Main Street Medina looks back on 2024 collected data

MEDINA — As Main Street Medina looks back on 2024, the organization now has a way to put real figures to numbers they'd assumed in the past from attendance to where people are coming from. Main Street Medina and its supporters gathered on Wednesday to celebrate the organization's achievements in 2024 and to recognize several organizations and individuals for their work in the community and their support of Main Street Medina. Throughout 2024, Main Street Medina received collected information from Placer.ai, which is a company that provides community data. "Those numbers put real figures to the things that we always assume," Main Street Medina Executive Director George Sam said. "How many people are coming to our events? Where are they coming from? Those types of things help us to make better choices in the future and leverage our dollars for the better." Sam said they can look at information from Main Street Medina's events, dating back to 2017. In the collected data, they can see visitor counts, ZIP codes and general demographics of who is attending. Main Street Medina Events Director Angela Mansier seconded Sam's statement, saying that the data is backing up everything that Main Street Medina has been saying. "It really shows us that we're growing the events and by how many," Mansier said. "It helps us set goals for the next year." During Wednesday's program, Mansier walked everyone through Main Street Medina's events in 2024 and spoke about how many people were in attendance and where they were from. For example, the Medina Candlelight Walk brought in more than 48,000 visitors to Medina's square over the three-day event. Of those visitors, 43 percent were from the 44256 ZIP code. The South Town Music Festival, which is a one-day event including 13 bands at 11 venues, brought in more than 5,500 visitors with 52 percent of the visitors from the 44256 ZIP code. The Medina Fall Festival brought in around 4,600 visitors to Medina. Of the attendees, 39 percent were from the 44256 ZIP code region. Mansier also spoke about the Medina Square Farmers Market, which runs from mid-May to the start of October. In the farmers market's 21 weeks, Main Street Medina had 97 vendors, 54 who were full time and 43 who were part time. Of the people attending, 42 percent of them were from the 44256 ZIP code. While Mansier is proud of the size of the market and the quality items sold week after week, she's most proud of the assorted food assistance programs available at the Medina Square Farmers Market. In 2024, the Medina Square Farmers Market had more than $21,000 used in food assistance programs like SNAP, Produce Perks, WIC and senior coupons. "It's a wonderful opportunity to open up our square and our surrounding downtown to people who may not have always felt like they could shop with our farmers market," she said. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.