Several WNC towns recoginized for revitalization efforts

Here’s the press release from the N.C. Department of Commerce:

Raleigh, N.C.—The N.C. Department of Commerce, Office of Urban Development announced that 27 North Carolina communities have achieved accreditation from the National Main Street Program for meeting the commercial district revitalization performance standards set by the National Main Street Center®, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Each year, the National Main Street Center and its partners announce the list of accredited Main Street® programs that have built strong revitalization organizations and demonstrate their ability in using the Main Street Four Point Approach® methodology for strengthening their local economy and protecting their historic buildings.

“We are proud to announce that Albemarle, Brevard, Burlington, Clayton, Concord, Elizabeth City, Elkin, Fuquay-Varina, Garner, Goldsboro, Hendersonville, Hickory, Kings Mountain, Lenoir, Lexington, Lincolnton, Marion, Monroe, Morganton, Salisbury, Shelby, Smithfield, Statesville, New Bern, Wake Forest, Waynesville and Wilson are North Carolina’s 2013 nationally accredited Main Street communities,” said Liz Parham, director of the Office of Urban Development. “Each of these communities has established a strong organizational foundation that is benefitting them in their efforts to implement complex downtown revitalization initiatives.”
“We congratulate this year’s nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standards,” said Valecia Crisafulli, acting director of the National Main Street Center. “Accredited Main Street programs are meeting the challenges of the downtown in the economy head on, and are successfully using a focused, comprehensive revitalization strategy to keep their communities vibrant and sustainable.”

The performance of each of the state’s local Main Street programs is annually evaluated by the Office of Urban Development, N.C. Main Street Center, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify those local programs that meet ten performance standards. These standards set the benchmarks for measuring an individual Main Street program’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 developing a mission, fostering strong public-private partnerships, securing an operating budget, tracking economic progress and preserving historic buildings.

Established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1980, the National Main Street Center helps communities of all sizes revitalize their older and historic commercial districts. Working in more than 2,200 downtowns and urban neighborhoods over the last 32 years, the Main Street program has leveraged more than $55.7 billion in new public and private investment. Participating communities have created 473,535 net jobs and 109,693 net businesses, and rehabilitated more than 236,418 buildings, leveraging an average of $18 in new investment for every dollar spent on their Main Street district revitalization efforts.