Program earns status for yet another year
The City of Clinton’s Main Street Program received accredited status, Main Street America’s highest tier of recognition.
Main Street leaders said the recognition signifies a demonstrated commitment to comprehensive commercial district revitalization and showcases a proven track record of successfully applying the Main Street Approach.
“North Carolina’s accredited Main Street programs have worked diligently to meet the standards established by the National Main Street Center, and we are pleased to see them recognized on a national level for their achievement,” said Anthony M. Copeland, N.C. Secretary of Commerce. “Local Main Street programs across our state work every day to bring jobs and businesses to their downtowns, which strengthens the overall economy of their communities and, in turn, that of our entire state.”
The North Carolina Main Street communities that have earned accreditation for their 2019 performance are Albemarle, Belmont, Bessemer City, Burlington, Cherryville, Clinton, Concord, Eden, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Elkin, Elon, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Goldsboro, Hendersonville, Hickory, Kings Mountain, Lenoir, Laurinburg, Lexington, Marion, Monroe, Morehead City, Morganton, New Bern, Newton, North Wilkesboro, Oxford, Reidsville, Roanoke Rapids, Roxboro, Rutherfordton, Salisbury, Sanford, Shelby, Smithfield, Spruce Pine, Statesville, Sylva, Tarboro, Tryon, Wake Forest, Washington, Waynesville, Waxhaw, Williamston and Wilson.
The performance standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street community’s application of the Main Street Four Point Approach to commercial district revitalization. Evaluation criteria determine the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking programmatic progress and actively preserving historic buildings.
“The Clinton Main Street Program in partnership with the Clinton Development Corporation kicked off 2019 with our second Mystery Masterpieces fundraiser which raised $4,000 for Downtown public art and beautification projects in Downtown,” Mary Rose, planning director/Main Street director noted. “Other events such as Brunch & Bows: Celebrating Mom, Small Business Saturday, and our first Downtown Clinton Sweet Stroll were deemed successful events which drove shopping traffic into the downtown and greater Clinton community.”
Since 1980, The North Carolina Main Street program has generated $3.25 billion in private and public investment, the organization stated.
In 2019, North Carolina Main Street downtown districts generated 345 net new businesses, 148 expansions of existing businesses, 2,211 net new jobs, 378 façade rehabilitations, 297 building rehabilitations, and logged more than 150,000 volunteer hours. Communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $85.43 billion in new public and private investment, generated 672,333 net new jobs and 150,079 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 295,348 buildings.
“Going into 2020, we had no idea the challenges we would face with COVID-19,” Beth Stewart, president of the Clinton Development Corporation, stated. “However, the strength of our structured organization, committees, volunteers, and partnerships with community organizations and Downtown business and property owners is what will get us through these challenging times.”
Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Nationally, Main Street America communities generated $6.45 billion of public and private reinvestment, helped open 6,466 net new businesses, facilitated the creation of 32,316 net new jobs, and supported the rehabilitation of 10,412 buildings in 2019.
For more information, contact Liz Parham, director of N.C. Main Street Center at 919-814-4658.