Main Street Founders Roundtable Webinar
When I think I’ve heard everything there is to know about Main Street America my friend Mary Means has new surprises. On July 20, 2026, during a webinar with the Main Street founders, Clark Schoettle and Scott Gerloff shared their stories as representatives from two of the first three communities that piloted an approach to downtown revitalization rooted in historic preservation.
A few ideas I just can’t forget follow:
- Inspiration for the Main Street Four Point approach came from a text at a public library about managing shopping malls.
- The self help function was forged in almost daily phone calls during the pilot project where local managers were given free unlimited phone calls during a time when that feature was terribly expensive for most people.
- They each pivoted from local roles to being national consultants and advocates coaching others.
- They captured their learning and found smart ways to share those lessons broadly.
- How Main Street democratized preservation by making it relevant to millions of Americans beyond the traditional constituency of owners of landmark properties.
Near the close they brought me to tears talking about the sense of community formed, the surge of interest and participation of volunteers since their time in the first towns, and the energy at our annual Main Street Now conference.
For those of us carrying forward the Main Street America movement today we have much to be grateful for from these three and my friend Tom Moriarity who died less than a year ago. All of our success in over a thousand communities today tracks back to the passion of those on hand when this Main Street idea was born, and their courage to share their learning with others. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and job well done. 💜
Postscript
I was so touched that Mary responded to my post on the webinar a few days later. These statements are like little love letters that encourage us on with the growth of the movement that she and the other founders started:
Isaac, glad you were in our webinar audience yesterday. Your take on it is interesting. My recollection of the birth of the infamous Four Points is a bit different. At a team retreat to capture what we were learning, in order to explain it to others, we wallpaped the room with insights, gradually synopsizing into a set of headings, then further into four buckets. Clark’s contribution was terrificly helpful — and as he recalls, it was partly informed by a book on shopping center management. For anyone who missed the webinar, MSA is soon posting the recording at mainstreet.org