Los Alamos Main Street director outlines push to expand business accelerator, year-round markets and signage

Jacqueline Connolly, executive director of Los Alamos Main Street and Creative District, told the Los Alamos County Council on June 10 that the program has completed state and national accreditation work and is refocusing to support local entrepreneurs and expand year‑round activity.

Connolly said the organization recently merged the Creative District with Main Street to better integrate the creative economy into local economic development and that updated economic transformation strategies were completed to meet national standards. “We just got our accreditation,” she said, and described the accreditation as enabling the county to receive free resource specialists and training from the state Main Street program.

Why it matters: Main Street staff said the changes are designed to increase local business formation and retention by offering hands‑on services — from lease‑rate surveys and feasibility studies to marketing support — and by creating physical opportunities such as a “Main Street Marketplace” (a permanent pop‑up retail space) and a planned retail incubator within Project Y. Those initiatives, Connolly said, aim to give new vendors routes from market tables to storefronts.

Supporting details and council reaction - Connolly highlighted the farmers market, noting it has run continuously for 55 years and that evening markets in White Rock and a night market tied to Science Fest have broadened vendor access. She said the farmers market provides a low‑risk testing ground for businesses and helps graduates of the business accelerator find customers. - On the business accelerator: Connolly said Main Street has run three cohorts and is pivoting to a two‑phase model that uses recorded curriculum and an online “phase 1” queue so prospective entrepreneurs can prepare before participating in an in‑person intensive cohort. She told council the next cohort is likely to start in Q4 2025 and that efforts are underway to provide pop‑up spaces, including using a shipping‑container site completed with LEADS funding. - On signage and wayfinding: Connolly said business and property owners asked for a cohesive monument‑sign program and mapping layers to guide tourists to hidden storefronts; staff have received grant funding to outfit a small, permanent marketplace and plan to roll out Google map layers for businesses.

Councilors thanked Connolly and asked for more performance metrics. Councilor Hammond said he wanted to see cultural assets quantified to inform investments, and Connolly said a forthcoming cultural plan would inventory facility capacities and estimate renovation costs and impacts. Councilors also asked about web analytics; Connolly said Winterfest and holiday events show the highest traffic and that the site tracks click‑throughs to event links and average time on pages.

What’s next: Connolly said the Main Street board is expanding its Futures Committee and will provide council with the accreditation report. She said the retail incubator and permanent Main Street Marketplace are in development and that additional details and budgets will be brought back to council as projects mature.

Ending note: Council members praised Main Street’s outreach and its role connecting businesses to state resources; several urged staff to continue collecting outcome metrics to better tie Main Street activity to business openings and revenue growth.