WHAT WE DO
Cambridge Main Street is a volunteer-driven nonprofit that works to revitalize the historic downtown of Cambridge, Md. Below is a summary of initiatives and accomplishments over the last two years. None of it would have been possible without the generous annual contributions of our members—and the hard work of our many unpaid volunteers. Thank you!
Spreading the Good News about Our Downtown
• The monthly e-newsletter Main Street News now goes to nearly 3,000 addresses on the Mid-Shore. Over two years, that is a ten-fold distribution increase. The newsletter has also tripled its per-issue page count. Sign up by sending an e-mail to office@cambridgemainstreet.com.
• Visitation to the website www.cambridgemainstreet.com increased by 97 percent in 2009 compared with 2008. Content on the website has been greatly expanded during this period as well.
• Just a few short months after launching a Facebook fan page, Cambridge Main Street has built up an audience of 850 “fans.” Postings there happen on a nearly daily basis. Sign up at www.facebook.com/CambridgeMainStreet.
• Cambridge Main Street produces and prints 20,000 copies of a beautiful annual Downtown Guide that’s distributed primarily at resorts, hotels, B&Bs, and visitors’ centers. All downtown shops, galleries, and restaurants are listed in this publication for free, with members getting value-added treatment through photos and descriptions.
• Every year, Cambridge Main Street sends out scores of event alerts, media releases, and media photos of people and events in downtown Cambridge.
• Every week, Cambridge Main Street volunteers produce the Weekend Update promoting downtown events, shops, galleries, and restaurants to guests at hotels and resorts, as well as employees at major companies in Dorchester County.
Creating Excitement in Our Downtown
• Monthly Second Saturday events showcase our shops, galleries, and restaurants—and deliver an important bottom-line boost for these businesses as well.
• Major street festivals such as the Taste of Cambridge and Summer Sendoff show off our town and its heritage to broad regional audiences that get bigger and bigger every year.
• The Farmers Market runs on Thursday afternoons in season for 24 weeks, showcasing our farmers and our agricultural heritage—and creating a convenient market for fresh, affordable, healthy produce.
• Cambridge Main Street helped to initiate and strongly supports the Cambridge Lives! initiative, a new group of concerned citizens working to strengthen and celebrate our historic Pine Street area. Main Street also won a Maryland Historical Trust grant that will allow us prepare and submit an application seeking National Historic District status for the Pine Street community.
COMING UP: This year, we are proud to be partnering with the nonprofit Hungry for Music, Inc. to bring a major new waterfront event to Governor’s Hall at Sailwinds Park—the Annie Oakley Wild West Festival on August 6, 7, and 8.
Making Our Downtown Greener and More Beautiful
• Our façade improvement program gives businesses access to state funds that make building improvements affordable. The improvements made over the last year or now in process at more than a dozen businesses had total value of nearly $70,000.
New awnings: Bistro Poplar, Sugar Magnolia, A Few of My Favorite Things
Energy-efficient interior storefront lighting: Mirror Mirror Salon, Hubbard’s Custom Blinds, Trumpeter Swan Antiques, Sport Society, A Few of My Favorite Things, Dragonfly Boutique
Business signage: Main Street Gallery, Joie de Vivre Gallery
Exterior lighting: Joie de Vivre Gallery
New storefront window: A Few of My Favorite Things, Dragonfly Boutique
• Our Green Committee volunteers won a grant from Chesapeake Bay Trust to plant 25 new trees in our downtown last fall.
• Those same volunteers plant, mulch, and maintain city-owned properties such as the traffic islands near Paul’s Subs and the gardens lining Cannery Way.
• Cambridge Main Street pays for the planting and maintenance of beautiful hanging flower baskets on historic streetlights.
• Cambridge Main Street paid for and maintains the decorative banners that hang from those historic streetlights.
• Cambridge Main Street partners with business owners to pay for the planting and maintenance of large sidewalk flowerpots.
COMING UP: Our Green volunteers are planning to apply for another Chesapeake Bay Trust grant this summer, so we hope that our downtown will soon get even greener!
Delivering Direct Assistance to Our Downtown Businesses
• Cambridge Main Street provides direct advice and assistance to member businesses in the areas of media relations, social networking, and other marketing strategies.
• Several times a year, Cambridge Main Street provides base funding that helps make it affordable for our small downtown shops to advertise in regional magazines and other publications.
• In March, Cambridge Main Street and the state Department of Housing & Community Development teamed up to bring a top national retail business consultant into town for a free open-to-public training session. That consultant also did one-on-one consultations with four downtown businesses.
COMING UP: Cambridge Main Street expects in the coming months to be able to give member businesses access to state funds that will make energy-efficiency improvements more affordable. Currently being designed in the Department of Housing and Community Development, this program will help businesses reduce energy use—and cut down on their expenses.
Making Our Organization Stronger and More Effective
• The number of individuals, families, and businesses making an annual membership donation to support Main Street’s revitalization efforts increased by 75 percent in 2009 compared with 2008. This is helping us to weather significant recent cutbacks in government funding.
• Annual membership contributions made by the staff and board of Cambridge Main Street increased by 44 percent in 2009 compared with 2008.
• Cambridge Main Street ranked among the 15 percent of the nearly 2,000 Main Street programs around the country that recorded overall increases in membership revenue during the recession-plagued 2009.
• Cambridge Main Street launched a new fundraising event in 2010—the Spring Fling. The event sold out and raised more than $10,000 to support the sorts of initiatives you’re reading about here.
• At the annual statewide Main Street Maryland awards, Cambridge Main Street received the top award in the “Organization” category that focuses on membership and becoming a stronger organization. There were 22 other programs eligible for the award.
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
• Cambridge Main Street has just one paid employee. Most all of the accomplishments listed here are thanks to the impossibly generous volunteers who care so deeply about our downtown and our organization. THANK YOU!
• Just two short years ago, Cambridge Main Street received nearly 60 percent of its funding from out city and county governments. This year, it is very likely that we will receive no government funding. Our continued ability to do all this good work is thanks to the generous individuals, families, and businesses that support Main Street with generous annual membership contributions. THANK YOU!
How’s Downtown Cambridge Doing?
As you may recall, our downtown suffered a devastating fire in January 2008 that destroyed two businesses, damaged several nearby buildings, and disrupted downtown traffic patterns for an extended period. Shortly thereafter, the broader economy sank into the worst downturn this country has seen in decades.
Here’s one measure of how downtown Cambridge has fared since then:
Business Openings
Since 2008, the following 17 shops, restaurants, and galleries have opened in downtown Cambridge:
Avé salonspa
Backfin Antiques
Bistro Poplar
Chesapeake Classics
Danny Doughty Gallery
Dorchester Center for Arts
El Sol
Fibre Café/Crabcatchers
GiGi’s Trattoria
J&J Banquet Hall
Jimmie & Sook’s
LunaChick
Main Street Gallery
Paul’s Subs
Race Beauty Supply
Steppin’ in Style
Trumpeter Swan Antiques
Estimated jobs gained: 70
Business Closings
Since 2008, the following nine shops and restaurants closed in downtown Cambridge.
Recreation Center
Cambridge Grill
Never on Tuesday (owners relocated to Missouri)
Orange Blossoms
William G. Williker’s (destroyed by fire)
Shorebid Antiques (destroyed by fire)
Maris Elaine Gallery (business relocated to Western Shore)
Hubbard’s Pharmacy (owners’ retirement)
Rug Gallery (owner’s retirement)
Estimated jobs lost: 30
Net businesses gained: 8
Net estimated job gain: 40
* Please note that this job gain happened at a time when the unemployment rate in Dorchester County increased by 50 percent, going from 8 percent to 12 percent.
** Also note that short-lived, unsuccessful businesses that both opened and closed in this time window are not included here.
Cambridge is fortunate to have talented businesspeople who believe in downtown as much as we do. At Main Street, we're proud to support them and their employees to the best of our abilities.
