochure will have a map and will be a great resource for visitors of the Mexicantown-Hubbard community.
The second is to bring back the community events; while they do not know what type of events they will have. Segura said that she would like to see the Irish-Mexican Fiesta return. The Irish Mexican Fiesta helped to create more engagement between the Corktown and Mexicantown communities in the past.
“We need to embrace the fact that it is a unique district, just like on the west side or east side of Detroit. Each one is different and has it’s own value, and it’s own offering. We want to make sure that people are aware of what’s happening here. Especially with the new businesses because it’s a nice mix,” said Segura.
The bigger goal is to attract new businesses to the vacant spaces in the community. The SDBA is able to offer assistance to new and existing businesses and the aim is to make all businesses feel included.
Segura also spoke about the history of the Main Street Program in the Mexicantown-Hubbard Community. The community was a member of it from 2002 through 2008. During that time the SDBA and MCDC worked with business owners to get façade upgrades. Twelve storefronts were updated through the Main Street Program. The upgrades were paid for by public and private money and cost $500,000. The Mexicantown-Hubbard Main Street Program ended in 2008 due to the recession and the expansion of I-75.
