Mainstreet Uptown Butte, Inc., is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit program incorporated in June 1999 and affiliated with The National Main Street Center. In 2000, the Butte Uptown Association, representing Uptown merchants since 1970, merged with Mainstreet Uptown Butte.

In 1977, in response to the flight of businesses from historic town centers, the National Trust for Historic Preservation created pilot Main Street programs to use historic preservation as an economic development tool. Since then, the approach has proven successful in small towns and urban neighborhoods from Washington State to New York City. The program has a track record in more than 1,400 communities across the country.

The key to the success of the Main Street program is that community revitalization does not rely on any one action, be it an anchor store, a new streetscape, or that one special event that will draw thousands of visitors.  The program uses a sustained approach guided by four major points to guide preservation and economic rejuvenation efforts.

The Main Street approach to downtown (or Uptown as the case may be) revitalization is based on four major points: Design, Promotion, Organization, and Economic Restructuring.

DESIGN focuses on enhancing the physical appearance of buildings, streetlights, window displays, parking areas, signs, sidewalks, promotional materials and other elements that convey a visual message about Uptown Butte.

PROMOTION involves marketing Uptown's most attractive qualities to shoppers, investors, new businesses, tourists and others. Effective promotion creates a positive image through retail promotional activity, special events and ongoing programs to build positive perceptions of the district.

ORGANIZATION is the work of building a consensus and cooperation among the stakeholders in the district. Many individuals and organizations in the community have a stake in the district's economic viability:

ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING strengthens the existing economic base while diversifying it. Our economic restructuring goals are to help existing Uptown businesses expand, recruit new businesses to augment the existing business base, convert unused space into productive properties, and sharpen the competitiveness of Uptown merchants.

By strengthening the Uptown's economy, communities are able to support ongoing use of historic commercial buildings, preserving unique community assets.

The comprehensive nature of Main Street's approach is the key to its success. By integrating the four areas into a practical management strategy, the Main Street approach produces fundamental changes in the economic base, putting historic commercial buildings to productive use again.

Mainstreet Uptown Butte's Board of Directors has final authority and responsibility for the Butte's Main Street program.  The board of directors includes community volunteers with expertise in economic development, promotions and fund-raising.  Several directors are small business owners and understand the challenges facing independent businesses.

The Executive Director of Mainstreet Uptown Butte works with businesses and community residents to promote Uptown Butte as an attractive, enjoyable and safe place to do business, implement small improvement projects, coordinate special events and administer the routine operations of the organization.

Mainstreet Uptown Butte's Executive Director is George Everett. Everett's path to Main Street includes publishing more than 100 stories on subjects related to Butte's history, business and travel that have appeared in a wide range of national and regional magazines and newspapers. In 1995, he published a book titled Champagne in a Tin Cup: Uptown Butte and the Stories Behind the Facades. That same year he produced walking tours about historic Uptown buildings for The Butte Archives and a study guide about Asian immigration to Southwest Montana for the Mai Wah Society. Most recently, in August 2007, he has written a book about Butte titled Butte Trivia that has been published by Riverbend Publishing.

In 1997, he served as the program coordinator for the Heritage Park and Partners, a group working to establish a cultural tourism corridor between Butte and Anaconda.

In 1999, Everett launched a popular web site that highlights Butte retail businesses — ButteAmerica.com.

In 2002, Everett successfully nominated Butte to the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be listed as one of America's Dozen Distinctive Destinations to encourage travelers with an interest in cultural tourism to plan a visit.

Everett is responsible for implementing Butte's Main Street program to take advantage of historic buildings and other resources to stimulate the local economy by creative reuse of the built environment.

Butte has great potential to benefit from the program's resources and experience around the country. Butte has more than 4,000 historic buildings in its historic zone, probably more structures than any other national historic landmark district in the country.

In his tenure as Executive Director since 2002, Everett has coordinated the lighting of seven headframes, the planting of nearly 500 new street trees, and the painting of more than 35 historical facades in Uptown Butte through Mainstreet's High Impact Paint Program.

Most recently, Everett coordinated the successful effort to propose that Butte host the National Folk Festival in 2008-2010 -- the first time this major festival has been held west of the Mississippi since the 1960s.

Brad & Francene Archibald Floyd & Margaret Bossard Louis E. Boyle L. David & Dana Carnes Rita Casagranda John & Sharon Chebul Mitzi & Jim Daily Gretchen Geller & Butch Gerbrandt Richard Gibson W. Frank & Ann Gilmore Shirley Groff

Wayne & Janette Gronvold Dianne Kimball & James Dorr Johnson Keith Kemble & Daniel Flanagan Kelly & Shelli Knievel Kurt & Kim Krueger Andrea & Jack McCormick Suzann Nordwick Catherine Rice Richard Sims Tom & Laurel Staples

Friend/Non-Profit -- 21 Members

Butte Center for the Performing Arts Butte Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization Butte-Silver Bow Convention and Visitor's Bureau Butte Symphony Career Futures Friends of the Butte Archives Barbara Gregovich & Brice Boedecker Brian Holland John C. Hughes

Main Stope Gallery Mai Wah Society Montana Tech Foundation National Affordable Housing Network Guy & Madeline Ossello Dr. James & Meryl Patterson, Jr. Paul Clark Family Home Public Housing Authority of Butte W.E., Inc., LLC Western Montana Mental Health World Museum of Mining

Business -- 128 Members

Advanced Dermatology of Butte Alana LaRock, Realtor Arc Electric Artcraft Printers BCI Consulting, LLC Bad Beaver Bikes, Skis and Tours Big Sky Beveled Glass, Inc. Blue Range Engineering Bonanza Freeze Bookey Consulting, Inc. Books & Books Broadway Cafe Butte Community Federal Credit Union Butte Glass Butte Jewelers/Buffalo Gallery Butte Les Schwab Tire Center Butte Prints & Photos Buttenik Ensemble/Covellite Theatre CCCS, Inc. Carquest Auto Parts Cavanaugh's County Celtic & Beyond Chinook Wireless Colours & Scents Communication Matters, LLC Continental Divide Greenhouse and Nursery Copper City Signs Corette, Pohlman & Kebe Law Firm Crown Properties, LLC D.A. Davidson & Co. Dancing Rainbow Natural Grocery Daniel Insurance Agency Depot Enterprises Dick & Thomas, PC Divide Creek, PC East Ridge Laundry & Dry Cleaning Edward Jones Empire Office Machines Everly & Associates Finlen Hotel First Interstate Bank First National Bank Fleming & O'Leary, PLLP Frame Galerie Front Street Station Gamer's Cafe and Casino Garden of Beadin' Gilman Excavating Glacier Bank Gold Rush Casino Granite Mountain Bank Greenfield Printers H&R Block Harrington Surgical Supply Harrison Avenue Realty Health Link Physical Therapy Hinick & Associates Ingraham Environmental Insty-Prints of Butte Joyce, Johnston & MacDonald, PLLP Kally's Korner KBOW/KPOR Radio KMBR/KAAR/KXTL Radio KWYB-TV/MAX Media of Montana

KXLF-TV La Hacienda Land of Magic Butte Lockmer Plumbing & Heating MacDonald Auto Repair Marilynn Dwyer Mason Art Studio Miller Shoe Co., Inc. Mining City Taxi Montana Abstract & Title Co. Montana International Montana Standard Mountain States Energy, Inc. (MSE) Mountain Coffee Mountain States Leasing Munchkins Northwest Noodles 'N Wraps Northwestern Energy Old Butte Antiques Old Butte Historical Adventures Park Street Liquors Pekin Noodle Parlor Perkins Family Restaurant Pioneer Technical Services Pit Printers Dr. Keith J. Popovich Pork Chop John's Porphyry Soap Company Quilici Glass, LLC R&R Electric RD's Party Shop Redline Sports Renouard-Veraldi, LLC Resodyn Corporation Richard's & Rochelle's Men's Store Riley's Meats Rudolph's Standard Furniture St. James Healthcare Seacast, Inc. Second Edition Books Shea's Gifts Sherwin-Williams Co. Silver Bow Properties, LLC Staack's, Inc. Steele's Furniture Summit Valley Title Tekton Architects The Butte Weekly The Butte Depot The Montana Standard The Tax Shop, Mary Walsh, CPA The Wine Sellar & Photo Thread It-Ink Thrivent Financial Timberline Security & Services, LLC Town Pump Charitable Foundation Toyota of Butte Tucker Transportation US Bank Uptown Café Uptown Sweets & Gifts Uptown Ventures, LLC Wein's Men's Store Wells Fargo Bank Whitehead's Cutlery Wordz N' Ink