Announcing the 2025 Backing Small Businesses Grant Recipients
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 Backing Small Businesses grant program, supported by American Express.
The Main Street Business Insights podcast shares the stories of business owners making it on Main Street. Host Matt Wagner, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Officer at Main Street America, travels the country and takes a deep dive into the personal journeys of downtown and neighborhood entrepreneurs — the stories that far too often go unheard.
This podcast not only highlights fascinating and inspiring stories of Main Street entrepreneurs, but provides on-the-ground insights and advice about how business owners have overcome adversity, grown or expanded their enterprises, and connected with their local communities.
Catch up on the most recent episodes to learn about building community, creating meaningful retail experiences, promoting your values, and more. And stay tuned for more episodes coming soon!
Crowdfunding for Small Businesses
In this episode, recorded in front of a live audience at the Maine Downtown Conference in November 2024 in Biddeford, Maine, Matt explores the world of crowdfunding as a financing alternative for small businesses, featuring a crowdfunding expert and two Maine entrepreneurs who successfully used community crowdfunding. Listen here >
You can’t be shy. You have to really be the salesperson for yourself.
Finding Passion & Following Intuition
Tune in to hear Matt speak with James Langteaux, owner of Trû North Café, explore the unique journey of starting a business during the pandemic, the challenges of running a small-town café, and the importance of community connection. Listen here >
I think that was kind of the watershed moment, where I think the town just went, ‘oh, he’s a team player’.
Crafting a Creative Business Journey
Husband-and-wife duo, Phoebe and Jonathan Carpenter Eells, co-owners of elSage Designs in Mount Vernon, Washington, share with Matt how they scaled their creative side project from a home-based operations to a downtown storefront. Listen here >
What we have found is that people want experiences. When they are bringing an experience into the store, there’s a little energy that starts to happen. People are coming in.
Revitalizing a Legacy Business
Matt sits down with Dale Sexton, owner of the legendary Dan Bailey’s Outdoor Co. in Livingston, Montana, to learn his journey of taking over the iconic outdoor retail business and navigating the evolving outdoor industry and customer landscape. Listen here >
We can’t solve that, but there’s these little elements that we can incorporate into our business that help us acknowledge these important issues.
Building Brand and Community
Matt speaks with Mallory Dabney, owner of Heyday, a home goods store in Bozeman, Montana, about her journey from moving to Bozeman from California, learning how to work in retail, and eventually becoming the owner of one of her favorite downtown shops. Listen here >
It’s about making you feel really comfortable here, making you feel like you have a place here that is beyond a retail experience.
Related News and Stories
Main Spotlight: Eight Trends for Small Businesses in 2026
Chief Innovation Officer Matt Wagner, Ph.D., shares his annual predictions for the trends that will impact Main Streets and small businesses in 2026.
Main Spotlight: Appreciating the Reality of a Storefront Business Owner
This conversation between Main Street America's Director of Research and the owner of a plant shop in Tacoma, Wash., reveals the unique struggles of today's storefront business owners.
