The Dalles Main Street is developing a new program to help support downtown vitality. The non-profit program’s Business Retention and Expansion program will involve staff, volunteers, and many partner organizations sitting down one-on-one with businesses and property owners to better understand their challenges and opportunities, and work to connect businesses to support services. Visitation teams will contact 40 randomly selected downtown The Dalles business and property owners to setup meetings to gather information needed to identify top areas of concern and help prioritize efforts of Main Street and other agencies. The program has been developed by a team made up of the Small Business Development Center, Port of The Dalles, Mid-Columbia Economic Development District, Main Street Business committee, and others. Detailed information on the program can be found on-line at thedallesmainstreet.org.