“The Numbers. The Impact. The Future.”: DEP Wins Statewide Award for Economic Transparency
Downtown Excelsior Springs has long been known for its historic charm, but this year, it’s getting noticed for something else: smart, transparent economic impact reporting.
At the 2024 Missouri Main Street Conference, the Downtown Excelsior Partnership (DEP) was honored with the Outstanding Economic Impact Project Award for its data-driven campaign, “The Numbers. The Impact. The Future.”
The recognition came as part of the state’s annual Evening of Excellence Awards and celebrated DEP for tracking progress, and also how they communicated it. MMSC applauded the organization’s approach to transparency, describing it as “an accessible format that drives continued engagement, financial support, and foot traffic.”
A Year by the Numbers
The 2024 DEP Annual Report outlined a busy year for downtown Excelsior Springs, with clear indicators of growth and strong community participation.
In total, $7.1 million in taxable retail sales were reported downtown last year. Supporting that number were 346,562 total visits to downtown, with 35,000 visitors counted on DEP’s six signature event days alone.
Private sector investment also remained strong. The organization reported $604,000 spent in private investment on downtown buildings in 2024. That’s in addition to $32,000 spent on downtown beautification projects, including improvements to infrastructure, streetscapes, and public-facing amenities. $16,000 was awarded through DEP’s façade grant program, helping local businesses make improvements to their storefronts and physical spaces.
To support the district’s visibility, DEP allocated $128,000 toward marketing efforts promoting both downtown businesses and the Visit Excelsior brand. According to the report, those campaigns reached over 1 million people through a mix of digital, print, and event-based outreach.
Perhaps most impressive: for every dollar received from the City of Excelsior Springs, DEP raised $7.51 in return, helping to show the organization’s effective leveraging of public-private partnerships, sponsorships, and outside grants.
Powered by People
Adding to those numbers is a show of community effort. DEP reported 9,420 volunteer hours donated in 2024, which helped to carry out 98 projects, events, and initiatives across the district.
Those efforts were supported by nine active DEP volunteer teams, who played roles in everything from event logistics and beautification to grant writing and business outreach.
Executive Director Lyndsey Baxter credited this wide-reaching participation as central to the organization’s success. “These accomplishments are not the work of one,” she wrote in the 2024 report, “but the result of many.”
The state award marks a milestone for DEP’s growing impact: not just economically, but in how it communicates value. By bringing stakeholders into the story through clear visual reporting, DEP aimed to build trust and invite further investment.
“It’s one thing to have an economic impact,” MMSC shared in a statement. “It’s another thing to package that impact in an engaging format that drives future support.”
For more information, annual budget reports, or to stay updated with DEP, please visit: https://visitexcelsior.com/about-dep
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