WHAT IS A WORK PLAN?

Every Fall Rochester Main Street works very hard collecting input on what the community would like to see us concentrate on in the upcoming year. This year we used social media and advertising to let people take our survey to get their input, giving us the biggest number of people participating in this process ever! Our Committees (click here for more info on our committees) use all this information to create a list of things they would like to work on in the upcoming  year. It is then the responsibility of the Board of Directors to look through each list and determine what we as an organisation can afford to do, the only thing that limits us is the amount of money our supporters invest and the number of volunteers we have.  Once the board has approved these projects they become our work plan. This work plan allows the committees to each work on their separate projects while insuring we are all working together to achieve the over all goals of the organisation. We also welcome feedback and hope more will continue to become part of this process. Below you will a brief description of each item in the work plan.
2015 Work Plan 
Design Committee
Maintenance for existing Projects
Murals Project 
Downtown Plantings / Landscape
Two Way Traffic Advocacy 
Way-finding Signage
Fall / Holiday Window Contests 
Wyandotte Walk Way
Branding Initiative
Walking Tour Brochure
Scarecrows
Rochester Cares Clean-Up Day
Union Street Art / Park
​Historic Walking Tour Brochures
​Downtown Gateway Welcome Signs 
Historic Building Markers
Pet Waste Stations 
Riverwalk Banners
Rochester Items
PR / Events Committee 
Factory Court Concert Series_ 
Free Comic Book Day
Holiday Business After Hours
Dinner On The Riverwalk
Gay Pride Rochester
October Festival 
Trick or Treat / Zombie Walk 
Blues / BBQ Festival
Rochester UFO / Paranormal Festival
Holiday Parade
Festival of Trees
Cooperative Marketing 
Youth Block Dance
  
ER Committee
Side Walk Talk TV Show
Side Walk Talk
Think Tank
Special Events / Business Tips & News
Farmers Market Fiscal Agent
Downtown Housing Advocacy
Shopping Local Initative
Destination University
Welcome Packets
Restaurant Rack Cards
Downtown Shopping Rack Cards
Outreach Committee
Media Releases & PR
Main Street Matters / eblasts
Website Hosting / Maintenance
Social Media
Annual Meeting
Annual Report
RMS Wearables
Wine in the Garden / Beer in the Woods
Lakes Region Casino
Investment Drive
Sign Up Genius For Volunteers
Design Committee:
  • Maintenance for existing Projects: This gives us a budget to be able to spend to go towards keeping up with maintenance on past projects 
  • Murals Project: Our goal is complete 2 more, we hope to work with students from the Spaulding High School to complete this. 
  • Downtown Plantings / Landscaping: this is maintenance of previous plantings as well as additional landscaping work throughout downtown. This includes our flower barrels. 
  • .Two Way Traffic Advocacy: Is just one of the traffic calming initiatives that studies show would help downtown businesses. We advocate for these changes to take place for the safety and good of our local economy.
  • Way-finding Signage: Is our maintenance for the current way-finding signage as well as advocacy for an updated one upon completion of branding.
  • Fall / Holiday Window Contests: We challenge the local businesses in the downtown area to decorate their windows for the changing seasons and offer a traveling trophy to the first place window of each season. This contests are judged by independent third parties! 
  • Wyandotte Walk Way: This project allows for us to continue to work with the New Hampshire Housing Authority to continue to improve and monitor Wyandotte Walk way which is the walkway that connects North Main Street to Wyandotte Falls and is located beside Bella Fresca.
  • Branding Initiative: allows for us to continue to advocate for the completion of the Branding Initiative in the city of Rochester.  So that Rochester can create a new image that is easily shared by the entire city and businesses as well. 
  • Walking Tour Brochure: This will allow us to continue to print and distribute our walking tour brochure. This brochure highlights the historic buildings in the Rochester Downtown and has been very well received by the public! 
  • Scare Crows: Every Fall Main Street partners with the City to put up scarecrows on the light-posts through downtown. This budget allows us to maintain the scare crows. 
  • Rochester Pride Day: Allows us to partner with the City of Rochester's Public Works dept to spend a day in early spring, cleaning up road ways, parking lots, & more. 
  • Union Street Art / Park: We are in the process of designing a new art installation and garden at the corner of Union Street and North Main Street. 
  • River walk Banners: Banners will be placed along the river walk showing the people the amazing work that has been done! 
  • Rochester Items: We have Rochester Plates and Ornaments for sale. 
PR & Events Committee:
  • Factory Court Concert Series: We will host a number of concerts in factory court focusing on NH traditional music, as well as a teddy bear clinic and a zoo encounter on Central Square. 
  • Free Comic Book Day: A city wide promotion in partnership with Jetpack Comics,  Where people from all over the state / country come to participate. This event has Vendor Opportunities and Sponsorship Opportunities 
  • Holiday Business After Hours: A partnership with The Rochester Operah House, hosting a Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours with Christmas Music and food from local restaurants. 
  • October Festival Raffle: a Raffle that we sell tickets for from July until mid October.
  • October Festival: A yearly harvest festival held on Hanson Street, Music, local vendors, great food & More!  This event has Vendor Opportunities and Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Trick or Treat / Zombie Walk: Kids trick or treating at local businesses. Zombies walking down Main Street towards too the commons for brains and refreshment. 
  • Blues / BBQ Festival: July festival centered around Blues Music and great BBQ Food. This years headline Act James Montgomery Blues Band! This event has Vendor Opportunities and Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Rochester UFO / Paranormal Festival: The First annual event. A partnership between Jetpack Comics and Rochester Main Street. Local businesses offering various paranormal events.  This event has Vendor Opportunities and Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Holiday Parade: Rochester Main Street marches in the parade and hands out candy.
  • 2 X Retail Promotions: Rochester Main Street is still working on adding a couple more retail promotions to the 2015 calendar. 
  • Festival of Trees: Christmas Trees Sponsored by local businesses to be raffled off. There will be music and hot chocolate. 
  • Cooperative Marketing: Rochester Main Street works with local businesses to find Marketing opportunities that work well for a 
ER Committee:
  • Side Walk Talk TV Show: We partner with Metrocast to bring you these shows that are broadcast on local TV. Each show highlights 2 local downtown businesses. 
  • Side Walk Talk: a monthly meeting held at local downtown eateries, designed to let business owners and members of the community know what is going on in Rochester Main Street and to discuss a different topic for businesses every month. 
  • Think Tank: We work to bring together experts including real estate, finance, business, service, etc to help downtown business owners work to overcome challenges they are facing. This is a completely free service. 
  • Special Events / Business Tips & News: With so many great events in the city put on by Rochester Main Street as well as other community organisations, we publish this news letter not only making sure all downtown businesses are aware of our events but have tips on how to capitalize on all events in the city and surrounding areas! 
  • Branding Fiscal Agent: We are the Fiscal Agent for the Branding Initiative, this allows us to hold monies granted to the initiative. 
  • Downtown Housing Advocacy: Middle Income, market rate housing, is an important part of revitalizing a downtown. We advocate with both the City as well as property owners to help grow the numbers of these housings available.
  • Shopping Local Initiative: This takes the shape of cash mobs, as well as events like Plaid Friday and Shop Small Saturday. It is part of our commitment to helping drive business to local downtown.
  • Destination University: Is an online university started by John Shallert, to use his years of expertise as a hallmark merchandiser to help small business. Main Street as a member of Destination University shows online videos for our downtown businesses to help them with questions they may have about their business. 
  • Welcome Packets: Allows us to put our information, rack cards etc in the Chambers welcome packets. 
  • Restaurant Rack Cards: These Rack Cards are distributed throughout Rochester. They highlight the Dinning options available to people in the downtown Area. 
  • Downtown Shopping Rack Cards:These Rack Cards are distributed throughout Rochester. They highlight the many shopping options available to people in the downtown Area. 
Outreach Committee
  • Media Releases & PR: This project is the handling of Media Releases & Public Relation Pieces Rochester Main Street handles or takes part in. In an average year we generate dozens of positive mentions in news and radio broadcasts! 
  • Main Street Matters / eblasts: Our Newsletter goes out to 900+ active readers 52 times per year! This news letter not only provides information about our organisation but about other local organisations and businesses as well! 
  • Website Hosting / Maintenance: This allows up to update and maintain our website.
  • Social Media: We are active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and always looking for more ways to reach out to new followers!
  • Annual Meeting: Every February this meeting is to give our partners and volunteers a chance to see all the final data on the previous year as well recognize partners / businesses that have shown excellence and earned one of our yearly awards. 
  • Annual Report: this report is printed and give all of our partners and volunteers a recap of the previous year. 
  • RMS Wearables : This allows us to produce volunteer shirts, board member shirts, etc. 
  • Wine in the Garden / Beer in the Woods: Our main fundraiser for the year. Sample a great assortments of locally produced wines and beers, paired with amazing food from local restaurants. This takes place at Studly Flower Gardens to make this an amazing event! 
  • Lakes Region Casino: Rochester Main Street volunteers partner with Belmont Gaming for up to 10 days of gaming. We as the partnering non-profit earn a percentage of the money made from gaming on those nights. 
  • Investment Drive: This is the process we have to go through to make sure we get the funding we need to accomplish all the great projects we have lined up. 
  • Sign Up Genius For Volunteers: Without our volunteers we would get nothing done, Sign up Genius is a user friendly program that allows us to get the word out to our volunteers  of any needs we may have!